Mr Trickster

This poor little chap has been with us for a couple of days and is pathetically grateful that he is now being looked after. A kind lady had saved him from going for meat money (not that he is carrying any meat on him) - and hadn't realised how painfully thin he was and asked us to help. We went to see him on Tuesday and within two or three hours he was at Greatwood.
Richard our remarkable vet has, as usual, pulled out all the stops to try and get him well again and we have just received the blood test results, good in one way, in that there doesn't seem to be any organ damage but he has a hefty worm burden which will have to be dealt with carefully.
We will keep you updated as to his progress.

Sunshine & Donkeys

The new arrival of two donkeys has been greeted with glee. Jack and Simon are great little chaps, they have been with us for a week and have settled in really well. Many of our racehorses seem only mildly interested, however the big bold Sunshine Boy has been reduced to a trembling wreck on two occasions, we wonder if he'll ever get used to them!

Winter has arrived

It has been absolutely amazing that the horses have been able to stay out in the fields almost up until the end of November. We brought in the old boys a week or so ago but it has been so mild and sunny we decided to leave the younger ones out a little longer. In the end the decision to bring them all in was slightly taken out of our hands; the mares bust out of their field, sprinted across the front of the school and generally created mayhem. They are all in now and are obviously as pleased as punch especially when it is now pouring with rain and blowing a gale!

Ravastree ran in the 1.50 on the Saturday of the Hennessy weekend, he was in a competitive field, jumped almost faultlessly (although made a mistake over the water jump) and came a very credible fourth. His first time over jumps since he arrived in England and everybody was thrilled to bits. He came home safe and was mooching around in the field on Sunday!

The sun shines on the The Greatwood Hurdle

Despite lurching from one crisis to another; we couldn't find a minibus to take the children, young people and teachers for the best turned out, Toyboy wasn't up to date with vaccinations so only two out of the three amigos could go, and then Millfields lorry broke down in Bristol - our day turned out to be excellent. It didn't matter that we just had two little ponies (instead of five) for quite alot of children to polish up for the best turned out prize. Aaron and Poncho loved all the attention and the prize was given to both sets of teams, Mick Fitzgerald was good enough to undertake the judging. The Greatwood Hurdle was a good race with Harry Derham (who took part in our Charity Race last year) winning on the Paul Nichols Brampour.
The highlight for our fundraising was the Charity Sweepstake, masterminded by the awesome Sarah Oliver of AJA - we had a full house of jockeys and they raised a remarkable sum of over 30,000! The sun shone all day and it was just a fantastic day for everyone - This day for Greatwood wouldn't happen without the extraordinary generosity of Nigel and Penny Bunter - we owe them a great debt of thanks

The Greatwood Hurdle

Tomorrow is the biggest day in our calendar, the card for the Hurdle is as strong as ever and it will be an exciting race. We would love it if Nigel won with Kumbeshwar! - we have a trade stand, ponies from Millfield & Greatwood will be dolled up to the nines by students who have completed our Greatwood Horse Power Course and we must thank Cheltenham, Amateur Jockeys Assoc for supporting us with the Charity Sweepstake - thank you to the FAB 12 Jockeys who are all riding to support us at 4.10 tomorrow

Red and Tish RIP

Red and Tish died on the 27th October, just a fortnight ago today.
Red had been suffering with painful arthritis in his knees which was manageable with painkillers but in the end his kidneys began to fail. Tish, had been poorly on and off, since our Open Day in June. He finally succumbed to a particularly aggressive bout of laminitis (he had also recently been diagnosed with Cushings Disease).
These two boys loved each other as much as I loved them and sadly, the decision had to be taken to let them go together. We had looked after Red for nearly 20 years, 10of which he had spent with Tish. Red was ours before we became a Registered Charity, he has seen us go through so much and I miss seeing him and his little mate who could be seen sometimes peeping out from under Red's belly and I miss going in to see them after a long hard day, and I even miss feeding them their breakfast each morning.
I guess it will get better and I will get used to them not being here but at the moment, it just seems the end of an era.

Melanie is Treated to a Birthday Tish Wish

It is Melanie's birthday today and we thought Tish would like to come in and wish her a very Happy Birthday!
We have had quite a busy week, Becky and Sam went to The Donkey Sanctuary to undergo a course prior to a couple of donkeys joining us later on in the year. They dropped off a whole load of rugs and tack to go into Exeter sales and we raised a staggering £590! wonderful news. Newie has been rehomed and we have also taken in a new horse called Tipping Tim. He is taking a little time to settle in and is really quite unsound but we will try and do our best for him.
The horses are still electing to come in before they are supposed to - Aldo has quite a nasty little puncture wound on his fetlock (dangerously near his tendon) Scotty's has achieved a really nasty gash to his front upper leg, Sam remains on box rest as does Randy with his fractured pedal bone - but at least Mally and Whisky are now repaired and back in the field.
The beds are now almost all made up in preparation for the horses coming in for the long winter months but it is over 20 degrees today so winter seems quite a long time off.

Especially For Jane

Jane the very kind lady who rescued Poppy earlier on in the year is anxious to see a picture of her now....and here she is!

Horses Take the Choice about the Weather!

The weather is horrid and because we are right on top of the hill outside Marlborough the weather seems to hit us with more ferocity than outlying areas. Of course, I can't help wondering why we had taken the decision to move to a farm called 'Rainscombe Hill' but there we are.
The horses are hating this sudden spell of bitterly cold weather, we've even had hailstones almost the size of golf balls - anyway, the horses will have to stick it out a bit longer because after all it is only September.
BUT It is becoming rather eventful on the injury front at Greatwood and I can only think that the horses are so eager to get out of the rain that injuries are more preferable to getting wet. It began with Sam who came in because he had been hoolying about the field with his best pal Forgery and he had tweaked an old problem in his tendon. He has been in for a couple of weeks, we think that he appears to be quite smug as he gazes out at the rain coming down in stair rods. Whiskey came in on Sunday with a leg the size of a tree trunk (the result of a rather small wound above his knee) and Tritonville Lodge had to come in today with a suspected abcess in his foot. I wonder how many more will come in over the next few days if the weather doesn't cheer up?

Jilly Cooper comes to Greatwood

Congratulations to the NOCN students from Downlands, Pewsey Vale, Rowdeford, Hardenhuish, Abbeyfields and Springfields school.
We had a really exciting day when Jilly Cooper very kindly agreed to come along to present some of our students with certificates following their successful completion of our OCN course. We had a really lovely day with Jilly spending lots and lots of time signing autographs and copies of her recent book.

The Booby and Grouse Meet Gavin & Smithy

Jenny McCririck visited us yesterday to bring us some goodies for our tradestand and to introduce us to her lovely new dog Grouse. Poor old Grouse was a little puzzled about the 2 very bold sheep (and a little scared) - but at least he isn't as nervy as Mabel who regularly gets chased out of the orchard by Gavin!

Maddy

On the final morning that The Prince's Trust were with us, Maddy told me that she was going to leave us for a job nearer her home. Maddy has been with us for nearly six years and has steered our ship with a steady hand....so....it was a big blow for both Michael and I and everyone in the charity. Six years is a very long time and throughout this time she has arrived to work every morning at 8.30am despite having to drive through horrid weather in the winter and having to do her own racehorse before she gets here. Her boots will be very hard to fill.
We have been interviewing now for nearly a week, we have seen some strong candidates and I am glad to report that we will be joined by Fiona, I think that the helm will be safe in her hands. Luckily, she will be able to shadow Maddy in her final week and so, with luck, will not be quite so daunted at the enormity of the job.

Get Started with Horses at Greatwood

This last week has been a new experience for all at Greatwood. During 2011 The Prince's Trust and the British Horseracing Authority worked closely together to develop and part fund Get Started with Horses, an engagement programme targeted at young people who are furthest from the job market to boost their confidence by focusing on their interest in horses and giving them an introduction to horses and the racing industry. They also gain practical skills in handling and grooming horses and basic first aid, team work and presentation skills.
Ten students undertook the programme which was written by Tricia and it is a testament to her skill in understanding the diversity of the needs of the students that all remained engaged and interested to the extent that they attended each day. It was wonderful to witness their progress during the week. We had a great day on Thursday when Andy Haynes was kind enough to show us around Conkwell Grange Stables and he had even held up his last lot so that everyone could see the horses on the gallops. We then went on to a 'behind the scenes' at Bath Racecourse. The students went into the weighing room, watched the horses in the parade ring and a couple of races and then went up to see the horses at the start.
Georgie came over from Northern Racing College to assess their course work during the week and the students were delighted that they all attained their certificates.
I think that everyone involved in the success of the programme hope that this is something that can be done a few times a year.

Fingers Crossed

I had failed to mention that in amongst all the organisation required for running the Open Day, our neighbouring farmer phoned up to say that he thought that there was a long enough fair weather window to risk cutting our field for haylage. We agreed, and on the Tuesday of the week before our Open Day, the Met Office predicted 7 days of dry weather. We cut the grass, only for the weather forecast to change and it looked as if we may lose the entire crop. This would have been a disaster because not only would we have to then buy forage when it is at rock high prices owing to all the dry weather in the Spring but also we would have to pay for the fertilizer, cutting and getting someone to take it away. Thankfully the haylage was ready to bale on Saturday and James worked until after midnight to wrap it. The heavens opened on Sunday morning but at least our winter forage was saved.
We cut the remaining hay fields a couple of days ago,and given a fair wind, baling should take place on Sunday. Fingers crossed for continued sunshine!

Back to Normal

We always take it for granted that there will be alot of work running up to our Open Day but we rarely remember that clearing up afterwards also takes time and energy. For example, despite having an industrial bin from the council, it has taken us all this time to get rid of all the rubbish left around everywhere - so goodness knows how long it takes the Glastonbury organisers to clear their site.
We are back on track with working the horses - and we do have a number of potential carers that are coming along who seem to be fairly realistic upon what future career our horses may be able to embark upon. Harriet who helped us to such a great degree with the PR for our Open Day (and also sat on the Newbury Raceday Committee) has been coming in most mornings to give Robbie a hand working Scotty's. We did encounter a bit of a set back when it appeared that Scotty's was feeling his back a bit, but we asked Richard to come in and x-ray it and although he is a tiny bit sore there is nothing sinister going on. Harriet rode him for the first time yesterday and I think that she and Robbie will be taking Scotty's out for his first hack later on this week.
We are in the midst of organising putting the wonderful piece filmed by Attheraces on our website and perhaps utube, so for all those that didn't manage to come along you will at least have a bit of a taste of the day. Other than that there is nothing much to report, funding is as difficult as ever and it doesn't help that Malapropism seems to be singlehandedly working through our vet budget - he went out into the field for the first time along with Aldo, Ravastree and Poltergeist; and despite going into our safe post and rails field came back with a wound that needed staples and stitching and he had to have the vet again yesterday because he had an extreme allergic reaction to..........flies, and this was the horse that I thought would be relatively easy and not quite so high maintenance as some of the horses we take in!!

Rain and More Rain

The Open Day began with a knock on my door just before 6...I was just about to leg it out of the door to feed the every hungry orphan lambs (Gavin and Smithy) when Nicky tipped up, and so the day kicked off in pretty good time. It had been a bit of a sleepless night for us all because the thunder and lightening had rattled around our hill in sporadic bursts and we were expecting the heavens to open at any moment - in which case the horses would have been soaking wet and probably covered in mud (we had taken a bit of a flyer and left them out in the fields, thinking that they would be calmer during the day when we brought them in)... luckily this was not the case and we just escaped by bringing them in the nick of time. I am absolutely astonished by the number of kind and generous volunteers that arrived dead on 7.30am - Sam Ricks with daughter Keira, Susie, Gary et al, I think there were about 20 kind and generous folk in the end, all willing to turn their hand to anything, at one point I even saw Sam clearing out a drain.
It is always exciting when the tradestands start arriving and you can start to see the day take shape and before we knew it visitors started to arrive, including Peppa Pig. The arena displays were fantastic although Coudy was a bit disappointed that little Transpique didn't perform quite as well as usual; TP was a bit taken aback at all the flapping of the banners and couldn't concentrate but it didn't really matter he still managed to give everyone a small glimpse of his tricks. This was followed by an inspiring glimpse of Polocrosse undertaken by Neil and Karen Smith from Horsewyse, I am sure that it will encourage many people to take more interest in this relatively new sport (kind of a lacrosse on horseback) and it was even more impressive because they used 4 ex-racehorses. Mr Andrew Hoy was phenominal, he demonstrated the art of teaching a horse to jump and his finale jumping over 2 blocks was extraordinary. Then came the parade of horse led by Menorah (the winner of the 2010 Greatwood Hurdle)followed by Blazing Bailey, Strong Flow and Bindaree. Then we had the rehomed horses: Lesley with Fairfax Flicker, Patrick with Mistress Polly, Graeme with Park Lane Princess, Helen with Natterjack and Rachel with Farnborough. The horses looked fantastic - Helen won best turned out with Natterjack but it was a really hard call! Tish the naughty little Shetland pony disgraced himself yet again by bolting out of the arena hauling poor Becky behind him but not before he had managed to give her a hefty boot on the shin. South West Greyhound Rescue came out in force and paraded their greyhounds and it was moving to hear some of the sad stories. Huge huge thanks to everyone for making such a great show and taking the trouble to turn up.
Tricia and Harriet were flat out in the outside classroom organising the children's crafty corner - Harriet told me her back was killing her after bending over for 5 hours helping children with their painting and poor Tricia hardly had a moment to turn around, I don't think either of them had time for lunch. Kayleigh, Melanie were fully occupied at the tradestand, with Maddy and Craig ducking and diving gathering the money from the cars. It was a fantastic day, and all credit to everyone.....
Big thanks to TH White for sponsoring the day, to Richard from Mcgonnell and Gillatt for ensuring the welfare of the horses throughout the day, William Hill and Charlton Baker. I must mention Turf Legends - their support in producing Greatwood shirts is unbelievable - please support them and us by ordering them - great shirts - great value and great generosity by Turf Legends.
The only downside was that the weather was simply dreadful, it poured with rain most of the day but at least it didn't put everyone off from attending.

See our New Arrivals at Open Day on the 5th June

In amongst the long days and hard work in preparing for our biennial big Open Day we have also taken in a number of new arrivals. Following the loss of Noddy, Peejay and Reg we have had to beef up our number of sheep and goats. The first addition to the Horse Power flock were six 12 week old pygmy goats - I hadn't intended on taking in quite so many but there we are! Kate, my neice, is over from Australia and is undertaking work experience here and she has become great friends with Amy. The two of them have spent alot of time in looking after the kids and trying to get them tame enough to be used with our visiting children. The next addition were 2 orphan lambs (called Gavin and Smithy), they are an absolute delight; Kate and Amy have been bottle feeding them and they are growing well. There is a bit of a downside because I hadn't quite taken in that they need feeding through the night.....and who is on call? so I have had quite a few weeks of broken sleep!
A rather unexpected arrival came in the shape of an outstanding looking horse:
Poltergeist - The Hon Harry Herbert had called me in the week to ask if we could help Highclere Thoroughbred Racing by taking in a 4 year old gelding. He went on to explain that this gelding had sustained an injury to his knees. He made a good recovery following surgery but when he ran again at Newbury at the end of May, he was extremely upset and lost alot of condition in just one day. It was decided to retire him and because he is so young and has such a kind nature the syndicate wanted to see if he had a chance of a future in another career. Of course, I agreed to help because Highclere are fantastically generous in their support to Greatwood. What I hadn't quite counted on would be that he would arrive so soon! It did throw us into a bit of a spin because we had already allocated all the boxes to our horses but we have sorted a box out for him and he can now be seen tomorrow. He is such a beautiful horse so do come along if you can!
Let's hope the Met office have the forecast wrong......

A Holiday For Ravistree

Ravistree came to us on Monday for his holiday. He was on good form and we turned him out pretty much straightaway with his companion for the summer Aldaado. Both horses settled together and I even saw them lying down the following morning. It will be a good break for Ravistree and I am sure that it will do him good. Chris came over to watch him being turned out for the first time and although I was quite relieved that he didn't ricochet off the fences, it was a bit of anti-climax when he just put his head down to graze.
We have had a few more additions to the team - 6 pygmy goat kids which Amy and Kate had great delight in naming; there is going to be a children's competition on the Open Day to see if anyone can successfully come up with the correct name for each goat. I have also picked up a couple of Belwar orphan lambs, Gavin and Smithy which were transferred over to me in the A&E car park in Swindon as the half way point. That must be a first for the hospital!

RIP Noddy

We lost Noddy a few days ago. She lived to the not inconsiderable age of 14 years which for a sheep was pretty good going. Our friend Sid had made his annual visit to shear both Noddy and Rosie and we came to the sad conclusion that Noddy was now too frail to undergo shearing. On welfare grounds (heavy fleece and the strong risk of being fly blown) we had to put her to sleep.
Noddy and her brother Big Ears had been born in Devon when I had a large flock of sheep. Noddy was a weakly triplet,and Big Ears was rejected by his mum, therefore both had to be brought up by hand. Fortunately I had sold the flock before the devastating foot and mouth outbreak, but I kept back Noddy and Big Ears because by this time they had become extremely tame. Big Ears was a one off, I think that because his mum had so little time for him he much preferred humans and considered us his family. Most orphan sheep retain a certain wildness but Big Ears behaved just like a family dog, he loved to have his tummy tickled and we used to have a real job keeping him out of our large Devon kitchen! Big Ears became one of the largest sheep I have ever come across and in keeping with his name had huge ears. One day, when we were still in Devon, I realised that Noddy and Big Ears were missing. I looked high and low to no avail. Finally I got into our ancient rather battered car and went up and down the lanes trying to catch a glimpse of them. I only came across one flock of sheep (there must have been 200 or so in one field) and just thought I would see if they happened to be in amongst them, (I had little hope), anyway I called out and to my absolute amazement I saw one sheep look up and that sheep had big ears.... two sheep made their way out of the flock and ran down the field, I opened the gate, opened the car door and they hopped in the back and I drove them home. They never strayed again. We lost Big Ears a few years ago but Noddy lived to a great old age.

Good News

We are all delighted that Malapropism recovered from his operation and he came back to us at the weekend! he has lost a fair amount of condition which is hardly surprising but is otherwise on quite good form. I have to thank our vets Mcgonnell and Gillatt for their amazing diagnostic skills and care and also Jessica at Valley Equine in Lambourn, without their help Mally would not be with us today. He has to undertake a month's box rest with walking in hand two or three times a day and after that he should be good enough to go out in the field. He is already showing a bit of a cheeky side, he is fed up that he can't be fed hard feed yet and is a bit disgruntled about having to eat soaked grass pellets but almost turns himself inside out if he sees a packet of polos!
We are thrilled to bits to have him back in one piece - the sleepless nights and nursing were worth it.

Poor Malapropism

Only just a couple of days after I wrote about Malapropism (or Mally), he appeared to become even quieter than usual. We had used him in the photograph for the local newspaper article about the children and young people who had successfully completed the OCN course. He was so so withdrawn on this occasion, that although he had eaten up in the morning, we took his temperature - it was sky high, (39.5, it should be around 37.5). Gudrun our vet came to see him, gave him a good check over and administered painkillers and anti-biotics, thinking perhaps that he had some sort of infection. His temperature came down and he appeared to be responding well to the medication. He seemed to be uncomfortable and off colour the following morning and this time Richard came to see him, we were both beginning to suspect that there was something else going on. Richard scanned his belly, and that together with a peritoneal tap confirmed that he was suffering from peritonitis. His medication was increased and Richard was optimistic that we had caught it early enough. Mally deteriorated that night and I feared for him but yet again our vets (this time Richard's partner Andrew) came along and managed to stabilise him. Our vets came along at least once a day for the next week and I kept an eye on him every two or three hours during the night for the next eight nights. He went downhill on Thursday and Claire detected an impaction, he was then tubed and we hoped that he would recover. On Friday morning he became very ill again and Gudrun and I began to worry that this was becoming a welfare issue. The impaction hadn't shifted despite Richard's own recipe of solution that is proven to be extremely efficient in clearing impactions of the gut. Mally was such a good patient throughout, and because of his determination (and ours!!) we decided to send him to hospital. Nicky, from Marlborough Horse Transport arranged for James to come and pick him up within the hour and off he went into the capable hands of Jessica, the surgeon at Valley Equine in Lambourn. Mally was operated on Friday afternoon, and as Richard had suspected all along, he was suffering from a ruptured abcess in his large colon and another couple of tears in his large colon. The operation was a success, Mally came round alright and Jessica rang me yesterday to say that he was doing as well as could be expected and 'so far so good'. I'll keep you posted.

Malapropism - New Arrival

Malapropism
2000 chesnut gelding
Compton Place – Miss Malaprop (Night Shift (USA)
154 starts 14 wins 37 places (flat).
We were asked if we could help this horse by finding him a good, safe and secure home. He had been at livery nearby and was greatly loved and looked after but his owner wanted to feel that he could have a second career. We looked up his form and were astounded. I have only ever come across one horse that could even try to measure up to his number of runs, and that was Montendre with 104. We popped over to the yard to see him and I have to say I was expecting a sharp little flat horse, and he was quite the opposite. He was standing in a stable with his head buried in his hay net, a hen was pecking around his feet and he hardly looked up when went in. This was not a case of being shut away he is clearly well balanced and well adjusted and not at at all like Monty who spent most of his time on his hind legs when we led him anywhere. Mally came in and took everything in his stride and didn’t bat an eyelid when he saw a goose fly past with Mable the Unstable (our Jack Russell) firmly attached to its tail.
We have taken in some more new horses - details to follow

All Change

Sue has come in at least once every week since she has supposedly been off on maternity leave. When she came in last week I gave her the unenviable task of deciding when we should start to turn the horses out. After some puzzlement, worry about a ridge of low pressure,and concern that the temperatures may drop, she decided upon Thursday of last week. The younger fitter (and naughtier) horses went out first. We always ask our vet to come in to sedate them a little beforehand (it saves injuries caused by over exuberance at their sudden taste of freedom after the winter). We decided that Jack (Wild Colonial Boy) and Fundamental should join the younger crowd because although it is unlikely that they can be rehomed they are a little too boisterous to go back in with our old boys. We also turned out half of the girls and it all went extremely well; Zero and Luca had their first taste of being in the herd and Zero was a bit of a scary cat and stuck to Luca like glue in case he lost him in amongst the others. We just had to turn out Deano's, he had already spotted something was up when all the rugs came off and headcollars had begun to be put on, he is funny, he knew immediately it was all change and began kicking out at his box in his anxiety to go out. Everyone is quite relieved that there isn't quite such a lot of mucking out to do although we are expecting some new horses in over the next few days.
Jenny McGregor MBE, an old friend of ours, (founder of SWHP) had been featured highlighting the plight of some 1800 horses that had been left in a pretty shocking way. I had asked her if we could help and she told me that she had a pretty little mare called Dee Cee Elle and it would be terrific if she could free up some space and would we take her in? So Ellie has come in and settled and has made friends with Poppy. We have also taken in a smart little gelding called Tritonville Lodge and I rather hope that given a little bit of time we shall be in a position to bring them into work with a view to finding good homes for them. I'll post some pictures up in due course.

Saturday the 5th March

Michael Yeadon & John McCririck
Six whole months of planning finally came to a conclusion on Saturday. We had spent most of Friday afternoon packing up the cars, so that we could arrive in good time at Newbury the following morning. It really is astonishing as to how much stuff you need to prepare and take..... tables, cloths, chairs and posters, let alone all the auction lots and silent auction boards. We had to pick up enough tartlets to serve to nearly 300 guests as well as take all wine. We arrived at Newbury just before 9 to set up what has now become our major fundraising day for the year. I have been blessed with a terrific committee and we have achieved sponsors for all the races. All sorts of people very kindly and generously offered some stupendous lots for us to auction and Jenny McCririck has been absolutely amazing in sourcing many prizes.
The pavilion at Newbury was full, and nearly 270 people sat down for lunch. Steve Styles, a great friend of Bill Simpson, ran the auction with dear Henry Hannon jumping up now and again to cajole people to bid more. Henry and Kim Bailey conducted their extremely popular and amusing version of Heads & Tails, this is something that is gaining in popularity each year and is not only great fun but also a pretty good fundraiser. I think everyone enjoyed themselves and have already started to book their tickets for next year!
Ravastree ran 6 out of 8 in the fifth race, he dropped in at the rear 3 out, he is still young and he may only run once again before being put away for next season.
The only slight downside to the day was the sad loss of two horses and our sympathy goes to all the connections.

Our Raceday on Saturday

We are all working absolutely flat out trying to get everything ready for the raceday, incidentally we have almost sold out but we do have 4 tickets available on a first come, first serve basis! Do please contact us if you would like to come. Harriet arrived this morning to see the classroom full of lots of displays and pictures and expressed a certain degree of horror because she was expecting a group of children any moment. Thankfully we managed to clear it up in time for the children's arrival but the office where Melanie and I work looks like it has been hit by a small incendiary bomb and Maddy's part doesn't look much better. Nevetheless, all is going to plan and we look forward to a successful fundraising day. Sue came in last week and today, despite expecting her first baby in just a few weeks, just to help us prepare everything.
It looks like Ravastree will be running in the first race which will be really exciting.

Weekends......

Last weekend started off quite quietly but as it wore on it was apparent that it was going to be another of those times - Bank Holidays and or out of hours, when the vet would have to be called in to help.
About five years ago we were asked to take in three orphan white kids (as in goats),we called them Bill, Ted and Reg. They were in pretty good health and we bottle fed them for some weeks and they soon became very friendly and great characters. However, one called Reg, continued to be rather frail, he suffered from a skin ailment which gave him and us a level of concern. We couldn't quite get to the bottom of what exactly provoked the onset of his extremely irritating and itching coat, which would then result in the poor little chap rubbing and scratching until places became raw. We tried all sorts of things, changed the type of bedding, the food and treated him for the obvious skin complaints. Nothing really worked and the only way to keep on top of it was to administer steroids when he was particularly laid low, this although, not ideal, made him feel alot better and between bouts he gavorted around in as good health as any of the others.
In the last week, he had been quiet and generally off his food, we kept him warm and gave him as much attention as we could, Becky sat by him and tried to tempt him to eat, but sadly, on Sunday, the vet decided that we would have to say goodbye to him.
So dear old Reg passed away, in amongst his dear friends, Bill and Ted and of course everyone here. He was a great goat and will be sadly missed, and he had been very good with the children. I can only think that perhaps he didn't receive enough colostrum when he was born and consequently he didn't have sufficient anti-bodies to keep him going well into adulthood.
On Saturday, Michael and I were invited for lunch in The Royal Box at Newbury, it was a day that promised good company, and good racing, sadly all brought to a hasty conclusion by the tragic death of two horses before the first race resulting in the whole meeting being abandoned. It was horrible for both horses and people and sympathy has to be felt with the owners, trainers and lads and lasses who lost their horses on that day. A real tragedy.
On a brighter note though, Ravastree ran a good race at Exeter in pretty ghastly conditions, he kept up mid field but was slightly one paced and couldn't keep up with the two leaders....still 3rd second time out was good and we are hoping that he will run in The Novices Hurdle at Newbury on our raceday. March 5th!! don't forget we are offering cut price tickets!

First Day At School

This should read the first day in the school. We use the sand school in the winter to let the horses have a good old buck and a kick and a roll. They really love it and hurtle about at full speed and more often than not come in covered both in sweat and sand and are a nightmare to groom. Aggy and Poppy have been led out in hand every day from the moment they arrived. But Saturday was the big day when we felt that we could give them their head and let them have their turn in the school... always a bit nerve wracking!
We led Poppy round so that she could get used to it and then let her off the headcollar. She dropped straight to the floor, rolled three or four times and then got up and had a good old buck, a kick and a belt around the school. She then refused to be caught for ages. Aggy was different, she was slightly nervy but she wandered around, rolled a few times and then proceeded to frighten everybody out of their wits by trying to balance on very shaky crooked legs as she attempted to scratch her quarters. They both had a good time, and came in unscathed, although by the time Poppy had finally agreed to be caught the coffee was cold.

The Book is Well Underway

Harmony River - Poppy

Harper Collins have just been in touch to say that the book about Greatwood will be published on the 3rd March. It is a collection of stories about animals and children, and explains about our work from the inception of the charity until now.
It is called 'When Sophie Met Darcy Day' and can be ordered in advance from Amazon.


We have also taken on another chesnut mare that needed our help(see above), her name is Poppy and she, like Aggy, is in her early twenties. She is a very sweet and kind mare, but from the moment she walked into the row of boxes (known to us, as the 'girls row') she took one look at Aggy and hated her immediately. We had to pull her out for the farrier quite soon after she arrived and although she was in the ally just outside Aggy's stable and certainly beyond even sniffing distance, she squealed if Aggy had the audacity to even glance at her. It is a case of hate at first sight and even gentle little Tara has difficulty in keeping the peace between them. Sue and I just wonder how we will manage them when they do have to go out in the field together, at the moment, it looks as if one will have to be at one end of the farm and the other in the next county.

New Arrival

This little mare (Aggy) came to us at the end of last week, and probably just about in the nick of time. Her previous owner had struggled to keep her and the only place she had found was at a farm in a field full of cows. Of course, this meant that the cows pushed Aggy away from any food or hay, the ground was wet and poached and there was little cover from the rain. She is such a sweet horse and has already stopped retreating to the back of the box when anyone approaches and I think we saw a bit of contentment in her eyes as she rested in her box with a lovely deep warm straw bed as the rain came down in torrents outside.

Deano's JUST had to be in the picture!

A Saturday Morning with Greyhound Rescue

GRWE is the leading greyhound rescue charity in England and Wales independent of the greyhound racing industry. GRWE is dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and re-homing of abused and abandoned greyhounds and lurchers, and re-home around 800 dogs a year. Our work with rescued ex-racehorses is so similar that we decided to join forces on a few occasions to help each other raise awareness and funds.
We have a covered barn, used for exercising the horses in winter, and following a visit from Michelle to make sure that it was safe and suitable for the greyhounds, we were pleased to welcome them here on Saturday morning.
I had thought that the sudden influx of people, all with dogs on leads, sporting wide varieties of brightly coloured coats would put the horses in a bit of a twitch. Montendre is directly opposite the school and I was prepared to see his anxious, unhappy twisting face if he becomes upset by anything. Nothing could have been further from the truth; the horses all looked over their doors and continued munching on their hay. It was a great morning, and the covered barn worked really well for the dogs, some belted about and some just stood around, hoping that they could return to their warm beds! We are hoping that some of the rescued racehorses will return to parade on our Open Day! Don't forget - June 5th - it is our big one again this year and all being well and fingers crossed for the remainder of the season, Menorah and Khyber Kim will come and join our well loved parade of racehorses.

Ravastree at Newbury

Ravastree's First Run

Michael and I had a meeting at Oaksey House before we went off to Newbury. It is the first time that I have been inside and it is absolutely wonderful. We were shown the gyms and all the facilities and it was extremely impressive. The design is particularly interesting in that it does not carry the feeling of an 'institution'
Well done all at IJF!
We met up with Chris, Friend of Greatwood who bought Ravastree, there was something really exciting to see Ravastree in the parade ring in all our purple, he's not a particularly big horse and was a little overshadowed by Alan's other runner Pride in Battle who is big scopy chap (and won). Ravastree ran a good race and although he looked as if he was going backwards half way, he held on and despite a mistake at the 7th he came in 4th. We were all really thrilled, I did manage to have a word with Gavin James (official photographer for Newbury) who is an absolute star because he said he would send us a couple of pictures at some stage.

AT LAST!

Due to the vagaries of the publishing world, it just seems to have taken forever to reach this point, but I am delighted to report that all being well 'the book' will go to print on March 3rd. So I am now in a position to start popping little bits and pieces into the blog.
Some time ago, a friend of Greatwood arrived in the office, dropped an extremely welcome and generous cheque on the desk and announced he had a plan and 'would we like it?'. It turned out that he'd nursed a long time ambition to own a racehorse in training. We happened to have been invited to Alan King's Owners Day and asked if Chris could come along. Alan and he went to the sales in the evening at Cheltenham during the Open and with that he bought a now 5 yr old gelding called Ravastree and is running him as a Greatwood horse, in my old colours ( which are, of course, purple)
Alan has entered him into quite a hot race at Newbury tomorrow, look out for him in the 2.05... Michael and I are going, I'm hoping that Robbie will come along as well, and I'll let you know how he gets on!