It
was lovely to see the great Denman out parading, under saddle, at
Newbury races on Saturday. The old boy looked fantastic – at
fifteen years of age, he was still a magnificent barrow-load of
muscle, energy, and well-being. As he was ridden round the parade
ring by his new 'Mum', Charlotte Alexander, he was clearly enjoying
all the cheering adulation he received, and had a distinct air of
“Yup, I am The Greatest” about him.
“He
loves parading before his race at Newbury,” Charlotte said. “He
particularly likes hearing all the clapping when walking round the
ring and the cheering when galloping back past the stands having led
the runners out onto the track.
Denman knows he is a star and deserves all the praise lavished upon
him — he is an exceptionally brave horse”.
Denman
suffered serious illness in 2013, when he contracted a potentially
fatal blood and bone infection, and spent five months in equine
hospital.
“He
has taken ages to build up strength and muscle and he is now
progressing in leaps and bounds,” Charlotte reports. Denman is now
a regular out in the hunting field, and loving it. “He is such a
happy horse and it is incredible that he is able to leap across the
country as he does.
He
is like a spitfire, quick, exciting and beautiful.”
Denman
doesn't parade much - “He's too busy hunting!” - but he makes a
special effort to attend 'his' race , the Denman Chase. It was named
after him because he triumphed so brilliantly in it in 2008 (as well
as winning two Hennessy Gold Cups at the same Newbury track, in 2007
and 2009). This year, as he led the runners out onto the track, he
swaggered along as if he was looking forward to showing all the young
whipper-snappers, and everyone else, just how the race should be run
– and won! When the runners set off for the start, and Charlotte
steered Denman aside and let him open up in a gallop past the
grandstand, the crown roared their cheers for him, and Denman looked
like he was ready to show them all what proper galloping meant. He
would probably have loved to have joined the runners.
The
point is, he didn't. Because Denman is an EX-racehorse now. Great as
he was back then, his life has moved on. What was so lovely to see
was that, though he took a strong enough hold as they galloped, when
Charlotte asked him to slow and come back to hand, he did, amazingly
quickly and obediently. Though he was a brilliant, tough-as-teak
racehorse for many years, and though the call of instinct and old
habit, to follow today's runners, must have been immensely strong,
Denman did as he was asked and came back to a hack canter. What's
more, he went into a beautiful self-carriage outline that would have
graced any showring. What a triumph of re-schooling! Charlotte must
have been so proud of him. A powerful, fit horse, with all his racing
instincts reawakened at the scene of his former victories, could so
easily have regressed, boiled over with excitement at old memories,
pranced, reared, bucked, bolted...... (And a small lady like
Charlotte Alexander could have had a hard time dealing with that!)
But none of that bad stuff happened. It was just a perfect
demonstration of how retraining a racehorse should turn out.
It
was quite clear that Denman and Charlotte Alexander know and trust
each other thoroughly. They were both enjoying themselves enormously,
with not a hint of anxiety. Indeed Charlotte told the TV interviewer
that both she and Denman would love to have a go in the race, but
sadly weren't allowed to... If they had been, they would no doubt
have had great fun together, as they do when out teamchasing and
hunting. And that's the thing – it would be FUN. Denman has left
the ranks of professional racehorses, and is now a fully retrained,
and beautifully reschooled, pleasure-riding horse - re-skilled,
relaxed, confident, happily occupied, and enjoying life.
Well
done Charlotte Alexander, well done Denman! You are an example and
encouragement for us all.
Denman and Charlotte Alexander having
fun out hunting
