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.
Friday, 27 March 2009
Monday, 23 March 2009
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.
More news to follow.
Saturday, 14 March 2009
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!
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!
Monday, 2 March 2009
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.
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.
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