amage
Well-Known Member
I will preface this thread by saying I have no interest in starting a row, I am posting in part for selfish reasons in that I'm guessing it will feel cathartic to write it all down and maybe it will be of interest to some.
Very often on this forum there are negative posts surrounding racing and equine fatalities. Racing people are deemed hard and uncaring and try as some of us do to protest this is not the case it is often not understood. So here it is...a racing persons perspective of a horrible day when we brought home an empty box. We are only a very small operation, I have posted a few times on here about some success we have had rehabbing horses from injuries and either watching them go off to new careers or getting successfully back to the racecourse. Through this success we were sent a very talented horse who had some injuries but was very talented. His owners asked us to see what we could do as they were not willing to give up on him without trying everything. We took him on fully expecting he would at best be a candidate for a new career. He arrived, not a very happy horse with damaged tendons, some back trouble and looking very poor. His previous trainer was not the nicest person even though this lovely horse had been successful for him...one of those who gives the game a bad name. And so we began a very extensive program involving laser therapy, ice vibe boots and conditioning work in the sea. We were successful....I am very proud to say I would challenge anyone to find any evidence of his old tendon injuries yesterday morning. And we started a bit of work. Slowly but surely a lovely personality developed, buzzy sharp and very very hot to ride he was like a pet lamb in the stable. The owners children would come to visit and he'd stand like a rock for cuddles and grooming. Owners asked what he was suited to do....genuinely too sharp for reschooling (however quiet he was in the stable he was the direct opposite under saddle) OH suggested a full vet work up and if he got the go ahead we'd try some canter work and see how he went. So he went for a work up....the vet was told nothing about his issues....and even better the vet could find no issues. So he started cantering, and he got better and better and better. He loved his work, looked a million dollars, had some niggles but came through them and then in January the big day came...he ran in a hurdle race. He pulled up two from home having just run out of puff but we were ecstatic. His Jockey gave a glowing report, the owners were over the moon and we cried with happiness in the stable yard after at how fabulous he was and how well he came through his race. That day signalled a change, the horses confidence soared and he marched around the yard like he owned the place. We struggled a bit to find suitable ground all year, first it was too soft then to hard but we ran him a few times, never winning but running very respectably. He was our superstar and every day he went out we were so so proud of him. Then yesterday we went off to run at his syndicate of owners local track. He looked a million dollars and positively strutted around the parade ring. He had been settled before the race, had a snooze while I plaited him, posed for some cuddle pictures (something I never really do but something made me do it yesterday). He cruised down to the start and ambled around with his ears pricked waiting for the off. And then they were racing....he settled beautifully and jumped like a stag winging his fences for fun. Until the fifth....the horse slightly in front made a horrendously mistake and fell, our fella winged it and jumped super...he jumped so super he landed so fast that he crashed into the other horse. The other horse was upside down and our beautiful horse crashed into his back leg and the crash broke his shoulder. Both horses got up and cantered away but an excellent groundsman stopped our fella. We were at the far end of the tack praying and hoping that the lovely bay galloping towards us was our star. Both horses had sheepskin nosebands and white Australian cheekers....but the lovely bay galloping towards us was not our horse. Ours was being held at the other end of the home straight. My chest still hurts today from running to him. There was nothing could be done....his shoulder was broken irreparably. The team of vets were excellent as was the blue cross horse ambulance. He fell on the first circuit, by the time the horses were passing him on the second circuit he was already sedated. The saddle was pulled off and thirty seconds later he was gone. The walk to the weigh room was the longest in the world with blurry eyes and a heaving chest as I prayed and hoped our jockey was ok. He'd been picked up in the ambulance but we didn't know. And then he met us with tears in his eyes and told us he tried everything in midair to avoid the other horse, that our luck was so bad that it was the fact that he jumped the fence so well that caused it. That if he hadn't jumped so super he may have landed closer and been able to get around the horse. That he had met two other jockeys who had ridden the horse before inside and they were gutted. Back to the stable yard with just a broken bridle and a quarter sheet, complete strangers coming up to squeeze a shoulder, offer tea and commiserate. The three hour journey home was interspersed with texts and phone calls all saying how sorry they were.
And today we are numb...the yard is quiet, even my terrier who spends hours playing with this particular horse over the stable door has noted he's not here. Like I said we are a very small operation, yet the biggest trainers in Ireland who wouldn't even know us stopped to shake hands and say how sorry they are. Please do not ever believe racing folk don't care...we have spent most of today in tears. We may not show it in public all the time but we are heartbroken and everyone in that stable yard last night felt our loss just as they understand the utter euphoria when it goes well....and going well does not mean winning!
Like I said maybe this post will be misconstrued but I feel a small bit better after writing it all down.
Very often on this forum there are negative posts surrounding racing and equine fatalities. Racing people are deemed hard and uncaring and try as some of us do to protest this is not the case it is often not understood. So here it is...a racing persons perspective of a horrible day when we brought home an empty box. We are only a very small operation, I have posted a few times on here about some success we have had rehabbing horses from injuries and either watching them go off to new careers or getting successfully back to the racecourse. Through this success we were sent a very talented horse who had some injuries but was very talented. His owners asked us to see what we could do as they were not willing to give up on him without trying everything. We took him on fully expecting he would at best be a candidate for a new career. He arrived, not a very happy horse with damaged tendons, some back trouble and looking very poor. His previous trainer was not the nicest person even though this lovely horse had been successful for him...one of those who gives the game a bad name. And so we began a very extensive program involving laser therapy, ice vibe boots and conditioning work in the sea. We were successful....I am very proud to say I would challenge anyone to find any evidence of his old tendon injuries yesterday morning. And we started a bit of work. Slowly but surely a lovely personality developed, buzzy sharp and very very hot to ride he was like a pet lamb in the stable. The owners children would come to visit and he'd stand like a rock for cuddles and grooming. Owners asked what he was suited to do....genuinely too sharp for reschooling (however quiet he was in the stable he was the direct opposite under saddle) OH suggested a full vet work up and if he got the go ahead we'd try some canter work and see how he went. So he went for a work up....the vet was told nothing about his issues....and even better the vet could find no issues. So he started cantering, and he got better and better and better. He loved his work, looked a million dollars, had some niggles but came through them and then in January the big day came...he ran in a hurdle race. He pulled up two from home having just run out of puff but we were ecstatic. His Jockey gave a glowing report, the owners were over the moon and we cried with happiness in the stable yard after at how fabulous he was and how well he came through his race. That day signalled a change, the horses confidence soared and he marched around the yard like he owned the place. We struggled a bit to find suitable ground all year, first it was too soft then to hard but we ran him a few times, never winning but running very respectably. He was our superstar and every day he went out we were so so proud of him. Then yesterday we went off to run at his syndicate of owners local track. He looked a million dollars and positively strutted around the parade ring. He had been settled before the race, had a snooze while I plaited him, posed for some cuddle pictures (something I never really do but something made me do it yesterday). He cruised down to the start and ambled around with his ears pricked waiting for the off. And then they were racing....he settled beautifully and jumped like a stag winging his fences for fun. Until the fifth....the horse slightly in front made a horrendously mistake and fell, our fella winged it and jumped super...he jumped so super he landed so fast that he crashed into the other horse. The other horse was upside down and our beautiful horse crashed into his back leg and the crash broke his shoulder. Both horses got up and cantered away but an excellent groundsman stopped our fella. We were at the far end of the tack praying and hoping that the lovely bay galloping towards us was our star. Both horses had sheepskin nosebands and white Australian cheekers....but the lovely bay galloping towards us was not our horse. Ours was being held at the other end of the home straight. My chest still hurts today from running to him. There was nothing could be done....his shoulder was broken irreparably. The team of vets were excellent as was the blue cross horse ambulance. He fell on the first circuit, by the time the horses were passing him on the second circuit he was already sedated. The saddle was pulled off and thirty seconds later he was gone. The walk to the weigh room was the longest in the world with blurry eyes and a heaving chest as I prayed and hoped our jockey was ok. He'd been picked up in the ambulance but we didn't know. And then he met us with tears in his eyes and told us he tried everything in midair to avoid the other horse, that our luck was so bad that it was the fact that he jumped the fence so well that caused it. That if he hadn't jumped so super he may have landed closer and been able to get around the horse. That he had met two other jockeys who had ridden the horse before inside and they were gutted. Back to the stable yard with just a broken bridle and a quarter sheet, complete strangers coming up to squeeze a shoulder, offer tea and commiserate. The three hour journey home was interspersed with texts and phone calls all saying how sorry they were.
And today we are numb...the yard is quiet, even my terrier who spends hours playing with this particular horse over the stable door has noted he's not here. Like I said we are a very small operation, yet the biggest trainers in Ireland who wouldn't even know us stopped to shake hands and say how sorry they are. Please do not ever believe racing folk don't care...we have spent most of today in tears. We may not show it in public all the time but we are heartbroken and everyone in that stable yard last night felt our loss just as they understand the utter euphoria when it goes well....and going well does not mean winning!
Like I said maybe this post will be misconstrued but I feel a small bit better after writing it all down.
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