A sea of grinning faces greeted the heroic Flintham in the winner’s enclosure at Warwick, after he displayed a typically gritty, front-running and brilliant jumping performance in the Pertemps Cheltenham Festival qualifier. Owners and yard staff alike were delighted to be back in the winner’s enclosure after what has been a rather bleak beginning to the season, with some of the horses not being very well and, of course, our stable star Coneygree, out for the season, due to a hock issue.
Flintham’s fabulous win was confirmation of the recovery the horses in the yard have made. They have all scoped well for the first time in ages and so we are hoping for some other good performances from others such as Robert’s Star and the newcomer, Grey Swift.
Positive Progress
Coneygree is doing well and having passed the first hurdle in his recovery, we are delighted that he is now starting his long and meticulously planned rehabilitation programme, which begins with ten minutes in hand walking, twice a day. He is very pleased to be out of his box and having behaved so well for the first few days, which consisted of walking around the yard, we decided to take him into the village to find his favourite pick of grass.
On Saturday we venture into the unknown with our old friend Carruthers who is going to run in a point-to-point at Larkhill with our daughter Lily as the capable jockey.
The old fella is now 13 but still behaves like a two-year-old; he has greatly enjoyed a spot of drag-hunting with the Berks and Bucks Draghounds, which is a prerequisite in order to qualify for point-to-pointing. It will be the first race for Lily and as Carruthers is a very dear friend, it will be a nerve-wracking occasion for us all!
I will let you know how they get on in the next update, and hopefully Coneygree will continue to progress further in his rehabilitation. As anyone with horses knows, there are always highs and lows, and it’s these little setbacks that make you stronger! Coneygree has the best support team possible, and his welfare is of the utmost importance. We will take as long as is necessary and while he is, at the moment, enjoying his time off, I’ve no doubt that he will be full of beans when he can finally be ridden again – luckily I know him so well that I can usually stay a step ahead of his antics and, fingers crossed, stay on his back.
Until next time…
Sara x
