Greatwood - The Book

There has been a bit of a silence from this end, to say the least.

I have been flying around, but the main reason for the lack of news is because I have been asked by Harper Collins Non Fiction to write a book about Greatwood.
This is great news but the writing of the book is going to take a huge amount of time. The deadline is at the beginning of March, which in itself poses a problem because of all the work over the winter when the horses have to come in. But hey ho.
It is exciting to have been asked and I hope I do it justice.
This brings me to another point, having to write 75,000 words by March will probably mean that I will have precious little time to write the blog. Therefore, we have decided to wind up the blog, but we will continue to keep you up to date with news on the main site.
Just before I sign off (for the time being anyway), I have to ask something.
Does anyone in Wiltshire have a good tempered,and good Jack Russell dog? I don't care if he isn't the prettiest....
Mabel, (see on website under 'About Us') is my sweet Jack Russell. We have kept the same family for something like 60 or 70 years. She is the last in the line and I can't find a dog that has long enough legs....!!
If you do know of anybody it would be great, I would really appreciate it.
Anyway, all from me for a bit, I will still write the newsletter.....
Thanks for reading this over the last few months.
Best, Helen

The Arrival of New Horses

We have had such a lot to do prior to the visit of HRH, The Princess Royal, I haven't been able to get round to writing about the arrival of three more horses.
The first to arrive was: Red Beaufighter by Sheikh Albadou out of Tart and a Half
(the dam also the dam of the talented Assertive)
Red Beaufighter is 9 years old and the poor chap had a decidedly uninspiring racing career. We were asked to take him because his previous owner didn't have suitable facilities to care for him properly. He had escaped from his field and had been hit by a car, so she would have had to keep him in his stable pretty much forever.
Hard on his heels, Craig Hill Cracker arrived, by Michelozzo out of Tuftarney, a 10 year old gelding with an equally uninspiring career. We had been asked to take this chap in because of lack of facilities and his future looked uncertain. He seems a nice little fellow albeit with the worst ear plaque that I think I have ever seen. This condition has made him extraordinarily headshy and I think we will have a bit of a battle to try and help ease the situation.
Then we had the return of Quixotry, who is now 18. He came back to us because his elderly companion had to be put to sleep and he would have been on his own.
Quix made us chuckle a little. He jumped down from his box with alacrity, had a quick look round (obviously remembering his old home,) strode into his stable and proceeded to munch hay.
His neighbours however, nearly died of a heart attack. Quix is now almost white and as he came into the yard, they all jumped and hurtled about with their eyes popping out of their heads. It all settled down after a bit, but we have a job with integrating very light grays into the herd, they always seem to get bullied. Horse racism!
Anyway, despite worrying that his new companions may plague him when we turned them all out into the field, it was fine. Although, Quix clearly remembered that when he was with us last, he had been out in the fields with the mares. He proceeded to spend quite alot of time gazing longingly over the fence at the 'girls', they didn't help the situation by flirting on the other side.
We have new stables being built at the moment...pictures to follow.

Transpique bowing for the occasion. The Princess Royal was highly entertained by his performance, although after it was all over Coudy was shaking like a leaf.

The Wooden Spoon Unsaddling Enclosure & Willie Carson

I've been hanging on a little to try and get some good photographs of our Royal visit yesterday, but they are proving a little slow in coming so I thought I would write a bit about it and then post some pictures later on. (I have to say that I am hugely impressed that Kim Bailey, our Patron, has already some pictures of The Princess Royal and Transpique on his website: www.kimbaileyracing.com). Anyway, after weeks of preparation, finally the day of reckoning arrived....The Royal Visit to Greatwood. Practically all of us had difficulty sleeping the night before, and if we did sleep we all had nightmares about what could go wrong. We took one nightmare scenario out of the equation by removing Whiskey, Georgina and Marshall out of the stables adjacent to the marquee just in case the close proximity of the microphone sent them barmy (it would have been difficult to get them out because there was a huge tea urn in the way). We had pretty much thought of everything, even putting signs on the tiniest little steps to prevent headlong falls.
Covered Occasions of Marlborough had expertly erected the most splendig marquee actually on the yard.
Dr Willie Carson OBE kicked off the day by kindly agreeing to present certificates to those children that had successfully completed the Open College Network accredited Greatwood Horse Power Course. He was very encouraging to the children and told them that everyone has a particular gift, and that they should make sure to find theirs....his gift was being small. He rode 4,000 winners worldwide and was champion jockey five times.

All was spick and span, there was a bit of a red alert when it looked as if HRH was running early but it all went to plan. The Princess Royal was cheered by the children that took part in Greatwood Horse Power and they waved flags. Laura, was presented to the Princess Royal and she talked to her about her work with the children. The Princess Royal had a chance to see some of the work by the children as she passed through the classroom to see the Wooden Spoon Unsaddling Enclosure. The Princess Royal is Patron of The Wooden Spoon.
We are thrilled with this additional facility at Greatwood which was funded entirely by The Wooden Spoon, it comprises of a further loo, and washhand basins, a quiet room, and a kitchen....luxury indeed.
Her Royal Highness returned to the marquee to unveil the plaque, and before her departure she was amused because we had arranged for Transpique to take a bow.
We were complimented by the Royal Party because it had all gone like clockwork...all the rehearsals and hard work was worth it!

Almost Injury Free

The week without Robbie and Sue has been fine, although Lara their dog has been a bit worried without them. We had a slight deluge of injuries for a few days....BT's gash, followed by Whiskey and then Sunshine Boy.
Whiskey came in with a huge left foreleg, he just had the tiniest mark below the knee, and I think that he had been fooling about and maybe got his leg caught somewhere which then got inflamed. He came in for a few days with Marshall and George(ina) and then was joined by Sunshine Boy, who came in with an equally massive leg.
Sunshine had suffered from lymphangitis a few weeks ago and it had obviously reoccurred. He looked perfectly alright but nevertheless we took his temperature and it was 39.2. I doubted this and thought that maybe the thermometer had broken, we tested it on Warren but it was ok...unlike poor Sunshine. Anyway, a cocktail of various drugs sorted him out and he was back to normal in a few days.
It has been a relatively quiet few days really, the yard are all out and about undertaking a quad bike training course, and we have moved Deano's from one field to another. Deano's, being a creature of habit, was highly indignant about the whole affair. We took his breakfast out to him and he was so busy hurtling about that he had overlooked the fact that Paul had taken advantage of the situation and scoffed his breakfast as well as his own. When Deano's realised this, his indignation knew no bounds.

Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal

We have just received confirmation that HRH The Princess Royal is coming to Greatwood on the 21st September. We have been very fortunate in that The Wooden Spoon Trust granted us a sizeable chunk of money to create a cloakroom, additional loo facilities and a time out room for the special needs children.
As you can imagine, this has thrown us into a bit of a spin, and we are already targeting areas which need sorting out, licks of paint etc. Nevertheless, we are absolutely thrilled, it will be a great honour to receive her at Greatwood.

Sue is running around like a startled gazelle this morning. She, and her fiance Robbie are off to Egypt tomorrow and she is desperately trying to get everything done before she leaves. I am really excited for them that they have finally got something together to go on holiday, but a little nervous that my two key people in the yard aren't going to be here! especially in the light of what happened on Monday when Robbie had taken a long weekend to fulfill a long wished for ambition to take his bike around the Nurbergring, and it was Sue's day off!
Mikey arrived to work in bad order, I took pity on him and sent him home after breakfast, and that left Coudy, Dan, Lucie and me in the yard. Richard our vet was due to come in with Polly, our physio, to work on Bunkhouse and Insheen. All would have been well if it hadn't been for a number of injuries throughout the day culminating in poor old Richard having to return to Greatwood at 6.30pm to try and attempt to stitch a gash on....Broughton's Turmoil. When Dan told me at evening stables that there was yet another injury, this time in the old boys field, I hoped upon hope that out of all the horses it wouldn't be BT. My hopes were dashed. BT is a dreadful patient, he fidgets, hates injections and has a keen left or right hook if things get a little personal. He even managed to aim a well directed jab at Richard's hand as he was trying to clean him, even though he was sedated.
Anyway, it was managed in the end without all of BT's toys being thrown out of the pram, and we turned him out again into the field later on. I led by torchlight, followed by Dan with BT and Coudy with Mikko. It would have been hopeless trying to keep BT in for the night because unless everyone in the old boys field comes in he acts like a complete nitwit.
Let's hope Monday isn't an example of what will happen over the next ten days!

New Seeker

I have had to hang on for a few days before writing this particularly sad bit of news until such time that Elite Racing Club and Axom could contact their members.
New Seeker died here at Greatwood on August 12th.
Robbie and Mikey had just about finished field checks but when they looked over New Seeker it was apparent that all was not well. The vet was called, he treated New Seeker and I kept an eye on him overnight. He appeared to be alot better the following day, was a little stiff, but wasn't in any pain, he was eating up well and was bright and alert. He deterioriated the following morning and it was our vet's opinion that euthanasia was the only option in order to relieve his suffering.
New Seeker had ongoing unresolvable issues with both his knees and hock and he had clearly had an acute episode resulting in spine/pelvic trauma.
New Seeker came to us in October 2008, and despite the fact that he was quite high maintenance we are all nevertheless very sad that he won't be able to enjoy the long and happy retirement that we had envisaged.
RIP New Seeker

What a Day

I am on night duty tonight, because we have had just one of those days, fortunately at the moment it hasn't ended in a tragedy. I try and grab Sunday's off, which usually works but nevertheless I remain on call. Sue got hold of me this morning to say that Warren Knight was completely immobile in the field. Some of the horses in one particular field were being bothered by the flies and there had obviously been some sort of fracas resulting in a few injuries.
Having looked at Warren, it was clear that we needed a vet. Warren was in extreme pain and unable to bear weight on his right hind leg. We treated Warren for his pain whilst we waited for the vet to arrive. Our vet, was already out on another call, so poor Lucy stood with Warren for an age to keep the rest of the horses away from him, and Coudy, Dan and Sue dashed around with fly sheets and fly spray for the rest of the horses until such time the vet arrived.
One look at Warren confirmed our worst fears; there was no way that we could get him into the yard without some sort of transport...which we don't have. I telephoned Nickie at Marlborough Horse Transport and she kindly agreed to come over to try and get Warren down to the yard, but she was at a show with her son and it would take a bit of a while to get to us. We then waited for Nickie, and greeted her with relief when she arrived. Warren was still uncomfortable but his pain was being managed. I hopped in the lorry and up we went to the field. I suggested to Nickie that it would be best to turn the lorry in an entrance so that we could try and load Warren facing the right way to the yard so that it would be the least possible movement for him.
Blow me down, the lorry got stuck in a rut, and we had to ask our neighbouring farmer to come out and tow the lorry out. We then had to wait for Gerald to come. In the meantime, Lucy was still holding Warren...this whole excercise took up about three hours.
One of worst fears when eventually the lorry was finally in a position to load Warren, was the very real possibility that he would be too unsound to manage the ramp, however with another load of painkiller we managed to load him without too much trouble and then we set about x-raying him.
It had been our initial fear that following an x-ray it would be clear that Warren had fractured his hock, but despite many pictures, and that Mike had managed to send over the pictures for a second opinion this could not be confirmed.
Warren is now in for the night, he is comfortable, and it does look now as if he will recover.
Sadly, I missed a day with the family to celebrate Michael's birthday; what with one thing and another we were waiting around for about six hours, but hey ho that's horse's for you!
I have just come in again from looking at him, thankfully he appears to be alot better and is dozing....lucky old him.

The Weather

I hadn't realised until I started writing this blog quite regularly, how pretty much everything revolves around the weather! So....I shall begin by writing about it once again.
As feared, the weather last week was horrendous, we did manage to unearth enough rugs to keep all the horses dry, but even so, we kept the old horses in for a couple of nights because it was so ghastly. We are on top of a hill so I do think that we get the worst of it. The days were dark with the wind and the rain driving across the fields. Monty, Eddy and Runner were particularly thrilled to come in out of it all, and there was a general feeling of contentment in the sanctuary barn as they gazed out at the pouring rain.
Anyway, we have taken the bull by the horns this morning and dared the rain to continue by removing the rugs. Apparently, it is going to be much better this week, which wouldn't be hard......
Richard came along to do a vetting for some of the newer horses, it was jolly good for our work experience girls because he very patiently went through the things to look for in general conformation, which will, no doubt, be useful for them when they go back to college.

Bad Backs (continued)

Following on from our vet's visit last week, Richard had arranged to meet Polly, a chartered physio at Greatwood yesterday morning. He had decided to sedate Bunkhouse and Insheen to relax them sufficiently in order that Polly could work on them to try and release areas which had seized up. Polly spent a particularly long time on Bunkhouse, he was pretty sore all over, particularly through his neck and poll area. It was Sue's holiday and Becky's day off, but they were both sufficiently interested in the procedure to tip up for the morning. After Polly had manipulated them, Richard then injected cortisone into Bunkhouse's poll and sacroiliac, he also injected along Insheen's back. Hopefully, this treatment will help them. They are both on box rest for a couple of days and then they will have a few weeks off before we bring them into work again.
We had been a little anxious about Mighty Minnie, she had been going on and off lame but we also wanted an update about her eyes. We had looked at her eyes six or so months ago and had detected a cataract upon her right eye, and a little cloudiness on her left eye, however subject to regular check ups this shouldn't have affected the ability to rehome her. We were, therefore, staggered when Richard's examination of her right eye confirmed our worst fears. Her sight had deterioriated to such an extent that she has very limited vision. We are all pretty devastated, not least because she is such a sweet good mare.
I am off later on this morning to go and have a look at a couple of yards which may suit as satellite yards, but my first quest is to see if we have rugs for those horses which feel the cold (we have sent a load off to be mended), so I hope that we will find enough. Apparently, the next few days are going to be pretty dreadful, the horses have been ok so far, but certainly the old boys will need them, and we will need to get New Seeker, Titch and Chewie in out of the storm. New Seeker hates wet weather and just hangs about feeling cold and miserable and none of see much point in letting that happen.

Bad Backs & Dreary Weather

I have been with Richard our vet this morning. We had had some concerns over a few horses and our worst worries were confirmed, yet more cases of kissing spine....we did talk about it and it may be that owing to mobile x-ray units we are capable of diagnosing the problem easier. Anyway, sadly poor old Warren Knight has it so badly that it is untreatable, so now he will be off to the sanctuary. It is a shame because he had been going so well until the work made him sore. Insheen has a milder case and we will inject his back with cortisone, we never got round to properly x-raying Red Willie because we spotted a bit of shading in his eye, we looked at it further and realised that he has a fairly sizeable cataract on the eye (3/5) which has appeared within the last 6 months.......making it very probable that it will continue to deteriorate. Better news for Bunkhouse, we x-rayed his neck and poll and could see a small amount of damage which we can then treat, and he too has bones along his back which are touching and painful, but again, he can be treated with cortisone.
So a bit depressing really, the weather doesn't help, Laura, Head of Special Needs had organised a number of groups of children to visit, I am sure her life would have been alot easier if she had been able to go out into the sunshine instead of these continual heavy downpours!

Jodie Kidd Gala Evening

We consider ourselves to be very fortunate that Jodie Kidd nominated Greatwood as one of her four chosen charities to benefit from The Jodie Kidd Foundation. To this end, Janet and I whizzed down to Goodwood to attend the Jodie Kidd Foundation Gala Evening. For the last couple of years, Jodie has organised a celebrity golf day followed by dinner and auction. It was a splendid evening, and although the auctioneer had to work quite hard to achieve the bids, I think that it raised quite alot of money and everyone enjoyed themselves. It is very good of Jodie to put so much time and effort into raising money for 'her' charities, and it certainly makes an immeasurable difference to us. Thank you Jodie.
It has been a bit of a hectic time all round. We went to Nigel and Penny Bunter's Barbury Castle Horse Trials the day before, and took a table for lunch. This is always a splendid event, well organised and well attended with an incredible line up of top event horses taking part. It was great to catch up with so many locals who wish to support Nigel and Penny and enjoy the terrific spectacle.
Michael and I were approached recently by Harper Collins who wish to publish a book about Greatwood and how it all started. We have spent quite a while going through alot of archive material, (that in itself was a bit of a mammoth task, involving delving through loads of boxes which were housed in a pretty grotty shed). Anyway, miraculously we appear to have pretty much located everything we need. This is a bit of a miracle because we once employed someone to help us file everything, and to our consternation realised that her filing involved lots of black rubbish bags, all of which were aimed for the bin.
Other than this, everything has been fairly quiet, although we are rather hoping that our work with the horses and special needs children will be featured in the Sunday Times today. The horses themselves have been doddling along. We have several in work which we hope will be rehomed before too long, and as for the rest, they are enjoying a peaceful and restful time in the fields. I think that they are a bit relieved that it isn't quite so hot but we could do with a bit more sun now.

Memories of Devon

Michael and I have just returned from a trip to Devon and Cornwall, part business and part the sad business of the funeral of a dear old friend. We had a bit of time to spare when we were in Devon and went to have a look at the place where the charity more or less began.......now so many years ago.
Our old house is almost unrecognisable; the wing that was semi-derelict has now been done up, and all the old barns where I used to squeeze in any number of horses have now been converted into holiday cottages. We met an erstwhile neighbour after the funeral and she reminded me of her horror when she used to have to drive past our house. The narrow Devon road used to be full of goats, sheep, and hens...........
It did seem funny to remember those days, when horses used to copy the goats and clamber up the Devon banks to nibble on the ripe blackberries, and we used to herd the horses up the roads to get into the fields.
Our horses are doing well and now are covered in not only fly sheets but also Sue's unique fly spray concoction (which smells disgusting). The A&E wing is getting horribly full, Whiskey had a swelling on his hock and had to be brought in for box rest (which means that we had to bring in Georgina and Marshall) and then Seek the Faith tweaked his hock following a fit of exuberance after a shower of rain.
We took in a new horse Tua, he is a good sort, but has been lame so Richard our vet is coming in tomorrow to have a good look at him.

Greatwood Open Day

It's over!! and more or less without a hitch.
Dan & Coudy with TP and Forgery were remarkable, everyone really enjoyed their show, Dan as the wicked Knight Mordred was booed and there were great cheers when Coudy as Sir Galahad won the fight.
It was a bit nerve wracking at one stage because Forgery nearly boiled over and I was watching Robbie (Gaylord) to see if he was going to pull Forgery out, Dan did really well to sit on him particularly because it was such a hot day and the armour was so heavy. Mikey as Mincealot fought Mordred with great aplomb and all in all it was a raging success. It has been suggested that we should do something at Lambourn Open Day next year..........we'll see.
Bob Hogg was terrific with his dogs, although, sadly, I didn't get much of a chance to watch his show and the finale with our neighbour Graham just finished it all off brilliantly.
We were a bit fed up that perhaps it was not quite so busy as we had hoped, and I think it has made us all certain that we should have an Open Day every three years as opposed to every year. It is such alot of work and is totally exhausting! We loved seeing some of the old champions again, it was good of their owners to give up their time. Strong Flow won the Best Turned Out.
Ian, the carer of Beacon Flight came along to deliver the Best Turned out Prize and whilst he was here he remarked that he would really love another big horse, he spotted Maharbal and it was love at first sight.
Ian is just the most lovely man, and although Sue shed a tear when Marble left us on Monday, this lovely kind horse couldn't have a better home.
We have another horse coming in to day..........will write about him in the next post.

Beer and Brooms

We are just entering the last day before the big day.....everything that has been stationary has been painted, every little crook and cranny has been cleaned, hairdressing has been in for the horses, and so we are nearly ready.
We did a semi rehearsal of the tournament yesterday and the full blown one will take place this morning.
This will be an interesting exercise, Dan and Coudy will be wearing their Knight's armour for the first time, Janet is bringing in a couple of hessian dresses for Robbie and Mike, and Conan the Barbarian music will be blasting out, and I have got to try and remember my lines!
So far, the horses have taken all the activities in good heart, we have been practising with the megaphone all week so that the horses that are remaining out in the fields don't have a blue fit. Deano's and Paul are now so unenthusiastic about the whole affair that they were flat out snoring in the adjacent field.

Maddy has been dashing around dicing with certain death putting signs on the side of the road. Laura and Harriet scrubbed out Red's barn, which was a relief, John has completed erecting the poly tunnel, Robbie has weeded for England, Mikey has driven in enough posts to rope off areas, that he is just beginning to suspect that this is all life is about, Becky, Hettie and Sue have made up straw beds until they are seeing double and Coudy and Dan are rehearsing every waking hour. Danny has helped with the commentary and Janet is busy advertising the Open Day in just about everything.
We spent hours yesterday scrubbing all our acres of concrete, and at the end we rested our brooms and opened welcome bottles of beer.....the next time we reach for the opener will be after it is all over!

Making Hay While the Sun Shines

We have just finished hay making. The haylage bales are wrapped and the hay has been baled and is now safely under cover. What a relief!
It has been an uphill battle for the last couple of years to make enough good forage to last us for the winters because the weather has been so wet, so we are delighted that we don't have this particular headache.
We are all working hard towards the Open Day, Sue has taken off her Welfare Manager hat for the time being and is now sporting her Gardening Manager hat. The tubs are being transformed into artistic delights and even Mikey has become enthusiastic.
Last seen he had drilled a few holes in an unused water trough, filled it with compost and it is now overflowing with bedding plants.
Maddy has waited for years for a bit of software which will make her life easier when she needs to design programmes and leaflets, it has now arrived and now this year's Open Day programme will be her particular work of art.
Janet is working on the PR and contacting people to advertise the Open Day as widely as possible...do come if you can, if you are a friend you can come for a private viewing, and the public can arrive at noon.

Cabinets at the V&A

Kim Bailey came up to me at our recent fundraising race meeting, pressed a note into my hand and suggested that I follow it up. With all the various things that you have to do following a fundraising event...(lots of thank you's!)...It took a few days for me to step up to the mark. Following a very interesting 'phone call, Michael and I were invited for lunch with the most generous couple, who had inherited a couple of cabinets which were currently being stored at the V&A. Their wish was to donate the proceeds of the sale of the cabinets to Greatwood and to Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.
Following a delicious lunch we were shown the photographs of the cabinets. They are beautiful Spanish HUGE pieces, inlaid with ebony, ivory and tortoiseshell. We met Jonty over lunch (incidentally, Jonty told me that he was the auctioneer when John and Jenny McCririck raised money for us in Celebrity Cash in the Attic), and he told us that the cabinets were valuable and collectable and that they will be offered up for sale in November. I'll try and post some pictures of them because they are stunning, and I'll let you know how the sale goes on. It is with great thanks that we acknowledge this extraordinary piece of generosity and are grateful to Kim for the introduction.
The small animals have a number of additions, a couple of chicks which two hens are squabbling and squawking over and to date a couple of goslings.
We waited until the weather became a little more settled and then turned out the rescued 2 year old colt (Whiskey, or more appropriately Windy because he is scared of his own shadow). We had stabled George next to him, George had been really kind to the colt when they were in but I wasn't quite expecting what happened when we turned them out together. I have ever seen anything like it.
Marshall, George and Windy went out into the strip next to the old boys. We were prepared for Windy to panic in a large strange area. George circled around Windy, flatly refusing for Windy to have anything to do with the old boys who wanted to sniff and squeal at the newcomers. George behaved exactly like a mare with a foal......Windy was a little nervous when the marauding crowd of old boys came over and he actually looked under George's belly as if there might be a miraculous supply of comfort milk on tap. George continues to 'mother' Windy, moves him along if he gets too near to the fence, and trots after him if Windy strays too far away.
George has become Georgina.

Latest on Greatwood

Despite our concern about Deano's, the old fella travelled really well. He arrived at Lambourn as cool as a cucumber, and stood in the lorry for at least half an hour whilst we were waiting to be called for the Parade. He just looked out of the window patiently even when kids on ponies whizzed by. We have decided that he has a signature walk when he is on show, he sticks his nose out in a very determined and individual fashion. Nothing fazed him at all, even when some Shire horses came up close. He strutted his stuff, took everything in, got back in the lorry as good as gold and came back here as cool as he had arrived at Lambourn.
This is good news, we haven't paraded him for two years because he travelled so badly last time, it now means that we can take him elsewhere without too many qualms.
It is always interesting for us to realise how greatly he is still held in people's affection. Countless folk came up to us to admire him, and reminisce about his victories on the racecourse and his occasional bouts of stubborness.
Eddy is now alot better, he has been on quite alot of medication which seems to be clearing up the abcess on his back and he is no longer so uncomfortable. He is much happier out in the field with his pals now but we can't get a rug on him as yet, so we are keeping a close eye on him to make sure that this current deluge of rain doesn't make him too cold.
It is half term, (the children come back next week). We took advantage of the unused classroom to welcome Andrew Poynton, our consultant farrier here, to hold his Imprint Sport Shoe Advanced Farriery Techniques Training Course. We brought in Proprius, Seigneur de Paus, Just Jim and Double Rainbow for Andrew and his trainees to work on. Proprius, was the only horse that slightly blotted his copy book by behaving a little badly, but other than that I gather the day was a success.
The new cloakroom is of great benefit to us for all kinds of reasons, it is great to be able to hold these kinds of days here and to be able to provide the proper facilities.
Robbie gave up a couple of days of his holiday to try and sort out the ruts on the track that the tractors made when they were clearing out the slurry lagoon. Mikey got some grass seed and with luck the place may look a little smarter in time for our Open Day.

Cool Dudes

Sue and I had worried all night about turning out New Seeker and Fairfield Lodge. Both horses had been on box rest for months....and although we ask our vet to sedate them to make it safer, it can still be pretty hairy when they come round and realise that they are in a big open space....
We wasted our time worrying. Both horses immediately started grazing and haven't lifted their heads since (even when Park Lane Princess and Minnie galloped up and down the fence line, which wasn't particularly helpful)
We have found out what is wrong with Eddy, he has an abcess along his back, poor chap it is clearly really painful and the trouble is that it is a horrid place to try and drain.
We decided to let them out to graze for a couple of hours. Monty, Runner and Eddy pulled like trains with Eddy bucking on the spot like a two year old, making us realise that there is life in the old chap yet.
Sue is getting Deano's wardrobe ready for him to parade at Lambourn tomorrow, and is already dreading travelling him. Deano's is notoriously bad in the lorry...

The Big Clear Up

We have been dreading it..but it has been so dry we just knew we had to go ahead.
The enormous muck heap in the slurry lagoon has been cleared. James,Gerald and Barry along with 2 huge tractors and JCB started work on it at 9am and didn't finish until late afternoon yesterday. The trouble with this procedure is that the tractors and trailers have to drive through the yard and around the buildings leaving the inevitable trail of detritus in their path, which we then have to clear up by hand. Oh joy of joys...especially when Becky, Robbie, Hettie, Coudy and Lucie were on holiday.
We had to bring in BT and Al, although BT has been entirely used to tractors throughout his life, on this occasion this whole situation was just too dreadful and simply would not be borne. I then had to juggle him around to try and make sure that he was out of earshot (impossible) and certainly put him somewhere where he couldn't see what on earth was making all that clatter. I've always said that whoever named him Broughton's Turmoil got his character on the nose. Oh well.
Matt Day Robinson finished the fencing in the orchard at the weekend. It looks really splendid and will make such a difference to Laura because the children can now be in a safe area. It's just a bit of a shame that we have had to put the contents of the slurry lagoon adjacent to this wonderful bit of fencing, and it's just a bit of luck that Matt DR is not around now to see it.
Talking about the children, Matt overheard one little girl ask if all those animals in the fields were buffalos............
We have spent all morning clearing up the yard but at least that is one less thing to do before the Open Day.
Steady Eddy isn't so good. He is thirty and although he has been exceptionally well all over the winter, we had to get Andrew our vet to come over and have a look at him on Sunday. I couldn't quite work out what was wrong because he couldn't put his head to the ground and was inexplicably sensitive pretty much all over. After a bit of head scratching the only thing that we could come up with was that he had taken a fall in the field. He is now in with Runner and Monty (which Monty is a bit fed up about)but you can't separate these old timers. I'm hoping that a few days of painkillers and enforced rest will see him feel a bit better. It's always worrying when elderly horses 'go down' with any ailment because it can very well lead to something more serious.
Anyway, we will have to wait and hope he is ok. Sue has just come in to tell me that he can now put his head on the ground to eat but is still uncomfortable, so, sadly for Monty they will still be confined to barracks.
We have just done field checks only to see Sam and Forgery have quite a serious squabble over the possession of a bit of wood that one of them had found.
We have nearly all the horses out now, and are hoping that New Seeker and Fairfield Lodge will go out tomorrow, this is great news for them both but because they have been on box rest for so long, extremely nerve wracking for us!

At Last!

The majority of the horses are finally out to grass. It has taken us about a week to sort them all out into the fields. We use the school in the winter so that the horses can still have a play, a buck and a roll..this saves the fields for the summer but it does mean that it can be a bit of a hairy exercise turning them out for the first time. Our vet appeared to visibly blanche when she saw nineteen horses take off at full tilt and then launch into the pond....
The old boys rather surprisingly went off at a more sedate pace and haven't lifted their heads since.
BT continues to go through a bit of a tough time because he was so under par when he came back. He has developed an abcess on one of his legs and is on heavy medication, but he is going out on good grass with his pal Al and it is to be hoped that he will pick up before too long.

Growling at Greatwood

This title seems a little more apt than Sleepless in Seattle, because although we are sleepless (but clearly not in Seattle) we are a bit growly. We were all set yesterday to turn twenty two of the horses out. Following days of sunshine, the heavens opened and although Greg our vet was all set to go, we couldn't, in the end, get the horses out into the fields. We had really hung onto this, everyone here is very tired, Becky can't wait until she has enough time to get to a chiropractor (mucking out fifty odd stables each morning takes its toll upon the most stalwart).
So, we will have to wait until the weather clears up a bit.
We could, of course, have taken the opportunity earlier, if we hadn't just fertilised the land and had our time taken up with organising and running the race day at Newbury.
Talking about the raceday: It was the most beautiful weather and it was great that the guests could enjoy their drinks in the early spring sunshine prior to the lunch and the auction. We are immensely grateful to Ladbrokes for their sponsorship and of course Blue Square, without their support we would have had great difficulty in making the day such a success.
Alice Plunkett was terific in taking up the cudgel as MC as well as Chair of the committee. The committee were extremely pro-active in organising and achieving not only guests but also fabulous auction lots. Mick Fitzgerald gave us an informed run down of the racecard, and Kim Bailey and Henry Hannon entertained everyone with their version of Heads and Tails....their version being the opposite of the usual, resulting in a certain amount of bafflement. It was funny, and kicked off the day brilliantly. Luke Harvey ran the auction quickly, efficiently and with his usual great humour, so all in all it was a really fabulous day, achieving a spectacular sum which given the current clime was no mean feat.
Dantari won the Blue Square Supports Greatwood Juvenile Novices Handicap, trained by Evan Williams and ridden by Paul Moloney (also one of Mick's tips). Despite Dantari being penalised for winning at Fontwell six days earlier it was only he and Rory Boy who fought it out at the last.
The Ladbrokes supporting Greatwood race was won by Oliver Sherwood's Lyes Green with Dominic Elsworth on board...Oliver won this race last year, so it will be interesting to see if he can make it a hat trick next year.
It has been, as usual, busy at Greatwood, counting and banking the money was time consuming (but rewarding), the thank you letters seem to be taking an age to complete and meanwhile I have to write the quarterly newsletter to our friends to get out in time for Easter.
The only one blot is perhaps the plight of the new rescued colt, we are having a real job getting him up to speed after his preivous malnourishment. Let's hope Doctor Green will make a difference.

Fabulous Fundraising at Newbury!

We have just spent all day counting the money we raised on Saturday for our Newbury Raceday! Unbelievably, we have raised more than last year.....Over 40k!
More news to follow.

The End is Nigh

James, our neighbouring farmer has been harrowing and fertilising the fields. We can now see light at the end of the long dark winter tunnel, and if the weather continues to be mild, we hope to be able to turn the horses out in a couple of weeks or so. This will be such a relief to all, everyone gets so tired at this time of year. Feeding, exercising, grooming and mucking out 50 odd horses everyday with a relatively small staff can become pretty daunting. Everyone has been brilliant, we have such a good team and everyone feels so responsible not only for the horses but to their team members and therefore everyone comes to work despite maybe feeling a bit under the weather.
We have had the added pressure in trying to add more horses to our already choccabloc yard. The little colt, and the gelding, we picked up a couple of weeks ago have been joined by three mares and another gelding. We hope to pick up the remaining horses (another six) in the next few days. We now have horses in places where we didn't even know we had places.
The new horses have settled in well in their big loose box made out of straw bales, and are visibly relieved to be out of the elements. The little colt has had a blood test and although he has been dehydrated, thankfully his organs haven't been damaged.
He is looking much perkier if a little odd. He had a massive infestation of lice and although this has been treated, all his hair is falling out.
We have also had to pick up one of our rehomed horses. We had warned his carer that unless she took more care of him we would have to bring him home. Sadly, the warning was to little avail, and we picked him up last week. He gave a great whinny when he came into the yard, greeted a few of his old chums, went into his warm box with alacrity and hasn't stopped eating since. He was a good chap to have his teeth done and he is altogether much happier.
We have been tying up some ends before our raceday next Saturday but trying to get hold of anyone when it is the fabulous Festival week at Cheltenham is jolly difficult. There was a flurry of activity on the phone in the morning and then a deadly silence in the afternoon, which I have to say was absolutely brill. We spent a good couple of hours last Saturday, in rigging up a television in the office so that we could watch the racing. Mikey balanced on the roof waving about a portable ariel shouting down to see if there was a picture....it wasn't that good but hey at least we could make out something!
It's been great that we have been included in some of the winnings. Mark Howard from RUK donated his winnings to us and Victor Chandler presented the stupendous sum of £2,400 to our Patron Nigel Bunter. Clive Smith has nominated Greatwood as one of his two charities for the Order of Merit. Following the fantastic performances of both Masterminded and Kauto Star, we might be in with a good chance of receiving a fairly substantial donation. This will be welcome, sadly our donations have been horribly hit.
It has been a wonderful week with such great racing that like almost everyone we are sad that it is all over but looking forward to next year!

Greatwood To The Rescue

I am aware that there has been a bit of a silence from this end. Last week was HECTIC. It began all very well with a successful meeting at Newbury Racecourse. We finalised the details for our Charity Raceday on March 21st. All seems to be going according to plan, with tickets sold out...all is sponsored apart from the champagne, so we have been supported really well. We then had a busy time preparing for the children to receive their certificates for the Greatwood Horse Power OCN accredited course. Everyone, as usual, applied their hand to get everything ready.
The classroom was cleared, seats were found and cleaned, and everything was tidied.
Luckily, we were able to squeeze everyone in the classroom (parents, teachers and children). Mick Fitzgerald gave up his time to present the certificates, the children were delighted to meet him and were fascinated when he explained that he had risen to jockey stardom despite not coming from a horsey background. It was then a dash off to look at some horses that had been reported to us by another horse welfare charity.
The plight of these horses has resulted from the current economic clime. The horses were greatly loved but financial constraints had put their welfare at risk. We decided that we had no alternative but to try and help as much as we could. We arranged to pick up a couple that week but we will have to try and sort out the remaining ten.......oh dear... and we are choccabloc. Sadly, there is no-one else to help, not only the horses, but the poor people who are at their wits end.
Our team here rushed around to build a couple more boxes...(out of straw), and Sue, Robbie and I went to pick them up. We arranged to meet the horse box and our vet at the yard. We sedated them for travelling. One little fellow was in quite a sorry state, and Sue and I are still suffering having practically carried him into the lorry. Robbie stayed with them for the journey in case there was any mishap.
Both horses breathed a sigh of relief when they got to Greatwood, took one look at their deep warm bed, and settled down to tuck into the haylage.
The poorest horse (a two year old colt) has then spent the last few days either sleeping or eating.
A hurried visit to London and more meetings saw the week out...hopefully this week will be a little saner. Watch this space to find out how we house the remainder of the horses that need our care.

Filming at Greatwood

ITV West Today came to see us yesterday and filmed us for a couple of hours.
Rebecca from ITV is running a feature on what happens to racehorses when their racing days are over. We explained that whilst our work is predominantly rescue, we do, from time to time, help those owners that wish to secure the future of their well loved racehorses by sending them to Greatwood.
We invited Dan from Elite Racing Club to talk about New Seeker. Elite Racing Club are exemplary in their care for their retired club racehorses, amply portrayed by their insistence in paying for the recent and expensive operation on New Seeker.
New Seeker remains on box-rest following his operation but he has begun to be walked in hand. Mikey brought him out of his box and New Seeker hurtled off down the aisle like a bullet....well held by Mikey. New Seeker proceeded to try and kick any horse that had the audacity to become too familiar. He is clearly feeling very well and recovering!
Dan and Forgery (Newbury Spring Cup Winner)demonstrated a couple of training exercises, and Hettie, Robbie and Lucie rode Minnie, Pateley and Proprius in the school. Although it was one of those horribly dull and misty days, I think that the little film will be interesting. We will let you know when it is going to be shown.

Tony McCoy and Deano's Beeno

Having just written a few words about Deano's, we have just realised that Deano's has been under our care for five years. He is now seventeen. Tony McCoy, has received great acclaim over the last couple of weeks, not least because he has just achieved his 3000th winner.
It is therefore, a great testimony to Deano's that Tony wrote the following in a recent article in the Daily Mail:
'I've been lucky enough to ride some fantastic horses - Brave Inca, Master Minded and Best Mate to name a few. I've said I thought Gloria Victis was one of the best but, believe it or not, Deano's Beeno was one of my favourites. He was a hurdler many racing fans will probably remember, he ran 57 times in some of the top races and won 13. He was a real character and not often the most co-operative. I was suspended for giving him a crack with the whip before the start but I admired him.
He'd keep going and never give up. If I was a racehorse, I would be like him, a bit tricky but if you encourage me enough, I'd keep going!'
We would like to add that even in retirement, Deano's remains a real character and from time to time, is certainly not the most co-operative.
We are planning to parade Deano's at the annual Lambourn Open Day on April 10th, it is a wonderful day out for all the family and you will be able to witness Deano's in his full glory.

Deano's Beeno

As the snow is slowly receding, we decided that it would be a great opportunity to take some pictures of the horses in the snow. The idea being that we could use a good one for our Christmas card this year....as it transpired the horses had a different plan.
Sue plaited up Deano's and out he went. The moment he stepped out of his stable, he clearly expected an audience, on he charged up to the school area, looking all around him, maybe for applause or flashing cameras? who knows what? he then proceeded to become irritated that he had to stand still and pose and did his level best to drag Sue around the district.
We then went on to photograph Transpique, he behaved with decorum, and listened to everything that Cody asked him. He is a really clever little horse, Cody has taught him a few bits and bobs to show on our Open Day, one of his tricks being to lay down, having just had a small tap on the fetlock. He was a bit unsure about all the white stuff, but obliged with great aplomb.
However, Mighty Mini and Pateley proceeded to let the whole show down. We only asked them to step into the post and rail field...just how scary was this? Minnie had a fit of mild hysterics as she stepped onto the snow and then proceeded to unship the intrepid Robbie in some sort of order. Pateley, was a little better behaved, but did treat Mikey to some spectacular twists and turns.
The Chrismas card picture will have to wait for another day. Having said that, none of us are in any rush for more snow.

Nearly Back to Normal

James, our neighbour has just come up to shovel the snow off the road with his tractor. We are now in the lucky position that people can actually come and see us without ending up in the front field, or in the bungalow sitting room. The weekend has been pretty horrid, with perhaps the worst blizzard on Friday....but still everyone made it in. I think that tempers may be a little frayed now, especially as it looks as if we may be in for more snow at the end of the week. The horses are in a better frame of mind because they have been able to get out for a kick, a roll and a buck, although we can't exercise yet because the school and the lanes remain under a thick blanket of snow.
We had been alerted to 30 racehorses that perhaps needed our care but thankfully, it appears that they have now been successfully placed in new homes.
We have a full house in the office, and all the yard staff came into the classroom for our Open Day meeting (being held on June 14th), so lots of organising to do.. March 21st Raceday and then of course the Great Sunday Lunch on November 1st. It should be added that Lara the Rhodesian Ridgeback nearly cleared the whole meeting by leaving a rather large calling card in the cloakroom, which then wafted breathily into our meeting. Nevertheless, everyone was terribly polite and didn't point an accusing finger at anyone until the actual perpetrator was found.
Lara left the room to recover, and we were left with the aftermath.
We must remember to take Lara to any meeting when we fear it may go on too long.

ASBO Day

Robbie has just walked into the office to announce that as a senior member of staff, it was with great reluctance that he had to declare an ASBO on Hettie....
Anti Snowball Behaviour Order. It seems that everytime he has his back to her, a snowball whizzes past his ear.
He also declared that Leguard Express had been given a verbal warning (for tipping over his water bucket) and also that the likes of Fifi, and Charlie had automatically been given yellow cards for repeated offences..(again tipping over the water buckets).

And More Snow!

Three cheers for all our intrepid team! despite the heavy snowfall over the last couple of days everyone has still arrived for work. This is no mean feat when there seems to have been some shortage of gritting and snow ploughs. Maddy abandoned her car yesterday along the drive and she slid to a grinding halt but was aided by Robbie and Mikey armed with grit and brute force. Robbie and Sue have had the worst journey each day, coming from Andover but nevertheless have made it and even full of good cheer. We did have a celebration a couple of days ago, because Sue, our Equine Welfare Manager has been here for two years, that together with Laura's birthday the day before brought a little cheer into all hard work that is needed when the weather is really bad.
After all the yard had been finished, everyone had a snow ball fight, Hettie coming off the worst as she was submerged into the biggest snowdrift in the yard. Nick and Alex (the farriers), joined in and even Greg our vet was treated to a barrage of flying snow.
The geese have been behaving rather strangely, we had to trek over a couple of fields yesterday to retrieve them. I think that they had forgotten where home was due to the blanket of snow.
We haven't been able to get the horses out, and they are becoming a bit grumpy now, but we couldn't possibly get them into the yard because it is about 2 foot deep in snow. We are lucky this morning because at least some of the water drinkers are working, which saves us having to cart loads of buckets of water around.
No-one from the office has made it in today...the schools are closed.

Snow Falls on Greatwood

The snow has been steadily falling all morning. For some reason, the snow has drifted into one of the barns, and we have had to use our outside rugs for the horses on one side of the barn. We haven't been able to get the horses out at all, but they are perfectly contented looking out as the snow falls all around them. They are lucky, they are warm and well fed....we aren't so lucky because we have had to fill all the water buckets again from just the one working tap! I wish we could afford to place electric wiring on all the pipes to prevent them from freezing.

Bookies Are Coming Up Trumps

We have just received some brilliant news. William Hill have kindly agreed to sponsor our Open Day on June 14th. We are now being helped and supported by Ladbrokes, Blue Square and William Hill. I think that it is tremendous that despite these gloomy and difficult times these bookies think enough of our work to dig deep into their pockets. It is of particular value to us because our donations are down about 40%.
So it is all systems go to arrange an Open Day that William Hill can be proud of, we are already training a few of the racehorses to perform some unusual moves...so watch this space to see what we can come up with......
We had so many visitors yesterday, Honda came up with 8 volunteers to set up the poly tunnel in the orchard. A very generous couple, Mr and Mrs Abrahams kindly supplied the poly tunnel, so that our visiting children may learn how to grow plants and vegetables. We then had a visit for the morning, from Filton College accompanied by Jerry Watkins, Welfare Manager of Horseworld in Bristol. It was an enjoyable visit and it was good to explain about our work to the students, and also to welcome Jerry here for the first time. It is important that we keep in touch with other welfare charities. Interestingly enough, Jerry told me that like us, he was expecting to have to take in alot of welfare cases, so far, the situation has not been as bad as he feared.
Our neighbouring farmer kindly comes over each week to move our large bales of straw and haylage about so that we may get to it easier, unfortunately a bit of an error of judgement resulted in the tractor grab making a gaping hole in the roof...so we then had a visit from a roofing contractor to try and fix it. Andrew Poynton, our consultant farrier came to shoe a couple of horses with difficult feet. The electricians came to sort out some dangerous wiring, we had a number of deliveries, and then finally the monthly visit from our vermin control officer.
A busy day indeed.

Luke Harvey

Luke Harvey has kindly agreed to be our auctioneer on the 21st March at Newbury Racecourse. I felt a bit uneasy about asking him to help us again, but he generously accepted. There are still some tickets left so do ring our office should you like to come.

A Good Week And News of New Seeker

We have had a good week - Blue Square have jumped in alongside Ladbrokes to cover the race sponsorship for our charity day at Newbury Racecourse on March 21st. The raceday in March is proving to be one of our most successful fundraising occasions, and this year's plans are shaping up well. Kim Bailey is going to run Heads and Tails again at the beginning of the lunch, he is clever and funny and it kicks off the day brilliantly..so with Alice Plunkett acting as MC and Mick Fitz going through the card it looks as if it is going be great fun.
Greg our vet,has just given us more or less the thumbs up for the future of New Seeker. New Seeker came to us in October because Elite Racing Club wished to ensure his future. He had a brilliant race career on the flat winning almost £400,000. He arrived to us in great shape, albeit he had an enlargement of the right hock following a bit of over exuberance in his previous yard. As time went on the swelling did not subside and we decided to x-ray. This revealed a couple of fragments around the joint. Greg recommended surgery, now this is something that we normally would not be able to afford, and so we asked Elite Racing Club if they would pay for the operation. It is typical of Elite Racing Club to so readily agree, they have a terrific sense of responsibility for all their horses. We had to make sure that previous injury to his knee would not break down following anaesthesia, but all was ok. New Seeker went to Dr Sven Kold at Willesley, Sven is one of the leading orthopaedic surgeons in the country. Sven told us that in addition to the fragments of bone which had to be removed there was also a large amount of coagulated blood covering the lining of the joint. It took a total of 40 litres of saline to flush through the joint in order to remove the inflammatory debris.
Anyway, New Seeker came through the operation as right as rain. We have had to dress the wound every four days in addition to using a hock Pressage bandage. He has borne his box rest with fortitude, and is now walking out in hand. He has been sound from the outset and we are now waiting for a culture to come back having drained some of the fluid from the hock. So, depending on that being clear, the fellow is well on the road to recovery. So that is a relief all round. I must say, he is certainly a big chap for a flat horse! Greg thinks that given sufficient time he may recover sufficiently to be ridden.

A Welcome Visit and Water Everywhere.

Jeff and Mary Herrington suddenly appeared at the door! We got to know Jeff and Mary when were in Devon, indeed Jeff can remember us right at the beginning just as we were trying to set up Greatwood. Jeff was a mounted policeman and has been a field officer for the then ILPH (now World Horse Welfare). Jeff used to come and see us quite often when he was passing and was a terrific help and support to us, so you can imagine how pleased we were to see him again. He still works tirelessly for the welfare of horses and he has his hands full keeping an eye on the horses and ponies in the South West. He and Mary were delighted to see how Greatwood has changed and progressed since its inception, but were clearly staggered as to the number of horses we have in our care. They looked in one barn and just saw row upon row of horses backs.
Everyone is still pleased that the freezing weather has disappeared, morning stables appears to be a doddle, now that we haven't got to fill one hundred or so buckets from one tap! Meals on wheels for the horses this morning saw Deano's have a nervous breakdown when suddenly a torrential downpour beat down upon his roof, and a blocked drain sent a torrent of water from the cloakroom gushing past his feet. No water one minute and too much the next.
Red and Tish became too exuberant in the school and Tish lost his rag, resulting in a little bit of first aid. While Red's leg was being attended to (the 16.2h horse here being the casualty, not the 22 inch pony) We took Tish to see everyone in the office. He nonchalently strode through the cloakroom, had a peek in the classroom, and a wander in the office. He was mildly interested to munch the remainder of Janet's apple but seemed a little keener on meeting Lucy who was trying to work on her computer at the time.

Exciting News for our Horse Power Programme

It has been one of our aims to extend our successful Horse Power programme to Independent schools as part of their charitable enterprise in their local community.
We have just returned from a leading independent school and are thrilled that they seem equally as enthusiastic to replicate our Greatwood Horse Power programme in their local community. Once this has been established it would be very exciting to think that their may be a chain reaction which would result in Horse Power going countrywide in the name of Greatwood.
The journey to the school was of particular interest, Janet was at the wheel, and despite warnings about icy roads, we decided to take a rural route which resulted in a great deal of slithering and sliding on 1 in 4 hills, with advancing cars performing Strictly Come Dancing, with graceful pirouettes and chassis into the ditch.
Sue looked after all the dogs here and told me that she had decided to take Hannah and Mabel for a walk, that all changed as it transpired that Hannah took Mabel and Sue, having spotted a very captivating deer, they probably finished up in a ditch as well.

Greatwood Launches its new blog!

Here is a test entry!