Early starts are paramount for anyone who works in the racing industry but for a young assistant the start is even earlier.
My alarm goes off at 4am followed by at least three hits of the snooze button!! I will then head into the yard at 4.30am
The start of the day is key, I look round to make sure that none of the horses have obtained any injuries and that they have all eaten up and are bright and well. They will be fed a small breakfast giving them an hour or so to digest it before they head out for exercise.
A quick coffee is then in order before I organise the team for the morning ahead. This process starts with bandaging all the horses for exercise and organising the yard men and ground staff with their jobs for the morning.
Our first string will pull out at 6.00am. They will have a quick warm up in the barn to check they are all sound before heading out for exercise. Depending on the day the majority of them will head to warren hill to do one or two canters.
I will be in close contact with Ed throughout the morning while we watch the horses on their various exercise routines .This includes the dry and water treadmill which are in regular use allowing horses a break from ridden exercise whilst maintaining their fitness level.
At around 9am the lads stop for breakfast and I will go through the form and closely follow our entries and declarations.
The morning follows a regular routine like this and I will be in contact with the vets and farriers with regards to any issues we have with the horses throughout the morning.
We return for evening stables at 3.30pm when the Head Lad, Gordon and I will look round the whole yard again to ensure all the horses are ok and have eaten their lunch and are behaving in a normal manor. I then produce an evening report listing any problems or changes so that we have a record of what has gone on during the day.
It is a busy day and I absolutely love my job and we all at Ed Dunlop’s are eagerly anticipating racing’s return and will keep the horses ticking over in the meantime.
Have a lovely weekend and stay safe,
Kind Regards,
Jack