Hello all!
It is bittersweet to be here, reporting on my final month at Coolmore, ‘The Home of Champions’. I feel like I am moving on from Ireland just as it’s getting good! The last month has flown by and I have had the chance to fit so much in that I’ve even surprised myself! In my last week, I was treated to some spectacular days where I got to pack in as much as I could in my final days.
My last blog left you just as I had started in the Foaling unit. Working in the Foaling, I have been in my element, loving every second of it. Foaling in boxes is a lot different from what I have become accustomed to, more so than what I had originally expected. Firstly, it is as expected very comfortable for both horses and humans! Having a roof over your head and a dry floor underfoot, is a nice change compared to foaling outside with the unpredictable weather. Due to a smaller space in a foaling box compared to a paddock for the mare to naturally adjust the foal via rolling and walking, foaling in the Northern Hemisphere is a lot more hands-on with staff well-seasoned in helping guide the foal into the correct birthing position if needed. Once the foal is in the right position, the mare is left to lie down and start pushing. One person will be guiding the foal's head, and one will be guiding the legs, ready to assist if needed, but most mares I have attended have foaled very well.
During my time here in the foaling unit, I have had the chance to partake in around 50 foalings. Every mare is flushed one day post-foaling. The flushing serves to evaluate her recovery post-birth, ensuring she is clean and to check that there are no remaining placental remnants, also known as "tags." If the initial flush is clean, the mare proceeds without further intervention. However, if the vet has any concerns, she will be treated with antibiotics or oxytocin to clear fluid, along with additional flushes.
In between my midwife role, as I like to call it, I have still been able to experience many other parts of Coolmore. This month I had the chance to spend two days with Coolmore's Equine Nutritionist who had travelled over from Kentucky, USA. We made the just under an hour-long trip down to Castlehyde on day one, where we got a tour of their main farm and surrounding properties. As mentioned in my first blog, Castlehyde is where Coolmore stands their National Hunt stallions, along with several flat stallions. We got to see a select number of stallions here such as the likes of Blackbeard, Yeats, and Starspangledbanner. The stallion at Castlehyde that stood out to me was Blackbeard, the Cartier Champion 2-year-old and son of No Nay Never, and I look forward to seeing what he produces in the future.
Until now, my experience at the main farm had been primarily with mares and foals, so Castlehyde offered my first glimpse of some of Coolmore’s yearlings. These yearlings are a credit to their upbringing, being both inquisitive and relaxed, and they have come through the winter well. Their coats had almost fully shed, revealing yearlings who look almost ready to head to the breaker yards already. After attending the stallion parade the month before, our visit to Castlehyde was a great opportunity to further assess the progeny of many Coolmore stallions that I hadn't yet seen as foals in the barn. This was the first time I cast my eyes over Camelot yearlings, and they impressed me with their size and strength. The second day was very similar to the first in terms of agenda, but this time we ventured out to Kilsheelan, to inspect their yearlings. On this farm, they prepare a selection of yearlings for sales as well as breakers for Ballydoylea. During our visit, we met with the farm manager, who elaborated further on the yearling preparation process. The yearlings are long-reined and lunged throughout their prep, which is very different to what I am used to. But as the manager explained, this means they are already mouthed and are ready for the next step of having a rider on their back after they finish their prep. The office also ran a talk where their nutritionalist spoke and answered any questions the staff had and this prompted plenty of good discussion within the team.
The vastness of the business and property is hard to explain without you experiencing it. There are numerous properties scattered throughout the area, often very inconspicuous, surrounded by trees and immaculately maintained. Travelling to the outer farms helped me to gain perspective on how far Coolmore spans, and how the properties work together. Coolmore has well over 1000 head of cattle, and we visited the farm where most of the herd is wintered between cross-grazing the paddocks. All the oats are grown on-site, as well as their hay and straw. This is all tested and monitored heavily. They also supply Ballydoyle with their hay, straw and oats. Ballydoyle ensures their racehorses have their own hay, feed, and supplements wherever they go, even shipping them in advance if necessary. Nothing is left to chance in their care. By producing all of this in-house, they limit the risk of contamination for the racehorses and ensure what is provided, is of the highest quality.
In my final week, I was lucky enough to receive a tour of Ballydoyle. Ballydoyle is Coolmore’s training facility for their racehorses. Ballydoyle was established back in 1950 by the late Vincent O’Brien. A lot of what Vincent established is still there today, which is a credit to how far ahead of the time he was in terms of developing a training property. The logistics of running an operation like Ballydoyle was at first hard to wrap my head around. There are 15 km of asphalt roading, a replica of Epsoms ‘Tattenham Corner’, and a Met Éireann weather station that has been recording the weather every day since the 1970s. Every barn has two isolation barns, where they withhold the strict regulations to be able to isolate horses travelling overseas in-house. One of the highlights was the Pete gallops, where it took almost 15 years of laying down layers of pea annually before it was ready to use. This helps to cushion and helps reduce strain on the horse's legs during the drier summer months. The gallops are immaculately maintained, with the dirt surfaces being harrowed and rolled after every group of horses have worked. They have artificially developed a hill gallop and have numerous therapies such as an oxygen chamber and saltwater spas on hand. No stone has been left unturned and this is proven in the remarkable results over the years of both Vincent and Aidan O’Brien.
In between our busy day-to-day life on stud, we were lucky enough to observe the ‘Northern Lights’ on a beautiful clear Friday evening. That was a bucket list item I never thought I would tick off here on this trip! We also returned to 'The Curragh' for another lovely day out at the races with some good friends I have met since arriving. There, we observed the impressive performance of the Coolmore-owned colt 'Whistlejacket,' sired by No Nay Never, as he claimed victory in the First Flyer Stakes by a margin of three lengths and three-quarters. Finally, on my last day at Coolmore, I had the chance to visit the Equine Hospital who serves Coolmore and the surrounding studs. Fethard Equine Hospital is centrally located and is only a short drive of a few minutes to most of the foaling units. I got a tour of the facilities before spending some time assisting the vets and vet nurses with the mares and foals in the clinic. After lunch, I then got to observe a surgery before heading back to the farm.
Before I finish my last blog from here in Ireland, I wanted to take the time to thank everyone who helped contribute to the invaluable experiences I have had. I have now got a few weeks at Goffs in the UK to look forward to, where I start at the Spring store sale here in Doncaster. I am looking forward to experiencing sales from a different angle, gathering a better understanding of what goes into running a sale. I then head up to Goffs head office in Hawick, Scotland at the end of the week.
Rebecca
