Welcome rain this morning and set to last all day – the racecourses need it and we are keen to run some of our softer ground horses so genuine rained on ground is a must. A stunning weekend of weather though so we weren’t grumbling over the weekend!
A busy Saturday morning with Matt and Shona Capp in to see Robsam and Dreamsundermyfeet do faster work on the gallops and Jon & Jack Hughes and Paul Davis in to see all the horses they are involved in too. We had originally planned to take some of their youngsters schooling over obstacles at Jon Trice-Rolph’s base near Moreton however hadn’t banked on Moreton Show so quickly decided against that idea as we’d not have got through the traffic! It was a fun morning nonetheless.
Belinda & Freddie headed off to Burghley Horse Trials before the break of dawn with shetland pony Blackie on board to join 15 other combinations riding in the Shetland Pony Grand National in the Main Arena there before the start of the Cross Country. What a summer Freddie & Blackie have had in their very first season shetland racing. It’s taken them to Badminton, Gatcombe, Barbury Horse Trials and now Burghley with plenty of other amazing venues in between. They are up against seasoned ponies who are much sharper and could almost do it blindfolded so it’s very competitive but it makes it even more satisfying when they beat some of them. They just failed to qualify in the top 4 in their heat for the Final but the experience was fabulous and they enjoyed every moment.
Lack of recent rain has meant that we’ve not had any runners over the weekend and the two going to Worcester tomorrow now don’t run. Very much a case of weather-watch at the moment but we are hoping for sunshine on Sunday for our Free Public Open Day. Do come and visit us – gates open at 11am sharp and make sure you aren’t late as we have lots to cram into the 2 hours we are open for!
We will warm up a group of horses on our loop gallop by the yard and then they will work up our straight gallop across the road. Bakers out their bring a cake and enter the Great Keighley Kake-Off, bring some small change to buy the children bags of sweets or bags of carrots for the horses from Freddie & Harry who are raising money for the Bob Champion Cancer Trust, guess the weight of retired superstar Champion Court, have a go on our mechanical horse and even enter a draw to become an owner for the day – breakfast here, watch the horse on the gallops and then come into the paddock to watch it run. So much to see and do – bring your friends!