A Busy Off Season

It has been very busy during our ‘off season’ since the racing on the turf came to a close. Although we haven’t had many runners on the all weather we have all been kept very busy with yearlings coming in and prepping the yard for the older horses to come back in after their end of season holiday. It has been quieter on the racing front due to a long season on the all weather at the beginning of the season before the turf and then we had a long season on the turf, so the majority of horses are having the well earned holiday and the other horses that are ready to run on the all weather will hit the ground running in full force in January with a few runners running in December.

Walking to the gallops on a chilly morning.

We have many new faces on the yard with the yearlings coming in and getting into their new routine here at HQ! They have been beautifully broken in at the pre-trainers and I also think their individual temperaments are a credit to themselves with their attitude towards their work. A couple of them are going through a growth spurt and others are soaking up the work that they are currently having, they will continue in this manner for a couple of more weeks before they have a couple of easy weeks over the Christmas period. It works fantastically well doing it this way as they have a good amount of time under saddle and to get into a good routine before having an easier time before then getting back  into their routine and with the lead up to the turf season ’24.

It is great to get to know the yearlings characters and what cheeky aspects they might have, some are cheekier than others! We were very happy to see some of the older horses come back in yesterday after their winter holiday, and they will start on their fitness programme with lots of walking and then progressing onto trotting, although this is a slow and long process it is paramount to do this work before they start cantering and galloping to help strengthen up their body in the correct manner; it would be a bit like us going to the gym and doing a hard session straight away!

Debrief after having been up the gallops

Although we have had a cold snap of weather with minus degrees and a light dusting of snow for several days it fortunately didn’t stop play and we managed to get the horses out and exercised safely although they might have been a little fresher!

Everyone wrapped up warm!

You will be hearing from Ed next time and his round up on the magnificent year we have had, in the meant time I hope you have a lovely December and lead up to Christmas!

Reggie having a treat after his trotting work.