Red Not Blue wins first time over fences!

                Red Not Blue jumped very well and won his first chase very easily under a typically good ride from the master horseman, Andrew Thornton, at Hereford yesterday.

                When he got in close to his fences he shortened his stride well and was very nimble; when Andrew saw a nice stride he lengthened for him and pinged straight over.  It was a joy to watch although at the time I was a bit nervous!

                This was his 7^th win for us (I am aiming for 10) and he has raced in all his races without shoes.  Interestingly, at Hereford yesterday there were a few trainers and a farrier asking me about the barefoot thing.  The farrier said he had never seen thoroughbreds’ feet like it – he didn’t think it was possible and he was genuinely fascinated!  I am trying to get more people to do it as their horses will be sounder and hopefully win more races for them!  I hate seeing horses break down and I know there are things that we can do to reduce the number that do by improving foot angles.

                I guess we need a few more Red Not Blue’s to get the message out there, so people will talk more and maybe give it a go.

                 It has been a wonderful few weeks as we are delighted to welcome little (or not so little at 9 lbs 7 oz!) Mollie Joy Earle into our lives who was born on 16^th June.  Both Katie and Mollie are doing very well indeed and enjoyed watching Red Not Blue’s win from the sofa!

Two new horses arrive to the yard - one with shares available!

                We were delighted to welcome two new horses on Thursday:  Homer Run and Benozzo Gozzoli.

                Homer Run won last time out at Towcester in very game fashion.  He has had 17 runs and been placed in the first four nine times, and in his last 5 runs he has come 1^st twice, 2^nd once and 3^rd twice – not a bad effort!  He is still only a 5 yr old and looking at him it does appear there is more improvement to come; as he needs to strengthen up and mature a bit and still looks a little weak. 

                We plan to give him one more run before he has his summer break.  He may run at Hexham this coming Saturday, then he will be turned out and have his shoes off.  We will be planning to run him next season without shoes.

                There are shares available in this lovely prospect, which we know is tough, genuine, sound and has proven ability.  It is also a chance to be a part of the very friendly syndicate called EPDS Racing.  The syndicate is run by John Powell and Tracy Sloan who always put their horses’ well-being first; and will stop at nothing to ensure that happens.  Please make contact with either John Powell direct or we can forward your details on to John.  It is a great fun team with excellent opportunities for affordable racehorse ownership.  EPDS Racing’s details are: www.epds-racing.co.uk and John Powell can be contacted on: 07812 342192

                John Powell also bought Benozzo Gozzoli, who is named after the great Italian artist who plied his trade in the fourteen hundreds.  John only started riding earlier this year and has bought Benozzo to ride in a charity race at Newmarket in August.  Ben is in training and John will be coming down regularly to ride him here at home and we will help him as much as we can.  John has already passed the test at The British Racing School in Newmarket under the watchful eye of ex-top jockey, Steve Smith-Eccles.  We are all very much looking forward to August!  Benozzo is a lovely looking and well-behaved horse that we also like a lot.

Homer Run

Benozzo Gozzoli

Clare MacLeod MSc RNutr

Sometimes you have to give things time to see if they really have worked, hence not writing about this before now! 

For quite a while before last winter, we had been having muscle problems with the horses and it had held them up quite a bit, especially at the start of the National Hunt season.  I also hear it is becoming more of a problem, especially in racing.  We were getting muscle enzyme readings coming back on blood tests that were far too high and I had known things were not right.  Finally our vet, Buffy Shirley-Beavan whom we had just moved to, said it was probably caused by a mineral imbalance (she was the first person to come up with this after a very long time seeking advice and getting nowhere from other vets, feed companies, haylage analyses, water analyses etc.).  I can’t tell you how long I had spent looking into absolutely everything and analysing everything that went into their mouths, including the water.  We nearly spent £12,000 on a water filter for them! 

In the end, knowing it was a mineral imbalance but not how/what was causing it, Tracey Sloan (part of EPDS racing), mentioned Clare MacLeod to me who is an Independent Equine Nutritionist.  We had met Clare many years ago and boy I wish we had her advice a few years earlier.  Clare is a qualified expert on equine fitness and nutrition and is completely independent so she has no bias towards a certain feed company.  To have knowledge of both the physical side of exercise and nutrition has to be a major plus as the two go side by side. 

Since Clare came to see us and suggested the changes to their diets, all the horses have improved and muscle enzymes returned to normal.  I am often in contact with her about any individual requirements.  Clare is not frightened to tell you what she thinks, which is what you want and I had to trust her and take a jump and do some things that other people have said to me not to do.  Thankfully all was sorted very soon after Clare came last autumn and finally I feel we can write about it. 

We are feeding high fibre, high oil and controlling the amount of starch they are getting.  We have also noticed that the horses’ feet have improved and so too have their skin and general condition and well being.  I can’t recommend Clare highly enough for anyone experiencing any nutrition/fitness/muscle problems with their horse.  Please see her website for more details: www.equinenutritionist.co.uk