28th February 2014

A wet miserable day, we were spoilt for a day or 2 and now normal service has resumed. Thankfully, tomorrow looks better. The work I am having to put into the gallop in all the wet weather is ridiculous. Tonight it was only bad light that stopped me.

All bar 2 horses had quiet canters on the wood-chip the other 2 went to the grass. Sam and I backed 3 babies, a 2 year old by Kayf Tara and a Youmazain colt both behaved beautifully. The 3rd was a different ball game, she arrived with a  shocking reputation and her mother apparently, was the bitch from hell. Her daughter is similar. Sam made plenty of noise prior to getting on her, she walked around no problem at all and then the switch in her head was triggered and she deposited Sam into the ground. Luckily, a nose bleed was the worse he suffered. What she hadn't bargained for was Sam and I, neither of whom would be beaten. Eventually, she was walking and trotting around the lunge pen no bother at all. How she will start off tomorrow is anyone's guess but I assure you she will end up behaving by the time we've finished.

Apple Tree has a habit of playing with his top bolt. Sholto told me this evening that Apple Tree woke him up at 4 a.m. and that the other horses must be very tired as they couldn't possibly sleep with that din going on and that I should Crib Box the bolt!

27th February 2014

Drinkwater junior was in to help out and gain some experience. We schooled Singlefarmpayment, Love Manhattan, Rebekah Rabbit, Richard Rabbit, At Work Bleu and Cavite Epsilon. Hopstrings and Max Ward jumped 8 hurdles. All the horses jumped well. Rebekah Rabbit, Richard Rabbit and Cavite Epsilon will be going to Garthorpe in the hope the maiden divides on the day. Max Ward will run at Southwell on Monday in a 2.4 hurdle and Hopstrings is pencilled in at Huntingdon on the Wednesday of Cheltenham. Alice will be in charge at Huntingdon as I will be at the sale with Saint Charles who has come out of his race in great shape.

Chiquilline pulled my arms out this morning and we are aiming him at Warwick a week Sunday with  the Liverpool Foxhunters being his main target. I'm not sure if Tessa shares my intentions but she has thought about it previously.

If your ever thinking of applying for planning permission in Herefordshire make sure you do it when your young as the chances are you'll be in a wooden box by the time its granted.

26th February 2014

Illicit Illusion has come out of race well and we will now pencil in Whitfield on the 16th March.

This morning we worked Cavite Epsilon, Hopstrings and 2 4 year olds cantered through behind us. The others stayed on the wood-chip. The babies were long reined or went in the school.

I have my VAT return to do so am spending this evening in the office getting all the paper work up together.

There was no video at North Carlton as The Blankney Hunt couldn't afford to give the winning owners a free copy - I had no idea that gesture is compulsory?  They not only sold out of race cards but made the decision for us not to have the races filmed. They will be bleating that their p2p doesn't make any money -  it isn't difficult to see why. A very poorly run P2P that I will be hard pushed to support again in any shape or form. We put 60 pounds on the gate alone as I know of 6 people that came solely to watch our horse. Some Hunts do not help themselves and the sooner they are weeded out the better.

25th February 2014

Illicit Illusion finished 4th, for whatever reason he lost his position down the back second time and then ran on around the bottom bend to get himself back into the race. Had he of been able to hold his position down the back I think he'd have been very close.

This morning we worked Rebekah Rabbit, Max Ward, Richard Rabbit and Chiquilline, the rest cantered on the wood-chip.

24th February 2014

Yesterday was a long but very happy day, I rode out 3 lots before setting off to North Carlton where Saint Charles proved to be the horse we know his is. He has a touch of class and Sam gave him a super ride taking up the running 3 out, he went on to win hard held. He now has an entry in The Festival Sale at Cheltenham and I think he will be one of the stand out lots. He certainly deserves to be. His time yesterday was very quick and he beat a good horse of Waley-Cohen's by King's Theatre with his head in his chest.

Note to self - North Carlton is very sharp and choose the horses very carefully that you send there. The ground was Good to Firm, Firm in places! Cavite Epsilon stayed in the lorry park and will possibly run at Garthorpe next Sunday with Rebekah Rabbit.

Illicit Illusion runs tomorrow at Leicester, I hope it rains, after the few drying days we've had the ground has become very dead and tiring. He's in good shape and will put his best foot forward.

Simon Squirrel and Kelsey went for an away gallop this morning.

Liz and Hugh Webster were her to their horse by Apple Tree jump 6 fences, he is pencilled in at Larkhill on 16th March.

22nd February 2014

I will have to send Alice to Carlton on her own, listening to the Welsh boys will be painful! The French just didn't turn up last night and played appallingly. Sholto and his under 8's at Stow would have beaten them yesterday, so they've not a lot to brag about.

If Ireland turn over England this afternoon I will be too upset to do the blog.

Cavite Epsilon had another pop this morning with Sam, I had been riding him prior to this morning so Sam just got a feel of him. My fear is the ground will be too quick for him tomorrow and should that be the case he most certainly will not run. I will have a walk of the track and we will go from there. It is 1 week off 3 years since he last ran and won his maiden. Sam Waley-Cohen rode him on that occasion and his following ride was Long Run winning the Gold Cup. Saint Charles will love the good ground and is a certain runner. Cavite Epsilon, Rebekah Rabbit and Richard Rabbit all have entries at Garthorpe the following week, surely, they will divide their maiden at entry.

The horses are starting to really come to hand now and March will be a busy month.

21st February 2014

Cavite Epsilon, Saint Charles, Love Manhattan and Richard Rabbit all schooled. Cavite Epsilon and Saint Charles will run on Sunday at North Carlton. The others all had quiet canters on the wood-chip and the babies went in the school.

Norma and Geoff Harris were here to see their 2 babies, a filly by Kayf Tara and a colt by Youmazain. Both horses are progressing well and we will soon be riding them.

This afternoon I moved the fences onto fresh ground. Tom Campbell was here for a few routine injections and ate all our bread and chocolate so I had no lunch. Tonight, I will silence my phone light the fire and watch Wales hopefully get hammered by the French! I have a large Welsh following on this blog so a bit of stick always makes for good sport. Viva La France!

20th February 2014

Robbie Rabbit, Captain Emergency, Mr Dinosaur, Detective Potato, Rebekah Rabbit, Illicit Illusion and Kelsey all worked on the grass, well Mr Dinosaur and Detective Potato just cantered through. Rebekah Rabbit and Richard Rabbit will have entries at Garthorpe next weekend.

Sam (AP) Drinkwater spent the morning telling us that he was now a highly sought after jockey and would be flying in a helicopter from Lincoln to Fontwell. I have a friend who flies helicopters so made enquires for him. Sadly, due to air traffic control around Heathrow he would have to fly around the west side of London to get to Fontwell. As he only has 50 minuets and a journey time in the helicopter is 2.5 hours he will now stay in Lincoln and come home in the horsebox!

Below is a picture of Ellin's Tower who has been here for loose schooling. Sam in the saddle.

 

I forgot to upload a picture on Monday of Sholto taking Chiquilline for a lead out on Sunday after his Haydock run on the Saturday. We are on skeleton staff over the weekends and Sholto is always up for helping out. After he had finished dealing with Chiquilline I made him muck out 35 stables! He soon lost the hoodie!

 

 

19th February 2014

Alice and Emma rode out under the stars this morning as Alice went to Doncaster and Emma went to school her eventer. Once all the horses were ridden Sam and I took 2 for an away gallop. We worked an unnamed horse by Apple Tree and Max Ward. The temptation was too great so we jumped a few hurdles and fences whilst going about our business. Max Ward has an entry at Lingfield next Wednesday in a maiden hurdle and we 'll decide whether to run nearer the time. The unnamed Apple Tree has a pencil mark in the planner for Larkhill in a few weeks time.

Illicit Illusion has an entry at Leicester next week in a Maiden Hunter Chase, as much as I want him to win his Intermediate they are all being lost to the weather and he needs a run. Again, we will decide what to do nearer the time and Sam, I am sure will be fingering through the planner. Will Biddick has been booked to ride as Sam has chosen another in the race! Sam's dad owns the horse and he makes the decisions, NOT Sam! We both agreed that having Will will be a huge bonus.

I am able to stop kicking myself as the 3 mile maiden at North Carlton is for 8 year olds and over, if you have an 8 year old maiden you have problems !

Fiona Gordon was on the phone and is sending a Kyllachy filly to be broken-in, Mrs Gordon sends me one every year for which I am always grateful.

18th February 2014

Saint Charles and Cavite Epsilon will head to North Carlton on Sunday, Richard Rabbit worked well but I can't believe the race will divide and he will only benefit from being given another week or 2.

Rose Newell was here to look at Hopstrings and made a few tweaks to her back. DBS were here to see a couple of store horses heading to their May sale otherwise it was a pretty routine day.

17th February 2014

Freddy Fox hit the crossbar yesterday finishing 2nd 1/2 a length behind a horse with more experience. Sam had him in a great position throughout, he showed a little inexperience when they quicken down the back for the second time but after a little squeeze he was soon back in contention. Another 50 yards and he would have won as he was closing the gap with very stride after flying the last fence. Annoying as it is, it was a great run and he will be hard to beat next time.   He has come out of the race very well.

Chiquilline has also come out of his race in good order, I have pencilled in 9th March at Warwick for him.

On Sunday, Richard Rabbit, Saint Charles and Cavite Epsilon have entries at North Carlton. The short maiden only has 24 odd entries and I find it hard to believe they will divide on the day. I am kicking myself for not putting one in the 3 mile maiden. The ground is currently good and 2 of the aforementioned will certainly run should they work well this week. I will decide which maiden to take after they've galloped tomorrow. It maybe that the 2 of them get on the box in case they do divide - stranger things happen! The maiden at Badbury Rings is for 5 year olds and over, quite what that is achieving for anyone I don't know.

Heather Haddock and Neal Griffiths were here today to see Max Ward who may start in a maiden hurdle at Huntingdon in a couple of weeks time. This morning we schooled Richard Rabbit, Cavite Epsilon, Saint Charles and an unnamed horse by Apple Tree. The rest had canters on the wood-chip and some jumped in the school.

15th February 2014

I can't recall a worse night of weather, it really was something else and we, although on Cotswold brash are sodden, the water is lying in fields on hills. We are so wet it washed away part of my wood-chip gallop, which hasn't happened in 9 years. Thankfully, it was only a small area and I was soon able to put it back. If we had that weather on consecutive days and nights my gallop would be at the bottom of the hill. It simply can't take anymore.

A frantic morning getting everything done before setting off to Haydock. I've a great bunch of staff and they all worked their socks off to achieve what had to be done before we set off in appalling driving conditions. Riding out this morning was horrendous, the wind and rain cut us in half but we weren't to be beaten and all the horses cantered on the wood-chip.

Chiquilline ran a blinder over a trip that is too far for him at that level, there has been comments about the ground being his undoing but in my opinion it was the trip and not the ground. He handles soft ground and won his restricted on it. He collected his owner somewhere in the region of 900 pounds and would have struggled to do that winning a mid week Hunter Chase. We will always run into horses Hunter Chasing that deserve respect and may as well compete for decent prize money when its on offer. Sam gave him a lovely ride. No criticism of Sam at all but he just travelled into the race too soon bearing in mind we always had our doubts about the trip. Sam did the right thing and didn't disappoint him.

Freddy Fox has an engagement at Barbury Castle tomorrow and lets hope he can get his head in front to make a great weekend of things.

Knight of Noir won again at Wincanton today, another great advert for UK point to point horses.

14th February 2014

Valentines day so Sam produced a beautiful cake at breakfast for the girls! It looked as bad as it tasted by all accounts, stick to riding horses Sam, your good at that. I stuck to my toast. Drinkwater junior was in this morning, Joe is a lovely quiet rider and anyone who needs a novice rider should look no further. We schooled Saint Charles, Cavite Epsilon, Max Ward, Hopstrings, unnamed horse by Apple Tree and Chiquilline. Chiquilline only jumped 3 fences just to get his eye in for tomorrow's race at Haydock.I haven't looked as yet but if they have had the rain we have had today there must surely be an inspection. At one point this afternoon it was coming at us from every possible angle, including off the ground! I am sick of it but many others have temporarily lost their homes.

Sophie arrived at school today and after taking Tilly in she returned to the car to be told by the headmaster not to drive it that it had just deposited its oil all over the floor. 3 hours later the AA man confirmed it wasn't her oil and that she had merely parked on someone else's spillage. In the meantime I had let rip at the body repair company who fixed the car last week and my insurance company in no uncertain terms. If they were in any doubt where they stood with me they certainly knew by the time I had finished. I then had to ring them back before lunch and apologise! My premiums have no doubt increased!

13th February 2014

All the horses cantered on the wood-chip, At Work Bleu, Max Ward and unnamed horses by Apple Tree, Flemensfirth  and Robin Des Champs all jumped in the school with Sam.

Once the horses were all done up I headed to Ledbury to see what is going on at the new farm, it is obviously wet but the buildings are currently under repair. I meet a gentleman involved in approving the planning, he was very much a racing man and does not foresee any issues from his point of view. I also had a meeting with a water man who will be rigging up the already existing bore hole to supply water to the barn and house. The property is currently spring fed, although the current system has proved to be more than adequate I could not sleep at night not knowing that there is a back up in place should the spring fail for any reason.

12th February 2014

Chiquilline worked on the grass and may head to Haydock on Saturday. He has got to learn to settle if he's going to be competitive in Hunter chases, until he does that a he'll always be doing too much too soon.

A trainer told me today that he didn't know if he was running his horse on Saturday at Haydock and wouldn't know until Friday morning. I wonder how he manges to train them in the build up to a race if he doesn't know when they are likely to run? I am sure he does know but just far too bombastic to give a answer. You either plan to run or you don't.

The horses that worked on the grass yesterday all had a quiet walk, trot and hack canter on the wood-chip. Sam jumped At Work Bleu, unnamed horses by Apple Tree and Robin Des Champs in the school.

For once the gods were on our side and the heavens opened after we had finished riding out. I took my lorry in for its 12 week inspection, although, it has hardly left the place for 12 weeks.  VOSA and their ridiculous rules, everyone with a lorry has to be treated like a nerd in the herd as nowadays no one can't see past tick boxes. It is no wonder most trainers are now owning multiply 2 boxes. I hate them as the horses, in my opinion don't travel well in them. Well they never did in mine anyway.

Sophie's new car has broken down and she's been sat near Tewkesbury for a fair while waiting to be resucued. We are now the proud members of some motoring organisation that will save us when we break down. I just hope I'm not in a wooden box by the time they arrive!

11th February 2014

It has been a pillar to post day, I stepped foot in the house for 20 minuets for a cup of tea around 10 a.m. We took 4 lots to the grass in pouring rain and howling winds - not much fun for anyone. The upside was the horses all worked well. All we need now is some dry days and better ground. I can't foresee that happening in the near future!

Tom Campbell was in to trach wash Chiquilline , I now have to ring him to chat through the results, on first glance it looks very satisfactory.

When I finished for lunch at 2 p.m. I headed to Witney as I am sick of having soaking wet feet from 6.30 a.m.onwards, typically, they didn't have the boots I wanted in my size and I now have to suffer for a few more days while they are ordered. I then went to watch Sholto play rugby against Stow, they won 45 -15. Sholto scored 3 tries, it was then off to collect Panda from ballet before getting back to evening stables, chickens, ponies and cook supper. I should think I'm every woman's dream husband!

I'm off to bed after speaking to Tom.

10th February 2014

Cavite Epsilon, Love Manhattan, Freddy Fox and an unnamed 4 year old by Apple Tree all schooled over 12 fences a piece. The rest had quiet canters on the wood-chip.

We are aiming to run Freddy Fox at Barbury Castle this weekend, Illicit Illusion is in at Thorpe Lodge but an unlikely starter. Sam will be needed at Barbury and there is no chance of him doing the 2 meeting. Illicit Illusion is likely to go to Chaddesley the following weekend or wait for Garnons.

Panda is hassling me so I will have to make this short!

7th February 2014

It has been pointed out to me by Tilly that we are now in February, I have been listing my blogs as January!

Susie Sheep and Chiquilline had to miss their engagements at Larkhill today. We carried out some routine tests yesterday and they simply didn't come up to scratch.  They will have an easy week and some treatment. This morning all horses had quiet canters and the barn was fogged. 

This afternoon I took a trip to the new farm outside Ledbury, work on the barns has started. When we will ever get diggers on the land is anyone's guess. This weather is frustrating in more ways than one.

6th January 2014

Unnamed 4 year olds by Robin Des Champs and Apple Tree both worked on the grass many others cantered.

Richard Rabbit and an unnamed 4 year old by Flemensfirth went off and jumped some logs and a few other things around Charlie's farm. Richard Rabbit was the lead horse, we then jumped some babies fences and regulation hurdles.

The decision was made for us as Bangor was predictably called off, Chiquilline will now run in The Coronation Cup at Larkhill. Write him off at your peril, he will run a big race if he settles. Susie Sheep will run in the fillies maiden. Anthony Webber was here this afternoon checking their backs and made one or 2 tweaks putting them right.

Allan Munnis dropped off a Lucarno filly to be broken-in, she will in time go to Anthony Honeyball. She arrived with a hind leg warning, apparently, they are active!

Kibo jumped a few poles and a baby fence in the school under Sam, he jumps very well and will be heading back to Kim Bailey early next week.

5th January 2014

Yesterdays trip to Ireland I hope proves to be successful, we will know in June 2015. I bought 2 lovely foals for a client and am very excited by them. One is by Scorpion lot 64 the other Stowaway lot 127, a visit to Tattersall Ireland's web site will allow you to see their pedigrees. Both have fabulous pages and will hopefully give the man a return on his investment.

This morning we schooled Susie Sheep, Rebekah Rabbit, Love Manhattan and Freddy Fox. Cavite Epsilon, Chiquilline, Max Ward and an unnamed 4 year old by Robin Des Champs all cantered through on the grass. The others had quiet canters on the wood-chip.

I am sick to death of the wet weather and couldn't believe all the water just lying in tram lines as I flew out of the country the other evening.

3rd January 2014

All the horses cantered on the wood-chip and the babies went in the school or were long reined.

Chiquilline has an entry in the Coronation cup at Larkhill on Saturday, he's very well and if he goes there he'll run a very big race. Looking at the ground and weather forecast for Ludlow and Bangor I would expect better ground at Larkhill. Susie Sheep will take her chance in the fillies maiden and Illicit Illusion has an entry at Chaddesley Corbett on Sunday. If the rain forecast arrives, there is every chance he too will run.

We had to rush rush around a little as I am now sitting in Heathrow waiting for my flight to Dublin. I am looking at potentially buying some foals for a client tomorrow. I expect the ones I like will make too much money and I won't be buying for the sake of it.

The rugby on Saturday was disappointing, not only the result but there were simply too many unforced errors and England were pushed off the ball far too much in the first half. Twelvetrees stands out at gloucester but at international level I felt he was found out - a poor game.

Yesterday I went to look at a full brother foal to Sprit of Shankly, he's a smasher.  He would, in my opinion have been one of the stand out lots had he had been offered at Doncaster last week.

01 February 2014

A long morning as we took 3 lots over to the grass. Susie Sheep worked with Rebekah Rabbit and Freddy Fox lead by Chiquilline. Susie Sheep will have an entry at Larkhill, Freddy Fox will head to Barbury Castle the following week. Cavite Epsilon and an unnamed 4 year old by Robin Des Champs, Illicit Illusion and Saint Charles cantered through as did unnamed Flemensfirth 4 year old, Singlefarmpayment, Max Ward and an unnamed 3 year old by Manduro. Illicit Illusion has entries at Wadebridge and Chaddesley Corbett next weekend. We got off our last lot at 1 P.M having got on our first at 6.30 A.M.

I am hoping England have a better 2nd half of the match as they have made too many unforced errors and are getting pushed off the ball too easily at the moment. If they get beat my weekend will be ruined as it takes me a day or 2 to forget about it.