Freda

Haha, that lets me out then, with my bunch of moderates. I do recall Cameron George coming to the stables one race morning with RIU staff and vets to run a check on a starter I had. I remember thinking at the time, wtf was the point of that? All I needed to do was wait until they left then bring out the drugs.

Paula's already done the flowers thingy, went down super.

Nope.

Where's your faith, Chief? the allweather tracks will have it sorted. Absolutely.

Talking of brackets..[ and ellipses ] I recall Dad giving me an example. ' over the hill and along the road, comes a man with legs extraordinary bowed .' ascribed to H Longfellow, describing a bow-legged man. On the other hand, one W. Shakespeare might have said ' but lo! what manner of man is this, who comes with balls in parentheses'.

Good. And while the racing industry here shakes it's head and mutters, at least amateur races could be run without whips, and apprentice races too.

Spectacular.

I'm displaying my ignorance - but what situation would be classed as ' outside of ACC' ?

The list of colleges/academies listed above have no specific ability to train a young person how to ride a racehorse. Most Y.P's [ young people ] who come to stables looking for work are utterly useless, despite the 'level 3 ' or whatever certificate they may hold. I have had several over the years who have come in for work experience, not one could lead two horses safely, nor could any pick out horses' feet. Just a waste of time. I have had a lass from Telford who was very capable [ couldn't ride a T.B though ] but that was as a result of her experience helping her family with breeding stock, not as a result of what she had learned at the college. Years ago, Max Skelton was the principal of our local apprentice school - he also ran a riding school. He had ponies and also a few retired racehorses; these animals were as safe as it is possible to get, as they spent all their working days plodding around an arena, nose-to-tail, and steadfastly ignoring the encouraging kicks and digs to get them to move along a bit. Max would give Y.P's lessons, and once graduating to T.B's, got the more suitable riders cantering and adopting a ' crouch' position. He would also, occasion, bring these old racehorses into the track and do barrier work with the kids. He would have been the closest I have ever seen to a proper 'racing orientated' riding teacher. Despite 'unit standards' and all the other paper qualifications, I have to repeat [ for Thommo's benefit ] that as far as I know, there is NO specific riding academy which gives a tick to a potential track rider. A bloody can of worms. If I was approached for a riding position by a non-racing person, the very least I would require would be evidence of competence at Area Trials / Pony Club champs level..and there would be a lot of work done with said Y.P before they were let anywhere near a track.

Which, I presume, is quite different from public liability insurance? I wonder how many trainers carry both?

Scary indeed. There is a local trainer facing a similar situation, lord knows how he will fare....I would imagine he's not sleeping well.

Generally, yes, per ride.

I haven't seen ANY recognized programme for training track riders. Not one.

Spelling is too good to be Morty....unless Karen has done an 'edit'

That's very true...but he/Mrs Browne weren't about to hold anyone else culpable.

Thoughts now?

Good stuff, Curious, wonderful times. I remember Barbara judging my dressage in events, she was always very kind to me as I recall. I never got to the P.C champs, could have gone as an individual but Dad said I wasn't good enough and he wasn't wasting the money...! always called it as he saw it, my old man... Mavis' son Chris trained thoroughbreds until recently, has given up now, sick of battling ever-increasing costs with no light at the end of the tunnel.

That's unfair....if you had riding experience yourself you should know how hard it is for a non rider to ' stick with the ship' and ' steer till it got tired' ...ffs...fatigue and fear send logic out the window.

The above was not intended to denigrate the good people who have given their time to help, and have done the best they can under the requirements. The system is inadequate IMO.

A dreadful situation for all concerned . Two sets of lives irrevocably altered . Which brings me to one of my hobby-horses, viz. the lack of a properly-run jockey school as exists in many other racing jurisdictions. The UK and Ireland, South Africa ( the lads from Mauritius attend this ) Malaysia, Korea even, all have official jockey schools where potential riders are trained and assessed as to their suitability. I'm told that even wannabe track riders must attend the school in the UK, they can't just rock up to a yard and announce they can ride. A very very different system to ours. When I had apprentices, I resented strongly the time wasted ( IMO ) reading stuff about poisonous plants, running up and down the staircase of the ( now condemned) grandstand , and being instructed by some pony club chick how to put on a bandage or load a horse on a float. Poisonous plants are very unlikely to be present in a modern racing yard - and a kid from the country would likely know more than his instructors anyway...as for bandaging and loading on a float, I'll show my staff how I want it done....which is all irrelevant to the matter of riding racehorses anyway. Things may have changed since to a degree, but I have seen little to indicate that training is as good as it should be.

I'm happy with my modest investment on Endless Drama... .

IF we get the 4% returned - let's hope WE don't piss it up against the wall like we did with the last levy reduction.

I have a 3 year old full sister to Nathan Detroit due to arrive in the stable shortly, she is broken in and has had a small prep, currently spelling. Plans are to further her education with the view to autumn racing. Shares are available , no amount too small, any interested parties contact me please Ph 0274 502 878, email pamrobson2011@gmail.com or through BOAY Cheers Pam

Shame for the lad. ..unfortunately that's the way it often plays for the smaller operations.

Ha....well, Winston is running the show....as if anyone couldn't work out the game plan. .