Another busy summer has flown by and autumn is definitely upon us. The weather is on the turn and finally the rain has come! All the horses are back in work now and the majority have started their cantering work. Josh spent a couple of weeks redoing the drainage on the gallops and we will also start to top the gallop up over the coming weeks.

We have an extremely exciting string of both National Hunt and Point to Pointers to run this season and these were on display at our well attended Owners Day on Sunday. We had an amazing turnout of around 160 people and paraded all the horses before a lunch, which was made by several very loyal helpers! It takes quite an army to pull this day off and we are so grateful for all the help everyone gives us. All the horses looked a picture in the parade and are a credit to all the staff for their hard work.

There was no rest for the wicked and we had Gary Waters and Gabriel Hannon in on Monday to do all the horses teeth. This is such a crucial part of a horse’s wellbeing and it is always reassuring to have everything checked and treated, especially when we have a lot of newcomers at the beginning of each season.

Our team of 3 year olds is as strong as ever and we will spend the next month or so getting to know them. They all loose schooled in the summer during their breaking in process and we will get them jumping under saddle fairly soon. It is great to watch them all progress and find their strong points and fingers crossed we can get them to the track in the Spring.

The “proper” National Hunt winter season kicks off at Chepstow on the 10th October and we could possibly have a few runners around this time. Some of our National Hunt horses could start off in a Point to Point first before switching back under rules.

The Point to Point season starts on the 8th of November at Knightwick but the first meeting in the Devon and Cornwall area is on the 23rd November. We hope to have some runners again early like we did last season but it all depends on the weather and how the horses are coming along.