Vale Big Bad Bob
Hello all from Ireland.
This month at the farm has been maybe one of the busiest so far with mares foaling. The stallions also very busy covering mares and all the yards are busy with every day work. Sadly, the farm had to say good bye to Big Bad Bob who passed away from a paddock accident recently. He was a great horse and was a very good bread and butter horse for the stud and he was one of my favourite stallions to deal with. He will be sadly missed and may he rest easy now.
Onto a more positive note, the class work and assignments have also been going well. One of the assignments was that we had to assess 3 year olds that would be running on from their 2-year-old career and whether they are would likely make a broodmare or stallion in the future.
This assignment was very interesting as I got a little more insight into the pedigree and racing in Europe.
Following that assignment, we had a lady by the name of Celine McEniry come in and speak to us on Equinome, which is a genetic testing company based in Europe but has offices in the US and Australia. This company tests race horses to see what speed gene they have and what they are going to be suited to, distance wise. This was a very interesting lecture as I learned a lot about how the different gene types can effect what distance a horse can run or what they are more likely to be suited too.
For example if a horse comes back with the gene CC, they are more suited to sprint races and are more likely to suit those races. CT are middle distance horses but can also be a sprint or long distance horse as well, and TT horse is your long distance horse or your jumping horses, but with all of this there is always an exception to the rule. This was a topic that I would like to get more into and explore more as I find it very interesting and I think I could also be a way forward in how people train their horses but I also think if we get really into it and start to intensely breed the specific genetic makeup we want we could do more harm to the breed in the future.
This month at the farm has been maybe one of the busiest so far with mares foaling. The stallions also very busy covering mares and all the yards are busy with every day work. Sadly, the farm had to say good bye to Big Bad Bob who passed away from a paddock accident recently. He was a great horse and was a very good bread and butter horse for the stud and he was one of my favourite stallions to deal with. He will be sadly missed and may he rest easy now.
Onto a more positive note, the class work and assignments have also been going well. One of the assignments was that we had to assess 3 year olds that would be running on from their 2-year-old career and whether they are would likely make a broodmare or stallion in the future.
This assignment was very interesting as I got a little more insight into the pedigree and racing in Europe.
Following that assignment, we had a lady by the name of Celine McEniry come in and speak to us on Equinome, which is a genetic testing company based in Europe but has offices in the US and Australia. This company tests race horses to see what speed gene they have and what they are going to be suited to, distance wise. This was a very interesting lecture as I learned a lot about how the different gene types can effect what distance a horse can run or what they are more likely to be suited too.
For example if a horse comes back with the gene CC, they are more suited to sprint races and are more likely to suit those races. CT are middle distance horses but can also be a sprint or long distance horse as well, and TT horse is your long distance horse or your jumping horses, but with all of this there is always an exception to the rule. This was a topic that I would like to get more into and explore more as I find it very interesting and I think I could also be a way forward in how people train their horses but I also think if we get really into it and start to intensely breed the specific genetic makeup we want we could do more harm to the breed in the future.
Gallops at Newmarket
One horse that has just been announced as a CC gene is Galileo Gold who was the 2000 Guineas winner in Newmarket over the weekend, he was going to be a derby contender but after the genetic test came back the owners have decided not to run him and just keep him at a mile for his racing career.
Last weekend was a very exciting weekend for me as I travelled to England to go to the Newmarket 2000 Guineas day. It was very over whelming to say the least. The day started off by traveling to Warren Hill in Newmarket where 1000 plus horse train every day. I could see so many horses walking on the side of the road walking to the gallops from their yards, and seeing them working up the hill in a string of 10 or more horses. I then went on to the race meet at Newmarket, which was also just as amazing.
Last weekend was a very exciting weekend for me as I travelled to England to go to the Newmarket 2000 Guineas day. It was very over whelming to say the least. The day started off by traveling to Warren Hill in Newmarket where 1000 plus horse train every day. I could see so many horses walking on the side of the road walking to the gallops from their yards, and seeing them working up the hill in a string of 10 or more horses. I then went on to the race meet at Newmarket, which was also just as amazing.
Newmarket's Rowley Mile racecourse
Some of the highlights of the day were of course seeing Galileo Gold winning and also seeing one of the horses that I did an assignment on run well. The atmosphere in the place was equally great and it was a highly enjoyable days racing and possibly the best day I have been too.
The following day I managed to do a spot of sight-seeing and travelled to London for the day. It was a fantastic weekend seeing new places and meeting new people.
Till next time…
Hannah
The following day I managed to do a spot of sight-seeing and travelled to London for the day. It was a fantastic weekend seeing new places and meeting new people.
Till next time…
Hannah
