Young racehorses have been enjoying something slightly different — taking on the arena eventing courses at Richmond Equestrian Centre.
North Yorkshire-based trainer Philip Kirby and his wife Pippa took a string of youngsters on the short trip to the centre, which runs affiliated and unaffiliated competition, in eventing, dressage and showjumping, on 10 November. They enjoyed themselves so much, they returned a few days later.
Sugar Butties, Wemyss Point, Another Theatre, Stitch Up, Gandhi Maker and Whoshotthesheriff were among the horses who took on the challenge, including going through the water splash and up and down steps, and jumping an array of solid fences. in a video set to music that has since been seen thousands of times.
Pippa said: “We came over to Richmond Equestrian Centre to train some of our younger horses, giving them a change of scenery at the excellent facilities provided by REC.”
Richmond owners Andrew and Abigail Turnbull said they “thoroughly enjoyed” watching the schooling, so invited the trainers to return.
“It was a pleasure to watch the horses and jockeys enjoying themselves at REC,” Andrew said. “We had to invite Team PKR back to use more of the facilities and the second video Pippa has done is another great watch.
“We work hard at REC to make sure our facilities are the best they can be and it was very rewarding, watching the racehorses and jockeys having fun. I think Phil and his team do a remarkable job with their horses, educating them well and in turn, giving them a good chance of rehoming after their racing careers… and I definitely think there were a couple of potential eventers in the last video!”
Abigail added that the Richmond team has enjoyed watching the videos, and is glad others also have.
“We’re just trying to think of what we can incorporate in the next one!” she said.
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