Gallops' visit by young fans

                We were joined on the grass gallops for first lot by ‘young’ fans (an early start for all).  The children enjoyed seeing their Daddys riding out! Although it was jolly cold first thing with a hint of a frost. Great photographs courtesy of Roly Rickcord, thank you Roly (and thank you too for the use of the lorry!).  Both Kavanaghs Corner & Gustav worked well.

Gustav (IRE)

                 Leading on from the last diary entry on Headly’s Bridge, I would like to show you the change in Gustav from when he first came to the yard, from Ireland, in August 2014.  After concentrating on the pre-season build up with plenty of lunging, I hope you can see how much he has strengthened up, especially through his back, hindquarters and shoulders.  We believe that building core strength is most important in racehorses, especially National Hunt racehorses.  It is this core strength that we hope helps them to get through the tough season ahead.  Gustav is by Mahler, a young stallion who is having his first crop of runners over jumps and has made a good start with his early jumps progeny.  Gustav was bought privately last year from Ireland for owners, The Plum Merchants, and is the baby on the yard at 5 years.  He is a tall horse, one of the largest on the yard, and is now not too far off his first run under rules.  Gus has had just the one run, back in Ireland in a point to point in 2014 and came 3^rd.  Interestingly, his half brother (a 3yo) was sold as an unbroken horse this summer at the Tattersalls Ireland NH sale in June for Euros 40,000 to Willie Mullins…
 

Gustav (above) on arrival to the yard from Ireland in August 2014

Gustav (above) on being stood up after exercise in August 2015

Gustav on the lunge

 Gustav's back muscle immediately after exercise

 The handsome Gustav - some ears!

 

Galloping Horses

            Below are some photographs taken on the grass gallops last Saturday that have been posted up on our 'new' Facebook page which is: www.facebook.com/simonearleracing Both Kavanaghs Corner (dark bay, being ridden by me) and Gustav (light bay) worked well, both horses were quickening up.  It was great to be riding out with Lester Symonds again, who has been riding out for us for many years now - too many to remember!  

Kavanaghs Corner (dark bay) with Gustav

Headly's Bridge - the powerhouse - 9yo bay gelding by Tillerman out of Brockton Flame

                We are very excited this season about Headly’s Bridge.  He is looking and feeling fabulous.  Headly is rated 130 over fences and isn’t too far off his first run.  Last season he won first time out at Exeter off the same mark in a Class 3 handicap chase, ridden by Paddy Brennan.
  

 Headly on his way to winning under Paddy Brennan at Exeter

               He didn’t have many runs last season as the ground kept going against him.  We are hoping for a boggy winter!  He is an incredibly well built, muscular horse and the pre-season build up, concentrating on lunging and being ridden in a bungee, has helped him develop his excellent top-line.  He is barefoot at present and we hope that this will continue.  His feet are also in very good shape. 

Headly on the lunge

  Immediately after exercise showing his pronounced muscle and top-line

                Headly was sourced privately by myself for his owner, Mrs Penelope Bridel and arrived to us from Ireland as a four year old.  He has run 23 times whilst being with us and has won 4 times – a strike rate of 17% however he is ultra consistent and out of those 23 runs he has been placed 14 times – a strike rate of 61%.  We are very much looking forward to seeing him back on the racecourse, ground dependent, for his loyal owner who is a great supporter of our yard.

  Headly's Bridge stood up a few days ago - all power

Breaking-in and starting horses - 'The Frenchman':

                One of the things that we’ve done here over the quieter summer months is take in horses for breaking and pre-training or, horses with behavioural issues.  We have had a number of breakers over the years from some large yards and we are lucky in that we have a totally separate yard, with a walker and an outdoor school, away from the racing yard where we can take them.  We’ve had up to eight colts and fillies arrive at one time.  For the last few summers we have had just a few come in and this summer I have had great pleasure in breaking in a lovely French bred gelding that we call Jacques.
  

 Jacques chilling out in the paddock before work

Last summer I broke in and pre-trained a filly for these owners, who have all their horses in training with Philip Hobbs.  Jacques is a beautiful grey and is bred for National Hunt racing. 

                I have always enjoyed taking in youngsters and starting them off in the right direction for what is hoped to be a long and fruitful career in racing.  It is most important that their first experiences are stress free and confidence giving.  Whilst starting a youngster there should never be an argument and I find that if things do get stressy there is always a reason and usually it is mostly either the horse doesn’t understand the command and what you are asking of them or, the horse is not ready to do what you are asking them to do.  These situations should be avoided.  Every horse is different and is wary of different things and these should be respected and in everything you do before going to the next stage, the horse must be perfectly relaxed.

Jacques on arrival at the yard and being turned out with Headly's Bridge

And forming a special bond with his pal, Headly's Bridge, immediately

                I am always amazed what a horse will do for you when you have the communication right.  Jacques understood everything that was asked of him straight away and was always completely chilled out (a typical Frenchman!).  Below are some photographs of how he used to be most mornings - fast asleep with Headly. It was a shame to have to wake them!

               Of course it helps if the horse has had decent handling beforehand of which Jacques had plenty, not only from his breeders in France but also from his owners over here.  Whilst here he was in every way a pleasure to have and I enjoyed watching him grow and develop very much.

He was here for approximately 6 weeks and during this time not only was he broken in but also introduced to many disciplines, including jumping poles.  On his first ride out of the yard he was joined by his owners who also rode with me.  He had never been ridden in the company of other horses, nor had he met these hunters before, he took everything in his stride, we had a lovely ride around the lanes meeting tractors, cows etc., Jacques led and was forward going all the way.

Photo above taken watching the owners tack their horses up before our ride out of the yard

 

             Jacques is due to return next summer for pre-training prior to joining Philip Hobbs’ yard.  It will be a pleasure to welcome him back for his next task in hand, I'm looking forward to it already.  We certainly had some fun getting him up for work each day as you can see from the sequence of photographs below.  These were taken on only his second day here and he was relaxed, trusting and willing so I thought I'd pop my leg over!
 

Pre-season build up: horses are back in work

                We bought the horses back into work with plenty of time to spare this year.   They have all had a good month to six weeks walking and a month of lunging.  If you talk to any Rugby player or athlete, the pre-season is the most important time of the year for gradually building up fitness along with good condition and strengthening so the body is more capable to take the knocks and strains throughout the arduous season.  This, I think, is most important for the racehorse and we learn all the time what to do and how to do it better. 

                Firstly the horses have all summered here well, turned out in the paddocks.  The grass in the area has not been as good as it has been in previous years and (as with my local stock farm of young cows) we have been feeding the horses ad lib hay whilst out in the paddocks, alongside a good conditioning feed.  This has greatly helped the horses with the grass losing its quality slightly earlier this year.  It has also enabled me to train them exclusively from the field for longer.  Only a few weeks ago have they started to come in at night and they are still turned out for the day after exercise, all together.

                One of the areas I am concentrating on this year in the pre-season training is strengthening the horses’ back.  I find this area to be one of the weakest links in the racehorse, an area where racehorses commonly have problems and an area that is often overlooked, which in turn can cause problems elsewhere.  A strong core and back, with good top-line and muscle is key to starting the season off well, as muscle protects the bone.  If the horse is guarding against back pain then very often other problems arise from this.  So this year, after all the horses finished their walking we lunged them all for several weeks.  We have been given a wonderful, fully sheepskin saddle which is incredibly soft and comfortable.  The horses have really enjoyed working with their heads down, opening up their backs and strengthening and building up their muscles along their top line. The muscles along their hindquarters are also strengthening and their core strength is building.  I find lunging makes them more equal in muscle strength from one side to the other. We spend equal time on both reins and a bit like us, some horses prefer leading with their right or left leg and muscle up unevenly accordingly.  By using the lunge equally I find they get used to having to use themselves better throughout the whole of their bodies.

                The horses are really enjoying being out in the paddocks during the day and having a play (see the picture below). We have only had to shoe one horse at the moment as he was getting more wear than growth and we needed him to be comfortable in his work. We might find that he has grown enough foot after a month to take them off again.  Nothing is set in stone here and they are here to race with or without shoes, dependent on the horse and every horse is different.

                Here are some pictures of the horses being lunged and you will see that their heads are in a good position and their stride is really opening up.  The sheepskin saddle being used is a CHRIST Lammfelle bareback pad, I have recently ridden the horses in it.  It is very comfortable for horse (and rider!) and there are some excellent benefits from using this bareback pad, in particular allowing the back muscles to work without anything restricting them.  We are very lucky to have the saddle on the yard.
 

Gustav (left) enjoying a play in the paddock with Kavanaghs Corner

Gustav (above) lunging

Headly's Bridge (above)

Kavanaghs Corner (above)

Water Rail (above)

The return of Money Maid

                It was great to welcome Money Maid (aka Rosie) back to the yard from her holidays at her owners’ yard (EPDS Racing). 

Last season Rosie had a minor tendon strain so has had to have time off.  Before she was turned out for her time off she did plenty of walking and is now back and has started walking again.  Time with this type of injury is the only thing that really works, however throughout her time off she has been treated by Roger Meacock (www.naturalhealingsolutions.co.uk) with his scenar machine (ElectroStimulation) which speeds up healing.  We have used this treatment method for all types of injuries and it does help – sometimes on its own or alongside conventional treatments, depending on owners’ requirements and veterinary advice.

A lot of people know how taken I am with Rosie but she is just a stunning mare who we all love – as too does every gelding on the yard!  She has a beautiful old fashioned head with a flaxen mane and tail which is very unusual and makes her particularly striking.  She is also beautiful on the inside with just a fabulous character as well as being genuine and very tough.  Rosie would want soft ground really so we hope to have her ready for when that arrives in the autumn.  She has an attractive handicap mark of 101 over hurdles so we are very much looking forward to the season ahead with her.

Below are some ‘selfie’ photographs of Rosie and me enjoying some time out in the paddock! And one of Rosie with Kavanaghs Corner taken today.

Money Maid (left) with Kavanaghs Corner