Amy Young's Miracle Horse!
Baileys sponsored eventer, Amy Young, has recently been in touch with an update on all her horses! The yard are raring to go having happily survived the winter on their Baileys and new arrivals Master Step, a new Intermediate ride, and Upsalls Tia Maria, are soon to appear on the yard! However, it hasn’t all been plain sailing for Who’s Cruise (Tom), the strongest of her string, who has had an extremely tough time lately despite being due to upgrade to Advanced.
After suffering from sinusitis last season, he went in for a routine operation in mid-October but unfortunately had problems after surgery resulting in him being unable to get up. This was clearly a very serious problem and, after four days of being down, Amy’s vet indicated that they would need to make a decision. Thankfully Amy was not prepared to give up on him as he was “still bright in himself and still eating (there would definitely be something wrong if Tom stopped munching)” so they searched the country for a sling to get him back on his feet. They arranged to have one sent up from Newmarket and, despite their vets reservations, got Tom supported in it to give him a fighting chance. Amy says “we were incredibly lucky he is such a laid back character, and soon got the hang of spinning 360 round the stable, and leaning into it to rest and sleep”.
Unfortunately Tom still had pressure sores on his elbow and stifle, grazes to his knees, fetlocks and above his eyes where he'd banged the walls trying to get up and his legs filled up like balloons as soon as the circulation started to get going again. He developed an infection in his face from the sinus op, which they had been unable to flush out and keep clean, and there were also concerns about laminitis. Amy kept him on his high fibre feed, even though she “really wanted him on No.4 Top Line Conditioning Cubes due to the muscle wastage and loss of condition” but remained confident he was getting all he needed from Baileys Stud Balancer as, despite everything, his coat maintained a shine.
Amy and her team “practically moved into the vets to care for him", sleeping in the lorry but after four weeks organised a horse ambulance with a built in sling to bring him home. Amy travelled in the trailer with him, and even though every time we went over a roundabout he would lose his balance and rely on the sling, said it was remarkable how calm he was.
Tom spent another 3 weeks in the sling at home with visits from the physio, before the nerve-wracking moment when we removed the sling for the first time! Amy said “it was actually a bit of an anti-climax, you'd think after 7 weeks on his feet the first thing he'd want to do was roll, but he continued to swivel round as if the sling was still on!” Now, a couple of months on, his pressure sores are healing well, the infection finally drained, and he's getting stronger every day. His condition has dramatically improved, and Amy said “although we're not sure what, if anything, he will come back to do competition wise, he's a miracle horse to us”
We were delighted to hear that Amy’s miracle horse has pulled through and hope that he is able to work towards his winning form from last year (pictured here jumping clear in the 1.30 at Ingliston). He has already survived against the odds so here’s to hoping he will continue to surprise us!
After suffering from sinusitis last season, he went in for a routine operation in mid-October but unfortunately had problems after surgery resulting in him being unable to get up. This was clearly a very serious problem and, after four days of being down, Amy’s vet indicated that they would need to make a decision. Thankfully Amy was not prepared to give up on him as he was “still bright in himself and still eating (there would definitely be something wrong if Tom stopped munching)” so they searched the country for a sling to get him back on his feet. They arranged to have one sent up from Newmarket and, despite their vets reservations, got Tom supported in it to give him a fighting chance. Amy says “we were incredibly lucky he is such a laid back character, and soon got the hang of spinning 360 round the stable, and leaning into it to rest and sleep”.Unfortunately Tom still had pressure sores on his elbow and stifle, grazes to his knees, fetlocks and above his eyes where he'd banged the walls trying to get up and his legs filled up like balloons as soon as the circulation started to get going again. He developed an infection in his face from the sinus op, which they had been unable to flush out and keep clean, and there were also concerns about laminitis. Amy kept him on his high fibre feed, even though she “really wanted him on No.4 Top Line Conditioning Cubes due to the muscle wastage and loss of condition” but remained confident he was getting all he needed from Baileys Stud Balancer as, despite everything, his coat maintained a shine.Amy and her team “practically moved into the vets to care for him", sleeping in the lorry but after four weeks organised a horse ambulance with a built in sling to bring him home. Amy travelled in the trailer with him, and even though every time we went over a roundabout he would lose his balance and rely on the sling, said it was remarkable how calm he was.
Tom spent another 3 weeks in the sling at home with visits from the physio, before the nerve-wracking moment when we removed the sling for the first time! Amy said “it was actually a bit of an anti-climax, you'd think after 7 weeks on his feet the first thing he'd want to do was roll, but he continued to swivel round as if the sling was still on!” Now, a couple of months on, his pressure sores are healing well, the infection finally drained, and he's getting stronger every day. His condition has dramatically improved, and Amy said “although we're not sure what, if anything, he will come back to do competition wise, he's a miracle horse to us”We were delighted to hear that Amy’s miracle horse has pulled through and hope that he is able to work towards his winning form from last year (pictured here jumping clear in the 1.30 at Ingliston). He has already survived against the odds so here’s to hoping he will continue to surprise us!
Andrew Gould Lecture Demo
Baileys sponsored rider, Andrew Gould, will be holding a lecture demonstration at World Horse Welfare (Hall Farm, Snetterton) in Norfolk on 22nd March! So if you’re looking to iron out any dressage issues, why not come along! Tickets are £20 for adults and £14 for children and can be pre booked by contacting Maxine Langley on 01953 499100.
For more information about Andrew and his horses visit his website here or like Priory Dressage on Facebook!
Woodcroft Stud win on Baileys!
Baileys first met Trakhener Stallion, Woodcroft Garuda, when he was sponsored by Baileys with Malcom Holtshausen. So we were delighted to hear that, after moving to new rider and BEF evaluator Lesley Peyton-Gilbert’s yard, Garuda was still enjoying his Baileys feed!He is currently competing at PSG level and his owners, Bernadette O’Sullivan & Tim Harris of Woodcroft Stud, hope that he will move up to Inter 1 next year. Garuda’s breeding credentials are equally impressive and he gained the Champion BEF Stallion accolade, based on his progeny results in 2008.
Woodcroft’s progeny have all gained first or elite
premiums at the Futurity Evaluations and Garuda’s foal ‘Woodcroft Hirtensonne' also took Champion Foal & Supreme Champion at this year’s Trakehner Show. Further successes include last year’s Supreme Champion Mare 'Woodcroft Galadriel', this year’s Supreme Champion Hanoverian 'Woodcroft Dancing Queen' and producing Supreme Champion British Warmblood Stallion 'Dark De Niro' for the Louella Stud.
premiums at the Futurity Evaluations and Garuda’s foal ‘Woodcroft Hirtensonne' also took Champion Foal & Supreme Champion at this year’s Trakehner Show. Further successes include last year’s Supreme Champion Mare 'Woodcroft Galadriel', this year’s Supreme Champion Hanoverian 'Woodcroft Dancing Queen' and producing Supreme Champion British Warmblood Stallion 'Dark De Niro' for the Louella Stud. Bernadette & Tim breed around 5 foals a year, regularly import from Germany and compete in BD and young horse classes. Baileys feed is fed to all the horses at Woodcroft Stud with Bernadette’s favourite product being Baileys Outshine high oil supplement! When selling around 20 horses a year, all are sent to their new home with their current Baileys diet.
Obviously we are delighted to hear how Garuda is getting on and that the Woodcroft progeny are continuing to prove themselves on evaluation! To find out more about Woodcroft Stud, visit their website here, or read their new breeding column in Horse Deals!
Can English go Western? Laura Cohen thinks so!
Laura has had her horse Harry M for 15 years, competing up to Fox Hunter level show jumping in his younger days and winning many affiliated classes! Later, when looking for a change, Laura decided to do some showing and working hunter classes and went on to compete county level! However, after about 8 years of many successful wins Harry was diagnosed with coffin joint and was lame for about 6 months. Laura had to turn him away for a year with the vet warning he may never become sound again. Luckily Laura was able to bring him back into light work (light hacking and pleasure rides).
Laura first got the western bug after a year out in Australia where she was involved in breaking and training western horses and was inspired by the natural horsemanship involved. So naturally when she returned to the UK Laura started to train Harry in the basics of western riding. Initially Laura had “no idea western riding existed in the UK, until she got chatting to an old horsey friend who was a member of WES”. She was then put in touch with the top western trainers and went to many of the clinics up and down the country!
Throughout 2011 Laura competed at all of the championship shows, saying her “first western show riding one handed was the hardest thing I ever did, especially on an English horse!” However, despite being up against all the top quarter horses in the country at the AQHA show Laura gained two second places out of 8 entries and one third out of 11 entries!Laura says that many people were amazed that she had trained an English horse to do western and acknowledges that it “takes a lot longer and a lot of patience” but says it was an “amazing challenge and great feeling to beat the best quarter horses and top trainers”.
Laura’s next challenge for 2012 is to buy a young horse and break and train it for western shows as Harry is now 19 and getting a bit old for the western classes, despite looking great on his Baileys No.4 Top Line Conditioning Cubes! Ultimately, Laura then hopes to become a professional and go on to compete in reining classes.
Peter Charles flies the Baileys Flag!
Baileys are thrilled to announce a new addition to the Baileys Team – prolific show jumper Peter Charles!Born in Liverpool but with an Irish mother, Peter was a member of the Irish show jumping team for many years after taking up Irish nationality prior to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. However, in 2006 Peter suffered a serious fall where he ruptured his spinal sheath, shattered three ribs and broke a vertebra. After his recovery, reasoning that he had British owners and lived in Britain, he was given clearance by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) to change his nationality and he has ridden under the union flag in the Nations Cup ever since.
With an impressive catalogue of successes throughout his career, including individual gold at the European Championships in 1995 and individual 8th at the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996, Peter played an integral part in the Irish Team. He is still the only rider to have won the two richest Grand Prix’s in Great Britain and, more recently, added the Derby Trophy to his 2011 Hickstead silverware collection with a superb display on Great Britain Nations Cup regular Murka's Nevada.
Since switching to Baileys Horse Feed Peter has "noticed a real difference in the horses” saying they are “gaining top line and looking great without going off their heads. The Nutritional support has also been second-to-none, which is important when you’re dealing with top performance horses on a busy schedule.”
Obviously we can’t wait to see Peter’s horses in action in 2012 so expect more updates soon! Remember that the Nutritional Advice offered to Peter is also offered to all our customers so if you have want to know more about our products, or just want to talk about your horses diet, just call our Nutrition Line on 01371 850247 (option 2).