I was joking to Anthony that he will have to look after Harry full time as I have got a busy season ahead riding out my favourites Rouqine Sauvage, Regal Encore and Midnight Tune along with a lovely three-year-old we bred called Nocturnal Myth. He’s got a huge character and can be quite sharp, but he’s only a three-year-old and he goes beautifully up the gallop.
New staff
We are looking for staff to join us and need a full time groom and a yard person. Working in racing is a great job and the full time position entails yard duties, riding out, going to the races, and schooling if they have the ability. If they ride well they’ll have regular lessons with Jabeena Maslin jumping in the indoor school as we do a lot of pole work.
Jabeena heads to Rio very soon as coach of the pentathlon team. She’s such a huge asset to our yard and comes every week during the busy period. Having an extra pair of eyes on the ground really improves the horses’ technique. She has so much experience and will know how to teach a horse to finish off its jump or sharpen up in front.
A good summer for horses
The weather this summer has been great for horses so far as it hasn’t been too hot. The flies haven’t affected the horses out in the fields on their summer breaks too much and with the bit of rain about the grass is growing nicely so they are putting on weight. It also means the ground at the summer tracks has remained safe.
Short break
We had a quick visit to Portugal for three nights to visit Harry and Ciara Fry and it was lovely to have a break and have some sun on our backs. It worked really well as Anthony doesn’t like the sun so he sat in the shade playing with Harry while I did some sunbathing.
We will probably try and get a few more days away before the summer ends. I’d like to go to Ireland and have a little tour, looking at some bigger yards, or there’s a foal show in France that we’ve been invited to, and it might mean we can buy a foal at the same time so we’d mixing business with pleasure. Racing is such a results driven industry and you always have to be buying the next horses and upping your game.
www.ajhoneyballracing.co.uk
