....than answers . Had a good chat with DP yesterday . He sounded - naturally - a bit fed up . I think we're all clutching at straws a bit but we made a few points -
George's bad runs - 3 - have all come at Cheltenham .
His last run was a very credible 3rd in a gr.1 .
He's not jumping with his old fluency .
Remedies -
Give him a good break - KG just might have taken its toll -
Miss out Cheltenham & aim him at Aintree -
Put him back over hurdles -
Give him a couple of race course gallops -
A change of tactics .
Any thought out there ? And thankyou ( both ) for all the messages of support . George is getting the usual health check today and if anything comes to light I will report . CU
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All sounds very relevant!No easy answers.
ReplyDeleteBring him to Ireland--always very therapeutic to be here---if not for the horse then the owners!!
Jim/Campo
Unanimity from your followers Roger (and fellow supporters of Goerge and Geoff et al) ... decisions ain't easy.
ReplyDeletePrimary aim is do the right thing for the horse, yeah but WHAT IS that? So, other than getting the horses to learn to speak ... !!
Safest (perhaps best) is to put him away for a while. Doing the right thing and/?or? BE SEEN to be doing the right thing.
Perhaps just deferring further disappointment? Perhaps but best stay positive.
If 'merely' heavy ground is the issue (quite a big issue given ongoing weather!), then you might want to bring him back out for a run (suck it) and see. Mmmm but what race ... where & when will the ground come good? Maybe the BHA would run a 'horse rated 150+' VALUABLE jumper bumper on the all weather??
If look again over the channel there's the issue of bottomless/loose-on-top ground which arguably is even worse than Cheltenham.
Regroup looks like the right option.
As for 'Rest', there are different types. Look at what Highclere are doing with Gusto ... a sort of dressage training, not physically demanding but keeps the horse's mind working.
MhyG , cheers ; The Anorak,