Fairwood Dante

                It was great to welcome back Fairwood Dante to the yard this week.  He is owned locally by James & Jane Symonds.  We had him in training here before and he ran well in his bumpers and over hurdles.  He is a big, old-fashioned staying chaser type.

                James & Jane would love him to run in a Novice Chase at Wincanton, our local track, and hopefully on Badger Beer Day.  We all love Wincanton, as I went to Pony Club camp there many years ago with The South & West Wilts, and James and Jane have been going there for many years and will have plenty of friends there to have a drink or two with!  James is Chairman of The South & West Wilts point to point.

                Dante is a horse that was a little tense in his work when we last had him so Buffy, our vet, is going to come and check him out before we ride him to check him over for any aches and pains.  He will be trained from the field and will have plenty of loose trotting in the school before he is seen.  He has been very well prepared by his owners and we are all looking forward to having lots of fun with him this coming season.

Fairwood Dante

Horses back in training

                It is great that a few of the winter jumpers have come in to start their walking; this is a very important time conditioning their feet, legs and bodies so that they can do more later on.  Their feet are always trimmed well, even whilst on their break.  We have been lucky this summer with all the grass growth, so the horses are looking particularly well and have enjoyed their rest, which is good for them mentally. 

                Buffy, our vet, came the other day to do her pre-season check with them before they are ridden. I am finding that by sorting a few niggles now before they really get going, we can hopefully save the owner more money later in the season - prevention is much better than cure!

                Headly’s Bridge has really strengthened up and looks as if he has been doing weights in the gym when we were not looking!  And I am very pleased with Outside The Box, we are starting in a much better place now than we were last year, having learnt a hell of a lot about him last year, which was his first season with us.  I believe we can improve them both again.  Poppy also came back into work and has started walking.  She is owned by the EPDS Racing partnership and is an un-raced and un-named 3-year-old filly with shares available.  She has also really strengthened up for her break and is also barefoot, as are Headly and Outside The Box.

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   

Where are they now?

                We retired two horses last season (Bemused & Chord) and sometimes get enquiries as to where they have gone, so we thought you would like to see the ex-racehorses in their new homes/careers.  Their new owners have updated us recently and it is really important to me that I know where they are and what they are up to.  I love to hear about their progress and to keep in touch with the owners.  It is so important to make sure they are all going to a good home and preferably a home for life.  We owe these horses so much so it is very important they continue to be well looked after and happy.

                Below is a lovely email from Bemused’s new owner: Kate.  Kate intends on bringing Bemused on and possibly eventing him but mainly took him on so she can hack out with her children, hunt etc., and she was very interested in taking on a barefoot ex-racehorse for the first time.

Dear Simon,

Well, he’s no longer called Bemused, but has been rechristened Bertie The Beloved.  As his new name suggests, Bertie the Beloved has exceeded expectations in every way possible.

Most importantly, his temperament is unbeatable.  Whether it be handling him daily, which is nothing but a pleasure, teaching him new things where his attitude and quick brain make learning a doddle (that said I’m sure he could learn naughty tricks if he wanted to but he hasn’t shown any propensity for that yet), or being whinnied at several times a day, just to say hi, his temperament is the best I’ve ever come across in a horse.  His movement is far better than I realised when I came to try him, my pro-event rider chiropractor was green with envy when he met him.  Keen to learn more about classical dressage, I’m keen to get the basics in his schooling correct before pushing him on to other things.  Because he’s such a trier, I think he could get pent up with worry if I were to rush him so I think Bertie is really enjoying this approach, and my jump saddle fitter hasn’t yet been out to fit it to him.  So, I don’t yet have any exciting jumping photos to show you but they will come in due course.  I am confident that jumping will be a breeze, I’ve always found jumping a lot easier than dressage so tend to put my effort into that predominantly.  I cannot thank you enough and give your training methods enough credit because, having taken on so many racehorses in the past, Bertie really isn’t like a racehorse but rather like a riding horse who has experienced a more varied training.  With a bit of luck I won’t be wanting another horse for a long time, but when I do, I hope you don’t mind if you are my first port of call!

With many many thanks as ever,

Kate & The Beloved

Bertie being ridden by Kate, his new owner

                Chord was also retired and he went to one of his syndicate members (The Plum Merchants) in the capable hands of Simon & Janine Owen.  He settled in brilliantly with his best friend over the winter, whom I don’t joke is called mini-Chord (and is a pony stallion!).  He and his owner look very happy having jumping lessons! And it is Simon’s aim to hunt him next season.

Chord with (and I couldn't work out if it was Harvey Smith or AP McCoy on a stylish day on board, then I realised it was the great...) Simon Owen!

 Chord with his new pal, mini-Chord

Thank you to Kate, and Simon & Janine, for keeping us posted on their progress and do keep the photos coming in.  Good luck in your new careers boys!

Snowy Valley & Starlight Secret

                We ran Snowy Valley and Starlight Secret for their first run last Tuesday at Kempton over 6f.  We were very pleased with them in what was a reasonable maiden.  Both horses ran barefoot.

                They were in training as 2 yr olds with us and we got them ¾ of the way to racing and then turned them out.  That was as much as we wanted to do with them, as they were just too immature to run.  It is now thought that a degree of training of youngsters can help them later – with tendons, ligaments etc., of which I agree with so long as things aren’t taken too far and you know not to do too much.

                The two boys looked great and behaved impeccably, with Snowy not even needing to be led into the stalls but just walking in!  I was worried that they would be completely outpaced, as they both were not tuned up for this race at all.  Starlight weakened from being bang there 1f out but he got tired and Snowy ran on from being well last turning in and ended up finishing best of all, running on in the closing stages very nicely past horses.  They will both improve and I would love to think we could get the owner’s colours in the winners’ enclosure.  Snowy has a lovely full brother in the paddock that looks just like him plus he has a half sister by Norse Dancer.  It certainly would be good to put some value on them when Snowy does well.

                Both horses came out of the race well and have eaten up so all in all it was a good and happy experience for them.

Snowy Valley pre-race

Starlight Secret post race

Happy owner & happy jockey post race!

Happy owner & happy horse post race

The above photographs were kindly taken by Ben Thompson of Littleton Stud (from where Snowy Valley was brought up).  Please take a look at Ben's website as there are some truly wonderful shots on there:  www.studphotography.com