Ex-racehorse Life: Ex-racehorse Summer Time

So much to catch up with after the summer!

Starting at the grass roots - over at the farm the ex-racers have summered well. The fact that it was such a poor, typically British, summer, and rather miserable for humans, actually meant that it was good for horses. Frequent showers made the grass grow, and the cool and gloomy days kept the flies away. We've used far less fly-repellent and eye-lotion than usual!

There has been a new arrival – a gorgeous dark bay ex-chaser called Ben ( he's by Beneficial, so it figures!) He 's had an illustrious career in National Hunt, had a chill-out year off, then a concentrated period of retraining. No-one knows yet what his next job is going to be. He's a lovely-natured lad, and has the ability to do almost anything. He has nicely balanced paces so could do well at dressage, eventually (at the moment he has trouble cantering on the correct leg!) He jumps like a stag, and with his good looks he's bound to do well in the showring. His owner – primarily a racing fan – originally simply wanted to find Ben a good home doing a new job. But the 'right person' hasn't come along yet – and meanwhile owner and horse are getting increasingly fond of each other....! Who knows how it will turn out, but in the meantime we are just keeping Ben going quietly and learning more each day. I'll keep posting on developments.

The old retirees are all fat and glossy. Magic weighed in last week at 648 kilos – he looks more like a bullock than a Thoroughbred! (You would never believe that he once won hurdle races.) And the grass is still growing – it's early October, and we haven't had to put out any hay yet. Once we have a few frosty nights, of course, all that will change and the big bales will go out – but, so far, so good. If we do get a long, hard winter, we may be having to feed hay into May...

At the moment the main problem is the vexed question of : To rug or not to rug? We've had a few cool nights lately, and some foggy mornings, but mostly the days have been warm and sunny. As we know, Thoroughbreds have fine coats and thin skins – and some of them are terrible wimps when it comes to braving the weather. A horse that stands miserably shivering and shaking for twenty-four hours will soon loose condition. But, a horse that gets too hot under its rug will loose weight too, through sweating up and, possibly, going off its food. In autumn and spring, with the mixed weather we have even within a day, it's hard to get it right.

I was told long ago that it's better for a horse to be too cold than too hot – especially as far as rugging-up goes. And I think it's true. After all, horses evolved over millions of years to be weatherproof! It's more natural for them to tolerate a cold spell than to be overheated by clothing. And when in doubt, I tend to favour the most natural way. On the other hand, we know that it's Nature's Way, in the wild at least, for horses to grow thin in winter. And we don't want the Old Boys looking like toast-racks! We find it's persistent rain that does the real damage. A single wet day is no problem, but two or three in a row would soon see the weight falling off. So, with their own winter coats not yet through, and four days of heavy rain forecast, the boys have had their rainsheets put on. They all look very smart – but since they all love rolling and play-fighting, that won't last for long!