Latest from Dodlands
It's been a welcome return to the yard for our National Hunt horses.
What a fine summer it has been though with, as usual, the horses spending 10-12 weeks in lush pastures spread across the Scottish Borders. Warm sunny weather, interspersed with torrential downpours, is near to ideal for continued supplies of fresh grass. And this is reflected well on the horses, with plenty of condition being carried.
Of course, 24 x 7 care is not possible in the field so 2 or 3 arrived
back with small issues such as a poisoned foot, a runny nose or a bit of rain rash.
Fairly quickly cleared up though.
We also sent a couple
of geldings up to Lanark (aka Clyde Valley Veterinary Clinic) where
Geoff Lane was on hand to assess and perform small wind surgeries on
each.
But, here we are, start of September and all the string are well
and in the initial stages of training - which consists of a couple of
weeks of walking/trotting in the lanes adjacent to the stable, followed
by gentle cantering on our gallop.
If everything goes to plan (about 50% of the time, lol) after about 8
weeks of such activity, each horse will be ready to slot into the routine of twice weekly
'fast' pieces of work. Then, with given enough give in the ground, a
seasonal debut on the racecourse can be penciled in.
There are 18 National Hunt horses stabled at Dodlands Steading
currently, with another five 3-yr-olds in various stages of pre-training
who will come into the yard at some point during the 2019-20 season.
With the luxury of our weekend work-riders, there were 3 lots in action
(of sorts) on Saturday morning. With key members of staff off enjoying a
late summer holiday, our thanks go to Garry (who covered for Callum),
and Georgina (who was Cameron for the day).........
Most of the string went for an extended trot in the beautiful Borders
countryside.
Five of the string were a couple of days more forward than the rest,
and enjoyed a gentle canter on the Up-the-Middle gallop.
- Paper Roses (Laura)
- 'Margaret', our Yeats half-sister to Eternally Yours (Pinky)
- The Boo Box (Rebecca)
- Dali Mail (Garry)
- Honda Fifty (Kingy)
Paper Roses (Laura) and 'Margaret' (Pinky) lead The Boo Box (Rebecca) and Dali Mail (Garry)
