Peter Monteith

rorydelargy

rorydelargy

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Shocked to hear that the Rosewell trainer has apparently killed himself after returning from Kelso races yesterday. Used to follow his fortunes closely having gone to Uni in Edinburgh, and remember the likes of Beldine, Moment of Truth and Dizzy (after whom a bar at Musselburgh has been named) with some fondness.
 
This is a great shame - a trainer whose horses I often followed at the Scottish tracks when looking for some value.

RIP
 
Shocking news Rory. Hope it’s not the thin end of the wedge. There must be immense pressure on the less high profile trainers in this economic climate (as on many of the rest of us) to make ends meet. Who knows whether this was the reason. But it can’t be comfortable for many.
 
SteveM said:
Shocking news Rory. Hope it’s not the thin end of the wedge. There must be immense pressure on the less high profile trainers in this economic climate (as on many of the rest of us) to make ends meet. Who knows whether this was the reason. But it can’t be comfortable for many.
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Desperately sad news of which there seems to be much around of late with Frank Jordan, the work rider of John Berry and also Happy Hippy from FF. And that is without starting on the horses.

I hope you aren't right, Steve re his motive but as you say the pressure is huge and it isn't getting any better at the moment. I have had plenty of people ask me if I am going back to training (due to my pointing involvement) but it will be a long while before I would be persuaded to get my licence out again in this climate. The stress is colossal. And the costs are going up and up. What people fail to realise is that when an owner doesn't pay you, you can't stop feeding the horse. By the time you are in a position to legally challenge the owner, stick them on the Forfeit List, you are more than several months down the road with costs rising most of which you can wave goodbye to. And then you have good owners who just can't afford to keep their "luxury" going either.

I gather there is a piece in the RP today about struggling trainers? I would imagine it makes interesting reading.
 
It has to be 'completely out of the blue', Will, or someone would try to stop you! It's not like getting terminally ill where people have some time to get their heads round your inevitable death. We've no idea why Mr Monteith chose self-despatch, so I'd rather not conjecture.

What is for sure is that deciding to depart, rather than letting illness or old age grind you down, is rather like dying in an accident - there is nothing anyone could've done to prevent it, so nobody should be beating themselves up with 'if only' scenarios. Condolences to his family and friends on the loss of someone well-regarded and respected. Good memories will prevail.
 
Very sad and tragic news. RIP Peter Monteith.

It certainly isn't easy for trainers at the moment, costs are going through the roof - the price of hay has nearly doubled in a lot of places this year and can be hard to get hold of in any quantity, straw is a similar story, feed and bedding prices are all being hiked and so on. With the economy the way it is, trainers cannot afford to put up their training fees either and risk losing owners so they are having to swallow a lot of the costs. One indicator of the situation is in the amount of freelance grooms looking for work at the moment - yet there is some work there as more and more yards are cutting back on the full time staff and employing freelances.

That said, life is also tough for feed merchants, hay/bedding suppliers, landlords of rented yards and so on, especially as the trainers find their cashflow strangled, so they fail to pay up. Trainers are the notoriously slowest payers out there - if they pay it! Plenty on the forfeit list for knocking people.
 
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For someone to feel so low to do this - can only imagined how tortured or desperate he and others are to do such a thing. Much be unbearable for their families.
 
A couple of blokes I know had a drink with Peter Monteith at Kelso races at the weekend, and apparently (I heard second-hand) suggested that you would never have thought it possible that he was contemplating such dark deeds. I guess you never can tell with this kind of thing.
 
Grasshopper said:
A couple of blokes I know had a drink with Peter Monteith at Kelso races at the weekend, and apparently (I heard second-hand) suggested that you would never have thought it possible that he was contemplating such dark deeds. I guess you never can tell with this kind of thing.
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Exactly and sadly this is common . People contemplating suicide often are very good at concealing it .

Perhaps I should qualify what I said - in my opinion , with the exception of those who are either terminally ill or face a future of unremitting physical pain - suicide is the ultimate irrational act as it is generally caused by an illness -severe depression which destroys the capability to think and act rationally as to whether life is worth living .
 
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