Happy New Year!
And happy new lives for all
ex-racehorses starting new post-racing jobs.
One of the rural New Year 's Day
traditions, here in the UK, is for the local hunt to meet at some
sociable pub (with a big carpark or field attached!) and have a
convivial stirrup cup or three before trotting off down the lane to
follow hounds and get plastered in mud riding over nearby farmland.
These days all British hunting is drag hunting – ie; they follow a
pre-planned scent trail laid earlier on, - so the guys in charge
make allowances for all the tinsel-bedecked tots on tiny ponies and
slightly hung-over grown-ups who always turn out to ride on this
festive occasion - no difficult jumps or mad galloping sprees
expected! There are usually crowds of onlookers to cheer them on –
people who enjoy the traditional spectacle and fancy a bit of fresh
air between New Year's Eve and New Year's Dinner. And – perhaps
surprisingly to some, there is usually a fair sprinkling of
ex-racehorses plaited up and ready to follow hounds with the rest of
them.(They're easy to spot – they're the sleek and handsome ones!)
Of course, it will have taken much
patient preparation to get the ex-racer fit – physically and
mentally – for a hunting outing. For one thing, they will have to
be able to keep going for hours, so will have needed training for far
more stamina than they ever required to race. Some ex-racers will
have smart red ribbons plaited into their tails, – not this
season's must-have fashion statement, but a warning to other riders
(and foot-followers) that these horses may just kick out or buck when
excited. A green ribbon signifies that the horse is a novice in the
hunting field, so may behave … er... unpredictably. Also, hunting
involves a lot of standing around in groups waiting for something to
happen. Ex-racehorses don't do standing around and waiting. Their new
keepers will have practiced for months trying to teach this new skill
of switched-off motionless, but in the excitement of a hunting day
it's likely to be forgotten. So, if you spot an athletically gorgeous
horse quietly walking in circles a little way from the rest of the
riders, chances are it's an ex-racer doing what they are used to do
in racing before any action, to keep them calm and listening. It
usually works well.
The hunting field doesn't suit all
ex-racehorses. Some of them get over-excited and flip into racing
mode, careering over hounds and hunt staff and generally causing
trouble. But many ex-racers take to it like ducks to water and love
it. And those that do make superb hunters, being fast, athletic,
often good jumpers, and, when correctly fittened up, full of stamina.
They also look fabulously elegant!
Many famous retired racehorses have
become brilliant hunters in their new after-racing jobs. Denman and
Big Buck's are but two of the more recent ones, whilst a horse called
Bai Zhu became so good at hunting that he carried a Master of
Foxhounds for many grand days following hounds.
Tally-ho !
Big Buck's ready to go hunting
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