- Monday, 13 April 2020 08:35
- Written by David Pipe
Some of the 'Girls' at Grass
I hope everyone has had an enjoyable Easter weekend all things considered. The weather has certainly played its part and I have enjoyed spending time with the kids in the garden. cricket, football, water fights and Easter egg hunts, you name it we have done it! They would have been going back to school this week but obviously with the lockdown still in place it is back to home learning in the days ahead, good luck Leanne!! My girls, Sophie and Martha both entered the Fairyhouse racecourse colouring competition. We weren’t winners but they enjoyed doing it and it was great to see a lot of the entries on Twitter yesterday. Had things be different I might well have been in Ireland today with Vieux Lion Rouge in the Irish National, maybe if it is rescheduled for the Autumn we will consider it.
HORSES AT GRASS
We have managed to get the majority of our horses out to grass but are currently still bringing them in at night. Hard to believe I am about to say this after the winter we had but we could really do with a little drop of rain to help the grass grow a little! It is great to get some nice warm sunshine on their backs and they have really settled into their new routine. Due to the current non racing situation we have probably got more horses turned out in paddocks at Pond House than we have had for several years. Horses that usually go home to their owners have gone home but we have nearly 60 out in fields surrounding my house. We have a couple of ‘girls’ fields as we seem to have a fair few mares at the moment while the rest are in pairs in the smaller paddocks while in groups of up to about ten in some of the bigger fields. While it will be great when they can go out full time I am conscious that we are still in April and while it has been a lovely weekend I would not be surprised for the weather to take a turn for the worse again at some point! Indeed we have a very cold wind this morning. I put on shorts first thing this morning for feeding up but I had to change back to my jeans afterwards!
Mr Clarkson & Delface in the Field
A FEW HORSES IN TRAINING
Meanwhile we have about 15 in training ready for action whenever that might be. Their daily routine consists of exercise followed by some time out to grassin the small paddocks and play pens so they get to enjoy the best of both worlds at the moment. While some usual summer horses are currently on a little holiday now there could be a few that will be back in training next month to be ready to run over jumps later this summer. We will just keep an eye on developments and keep in close contact with their owners and make plans that are best for horse and owner.
LOOKING AFTER THE STAFF
We have had to take advantage of the government’s furloughing scheme to help ensure the business gets through what is a difficult time for everyone. We have a very small team of staff left working while the rest are thankfully staying at home and staying healthy. Aside from the horses to look after the staff are busy doing some of the summer jobs, just a bit earlier than usual. There is plenty of tidying, steam cleaning and painting going on around the yard once the horses have been cared for. Fingers crossed by the end of April we might have a clearer idea of what is going on in the wider world and can plan how we are going to try and get things back to normal. We have several staff that have been here many years and I am doing my best to look after them. We are keeping in touch regularly through phone calls and social media. While it is hard for everyone a lot of my team are hard-working ‘doers’ that are finding staying at home and doing very little quite challenging. We will all get through this together though and hopefully they will all be back to work, doing a job they love in the not too distant future.
PLANS IN PLACE
The good news is that there are some plans in place for the resumption of flat racing at the beginning of May should things be safe and the government allows it to happen. Phase 1 is likely to be at just two racecourses – Newcastle and Lingfield. They have drawn up detailed plans as to how this would work with staff and everyone staying onsite. This looks workable and would hopefully only last 2-3 weeks before phases 2 and three could be introduced which would see more courses being used but still behind closed doors. As I have said before, we are in unprecedented times and it is brilliant we have got have plans in place in the hope of racing returning as soon as it is appropriate to do so.
STAY HOME, STAY SAFE
It was nice to see over the bank holiday weekend that the motorways in the South West looked very quiet and deserted. The M5 passes not too far from Pond House and there were no cars at all when I crossed it yesterday. It is brilliant the majority of people in the country have got the message and are following the guidelines. The Queen did a very good Easter message and if we stay united we can overcome this virus. Stay Home, Stay Safe and Stay Healthy everyone.
