K
Kathy
Guest
I have just found this on the ICWales.co.uk website.
Do you know her, Colin?
What it's like to be a racehorse trainer...
Nov 27 2007 by Anwen Francis, Western Mail
INDIVIDUAL attention, honesty, good owners and a team effort is what makes one of Wales’ leading racehorse trainers such a success.
On her small, welcoming National Hunt Yard, situated on the outskirts of the village of Bronwydd, Alison Thorpe employs eight workers. She has 24 horses in training.
Being a racehorse trainer may sound glamorous, especially when horses win big money, but there are pitfalls and it’s all about dedication and hard work.
As Alison explains, “At 6am, we start work. The stables are mucked out and the first lot of horses start their training at 7.30am. They are all ridden out in small lots of no more than three or four. This really helps those that are buzzed up. In the afternoon, they are turned out, but they all enjoy coming back in at night.”
Her successes to date include winning the £25,000 top prize at the Summer Festival in Newton Abbott with Rushneey River, which was bought for £5,000. The 12-year-old Maidstone Monument, owned by Don Jenkins and bought for 500 guineas, has won 11 races.
“When you start winning, you do get recognised,” says Alison. “It’s hard to start off, and I’ve probably built a reputation for improving other people’s cast-offs. Some people might think I don’t have enough racing experience to do what I’m doing but the results speak for themselves.
“I am prepared to learn though, and I’ve wanted to do it for such a long time. I think people have more faith in me now.”
The yard at Felinfach is small and personal, and each horse has its name on its stable door.
“The horses are treated like animals, not machines. They have names, not numbers,” says Alison.
“It might sound horrible to those with very big yards, but I’m sure that individual attention must make a difference. Everybody values what the other one does. It’s a team effort and everyone helps one another.”
But good horses are few and far between, and as a trainer you need to have luck on your side.
“I buy horses I think I can improve on, but at the end of the day, it’s all down to having a good, reliable workforce who work together as a team,” she says.
“A lot of it is a lottery game. You can be lucky or unlucky. You need a horse that has the size and scope to go over fences. The ones that are fantastically bred, we really can’t afford.
“So we buy ones who might have been faced with the wrong races at, say, Ascot or Newbury, but do have the ability to race well. It’s as if you’d asked me to run against Linford Christie, I’d have chucked the towel in a long time ago! You’ve just got to find the right race for the horse.
“I usually get the lower end of the market when it comes to racehorses. But recently, I’ve been sent some very good, quality horses and they give you the chance to get on the map.”
As well as a busy equine life, Alison manages to juggle her training and racing with family life. She has three children – son Jonathan and daughters Danielle and Angharad.
“They are very supportive. And when there’s no food in the house, they understand,” she laughs.
Alison uses the swimming pool for horses ticking over between races and to keep the weight off their feet, especially with the hard land in summer that can jar their hooves.
“The horses must be 110% fit to compete with quality horses who can compete when they are 80% fit,” she says.
“The horses here have attitude and they want to gallop. They adapt to the gallops. They know when and where to breathe. It’s not a severe gallop, but it’s testing.”
Alison kept ponies as a youngster and used to showjump until she was 19. She then married, had children and did nothing in the equine industry for eight years. Then she met her current partner, Heddwyn Jones, who kept a few pointers and had a horse in training with Peter Bowen near Fishguard.
But being a trainer can be hard work and people are always ready to criticise.
“I’ve made mistakes. Some have been big ones, a lot of them small, like everybody, but I learn something new every day and I never stop learning,” she says.
She has also had her falls, and two years ago, a bad fall could have ended her career.
“I now pull rank and only ride the quiet ones. The older you get, the more sensitive you get and when I broke my back in a fall, and spent nine weeks on my back, it was so frustrating. A bird flew out of the hedge and the horse whipped round so fast, it happened so easily.
“A race to me is a race, but you’ve got to be seen winning the Saturday races on television. When you start winning the big races, that’s when it all comes together and it gives me great satisfaction.”
And her ambition, like many is to win the National.
“With Cheltenham, you’ve got to have the horse to go there. But winning the National needs a good horse and a degree of luck,” she says. “We want horses to win races. I have nice owners who value our opinions. I’m honest with people and all our horses are valued.”
Do you know her, Colin?
What it's like to be a racehorse trainer...
Nov 27 2007 by Anwen Francis, Western Mail
INDIVIDUAL attention, honesty, good owners and a team effort is what makes one of Wales’ leading racehorse trainers such a success.
On her small, welcoming National Hunt Yard, situated on the outskirts of the village of Bronwydd, Alison Thorpe employs eight workers. She has 24 horses in training.
Being a racehorse trainer may sound glamorous, especially when horses win big money, but there are pitfalls and it’s all about dedication and hard work.
As Alison explains, “At 6am, we start work. The stables are mucked out and the first lot of horses start their training at 7.30am. They are all ridden out in small lots of no more than three or four. This really helps those that are buzzed up. In the afternoon, they are turned out, but they all enjoy coming back in at night.”
Her successes to date include winning the £25,000 top prize at the Summer Festival in Newton Abbott with Rushneey River, which was bought for £5,000. The 12-year-old Maidstone Monument, owned by Don Jenkins and bought for 500 guineas, has won 11 races.
“When you start winning, you do get recognised,” says Alison. “It’s hard to start off, and I’ve probably built a reputation for improving other people’s cast-offs. Some people might think I don’t have enough racing experience to do what I’m doing but the results speak for themselves.
“I am prepared to learn though, and I’ve wanted to do it for such a long time. I think people have more faith in me now.”
The yard at Felinfach is small and personal, and each horse has its name on its stable door.
“The horses are treated like animals, not machines. They have names, not numbers,” says Alison.
“It might sound horrible to those with very big yards, but I’m sure that individual attention must make a difference. Everybody values what the other one does. It’s a team effort and everyone helps one another.”
But good horses are few and far between, and as a trainer you need to have luck on your side.
“I buy horses I think I can improve on, but at the end of the day, it’s all down to having a good, reliable workforce who work together as a team,” she says.
“A lot of it is a lottery game. You can be lucky or unlucky. You need a horse that has the size and scope to go over fences. The ones that are fantastically bred, we really can’t afford.
“So we buy ones who might have been faced with the wrong races at, say, Ascot or Newbury, but do have the ability to race well. It’s as if you’d asked me to run against Linford Christie, I’d have chucked the towel in a long time ago! You’ve just got to find the right race for the horse.
“I usually get the lower end of the market when it comes to racehorses. But recently, I’ve been sent some very good, quality horses and they give you the chance to get on the map.”
As well as a busy equine life, Alison manages to juggle her training and racing with family life. She has three children – son Jonathan and daughters Danielle and Angharad.
“They are very supportive. And when there’s no food in the house, they understand,” she laughs.
Alison uses the swimming pool for horses ticking over between races and to keep the weight off their feet, especially with the hard land in summer that can jar their hooves.
“The horses must be 110% fit to compete with quality horses who can compete when they are 80% fit,” she says.
“The horses here have attitude and they want to gallop. They adapt to the gallops. They know when and where to breathe. It’s not a severe gallop, but it’s testing.”
Alison kept ponies as a youngster and used to showjump until she was 19. She then married, had children and did nothing in the equine industry for eight years. Then she met her current partner, Heddwyn Jones, who kept a few pointers and had a horse in training with Peter Bowen near Fishguard.
But being a trainer can be hard work and people are always ready to criticise.
“I’ve made mistakes. Some have been big ones, a lot of them small, like everybody, but I learn something new every day and I never stop learning,” she says.
She has also had her falls, and two years ago, a bad fall could have ended her career.
“I now pull rank and only ride the quiet ones. The older you get, the more sensitive you get and when I broke my back in a fall, and spent nine weeks on my back, it was so frustrating. A bird flew out of the hedge and the horse whipped round so fast, it happened so easily.
“A race to me is a race, but you’ve got to be seen winning the Saturday races on television. When you start winning the big races, that’s when it all comes together and it gives me great satisfaction.”
And her ambition, like many is to win the National.
“With Cheltenham, you’ve got to have the horse to go there. But winning the National needs a good horse and a degree of luck,” she says. “We want horses to win races. I have nice owners who value our opinions. I’m honest with people and all our horses are valued.”