I'm interested to see your ex-racers please..

[Parachute]

Can people with ex-racers post photo's of their horses, before/after?
Also, if you have any of them actually racing it'd be amazing to see the difference please

 

[Holly Hocks]

Well this was one I was schooling to sell on - he was a big boy at over 17hh - this photo was taken a couple of weeks after we got him from the trainer's field.

This is my current one - photo taken 6 days after she came from the trainer's yard - she was bought to sell on, hence getting her out and about very quickly after getting her, but she is still with me as she suffered a lot of illness and injuries and I love her to pieces

This is her now (well last summer)

And this was my gorgeous boy who I lost in October 2011 aged 21 - an amazing horse who is totally irreplaceable.

 

[Parachute]

Absolutely beautiful! I'm so sorry you lost your boy, RIP Fella xx

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Oh dear! You asked for it!

My first retired racehorse is Kyle Of Lochalsh. Kyle was a decent horse, won his races, and retired at 7yo due to slipping the tendon off of his hock - hence why I have him. These days he is more of a companion/bum around horse as he is technically lame.

Kyle racing:

Just over a year later at his first ever show where he came spectacularly last because he was a complete twit to put it nicely The judge did say he would have won based on looks, conformation and sheer delight in life but unfortuntely he needs to keep 4 feet on the ground, to walk and trot instead of jog and canter, to make a proper assessment of him

The next one I took home was Jeff aka Jefertiti aka The Hocamaffe. Jeff won 7races and £64k in prize money in his career and retired at the age of 11 sound as a pound having just had the season of his life, winning 3 on the bounce, and his owner decided that he would never better that so ended him on a high.

Jeff racing:

Jeff showing about 10months out of racing, 2nd show, first on grass.

Not everything was plain sailing in his racing career ...

I then adopted Mister Laurel. Laurel raced from 2yo til the very end of his 4yo year (His last race was on New Years Eve!) Where he did himself a minor injury. Again he won his races and earnt his keep.

Laurel's first ever race as a 2yo which he won

Laurel's first show, 5months after his last race and 1 week after his initial turnout after a tendon injury - he was a complete gem bless him!

Last but not least is Gray Mountain. Again retired due to a tendon injury - not that serious - he had only done a complete rupture of his SDFT Silly horse! Gray, like the others, had won his races only he had much, muich more talent. Unfortunately he had sugarglass legs. He career ai was to be the Grand National but his supermodel pins cuirtailed that idea.

Gray quite literally 30seconds before he did his tendon and became mine:

At his 3rd show approx 15months after the SDFT

So there they all are!

P.S. I appologise if they come up huge! I will try and sort them asap if they do!

 

[Parachute]

Oh dear! You asked for it!

My first retired racehorse is Kyle Of Lochalsh. Kyle was a decent horse, won his races, and retired at 7yo due to slipping the tendon off of his hock - hence why I have him. These days he is more of a companion/bum around horse as he is technically lame.

Kyle racing:

Just over a year later at his first ever show where he came spectacularly last because he was a complete twit to put it nicely The judge did say he would have won based on looks, conformation and sheer delight in life but unfortuntely he needs to keep 4 feet on the ground, to walk and trot instead of jog and canter, to make a proper assessment of him

The next one I took home was Jeff aka Jefertiti aka The Hocamaffe. Jeff won 7races and £64k in prize money in his career and retired at the age of 11 sound as a pound having just had the season of his life, winning 3 on the bounce, and his owner decided that he would never better that so ended him on a high.

Jeff racing:

Jeff showing about 10months out of racing, 2nd show, first on grass.

Not everything was plain sailing in his racing career ...

I then adopted Mister Laurel. Laurel raced from 2yo til the very end of his 4yo year (His last race was on New Years Eve!) Where he did himself a minor injury. Again he won his races and earnt his keep.

Laurel's first ever race as a 2yo which he won

Laurel's first show, 5months after his last race and 1 week after his initial turnout after a tendon injury - he was a complete gem bless him!

Last but not least is Gray Mountain. Again retired due to a tendon injury - not that serious - he had only done a complete rupture of his SDFT Silly horse! Gray, like the others, had won his races only he had much, muich more talent. Unfortunately he had sugarglass legs. He career ai was to be the Grand National but his supermodel pins cuirtailed that idea.

Gray quite literally 30seconds before he did his tendon and became mine:

At his 3rd show approx 15months after the SDFT

So there they all are!

P.S. I appologise if they come up huge! I will try and sort them asap if they do!

Wow, you're very very lucky. All very nice, I love the racing pictures too! Stunning! xx

 

[Lolo]

My sister has 3!

Reg was her first, and he is still her main boy. He's huge, nearing 17hh, and was actually her first horse as well. He'd done nothing but race (p2p and hurdles) when she started riding him, and he's just a charming horse. They event at BE100 level, and do a bit of RoR showing.

Bee, who is now 6. She raced once, came out of racing as she'd broken her leg, and then came into work last summer. She then injured herself again, and was restarted this January. She's pretty cool, if too clever for words! Hopefully she'll do PC Novice this year, and some RoR challenge stuff, if she doesn't get sent for Tesco burgers!

And finally Lilly, who no one is 100% convinced about whether she raced- the feeling is she did, but in unregistered P2Ps. She's very cool, sparky and keen and clever. She's 16hh, and pretty much the perfect JRN type horse! Al took her XC for the first time ever today (not Lily's first time- she's done a few seasons of BE90/BE100 before) and they jumped all the Novice fences and a fair few Intermediates :O

As shown here!

http://www.youtube.com/user/SomethingsUp55
This is Al's youtube channel- she updates it every week or so now, and it just follows the three ex-racer's antics.

 

[Parachute]

Wow, what beautiful horses!!