It’s a long while since this blog posted anything. Life,
work, family, and, of course, ex-racehorses, so often take up more time than
you expect, and the pure fun-stuff, like blogging, slips off the to-do list for
another day…. Suddenly years have gone by! Some people said not to resurrect
‘Ex-racehorse Life’, just start a whole new blog. But why? The subject would be
the same. And new readers might be interested in some of the earlier posts
here, old though they are. So – here we go again.
For older readers, here’s an update on some old friends.
Most of the horses, over time, went out into the big wide world to do other,
non-racing jobs, just as planned. And, thankfully, I’ve been able to keep in
touch with all of them and they have all been successful. As the saying goes,
‘Horses leave hoofprints on your heart’ – and sometimes they even come back to
retrace their steps!
Beautiful Miraed went to a new home to do showjumping and
hunting, as well as showing. Now aged fourteen, and still full of beans, she has
recently found a new, less busy ‘happy hacking’ home, and is cosily settled in
a livery yard just round the corner! Small world.
Dara finally got his back issues sorted – apparently it all
stemmed from an old injury no-one had known about. He is now enjoying life with
his new ‘Mum’ winning showing classes and doing Le Trec.
Magic went to a horse-ology college, to help train students.
Four days after arrival he threw a wobbly and dislodged the instructor riding
him, who broke a wrist. Magic got expelled, as ‘unsafe for students’ – which is
ironic because he was always the kindest, gentlest horse who just loved people.
(Except for that instructor, obviously!) Magic is now teaching novices to ride
and doing wonderful RDA work with youngsters who have various disabilities. The
kids all adore him, and he loves all the fuss they give him. Just goes to show…
Count finally got the hang of circles, and grasped the
concept of self-carriage. ( Well, almost, some of the time.) He has
successfully taken part in several lengthy Charity and Fun Rides, and is now
also doing well showing at local shows. Although, at one show last year he threw
an almighty buck and deposited his rider
onto the deck. The class, incidentally, was called ‘Ideal Partners’ –
LOL! Which all proves that retraining
racehorses is more of an art than a science, and in some cases - eg Count! – is
always a Work In Progress.
Big H is sixteen now, and doesn’t do much at all except keep
an eye on young horses that come to the farm. He takes his Herd Leader duties
very seriously, and gives each newcomer to the field a pep-talk on the house
rules before allowing them to graze and, eventually, to try a bit of respectful
mutual grooming. H is also very protective of people. If any of the youngsters
start getting too boisterous or bargie, H will place himself between them and
the humans – and the young four-leggeds know to keep their distance!
Ex-racehorses can be re-trained for many things, and most of them can happily
do more than one new job - but becoming
a Knight In Shining Armour surely takes
a VERY special ex-racer indeed!
