Racehorse Sigurd delighted care home residents and school pupils with a special visit.
The staying chaser, in training with Joanne Foster, visited Cliff Vale Residential Home and Ilkley Grammar School on 27 June to support the launch of National Racehorse Week in September.
“Sigurd is an incredible horse – he competes on the racecourse, but also regularly visits schools and residential homes, which has become second nature to him,” said Jo.
“I’ve never known a horse so able to relax and genuinely relate to people, from children with special needs to older people in wheelchairs.”
She added: “‘Siggy’ is wonderful in how he gives so much to people and interacting with children, who wouldn’t be able to see horses on a daily basis or for some of them, never in their lives.
“I’ve found a lot of satisfaction from being able to put smiles on people’s faces.”
Jo said National Racehorse Week for her is about how trainers can help people and give back to the community.
“These wonderful horses offer us so much more than winning races: they put smiles on people’s faces and can genuinely help people who are feeling sad, lonely, or isolated,” she said. “It’s also an opportunity for people to come and see how we, in turn, look after our racehorses.”
The visits came as new research, commissioned by Great British Racing, which revealed a disconnect with animals and the countryside among those living in the UK’s cities.
The research was conducted by OnePoll, which sampled 2,000 12- to 40-year-olds in the UK who live in cities.
It found that 26% of 12- to 40-year-olds had never seen, or cannot remember seeing, a horse in real life. It showed that 18- to 24-year-olds are the least likely age group to have seen a horse “in person”; 44% of this group had never had an equine encounter.
Of those surveyed, 36% could not recall ever being within two metres of a horse and 34% had never touched one. Almost half had not visited the countryside in the last year, and 9% have never (or cannot remember) visiting.
On the positive side, 59% said they would like to visit the countryside more often, 48% wanted to have contact with animals more regularly, 84% said they feel happy when they are close to animals and 41% of those who have not seen, or cannot remember seeing, horses in person would like to change this.
“Spending time in the countryside and coming into contact with animals is excellent for our wellbeing and is something we want to encourage everyone to do more of,” said Gabi Whitfield, acting head of welfare communications at Great British Racing.
“With over a quarter of people aged 12 to 40 living in cities never having seen, or not remember seeing, a horse in person, National Racehorse Week is the perfect opportunity to put that right, and to experience first-hand the outstanding level of care these beautiful animals receive.”
National Racehorse Week is funded by the Racing Foundation, with additional support from the Horserace Betting Levy Board, and runs from 10 to 18 September this year.
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