Horses First Racing
Horses First Racing is based at 'The Beeches' in Sutton Veny, SW Wiltshire. The Beeches is a 160 acre farm under organic management. Previously a dairy farm, major conversion and development work since early 2004 has created a top class training facility of which we are very proud.
We have 3 all-weather gallops on the farm. Our hill gallop rises 257 feet over 6+ furlongs and is wide enough in places for three horses to work upsides. It is surfaced with a soft-track consisting of waxed sand and fibre.
Our oval gallop is situated around the perimeter of our 42 acre field, known as ‘The Bowl’ because the hills form a natural amphitheatre. It is just under a mile long in an oval shape, allowing the horses to canter for miles without pulling up. The surface is the same as the hill gallop, although the sand is not waxed.
We have a 4 ½ furlong flat gallop, again surfaced by Softrack Surfaces. It has just one bend and is wide enough to allow 3 horses to work upsides. We do a lot of our fast work on this gallop and it feeds into the hill gallop, providing the riders with a nice pull-up facility.
Our Seawalker has been developed to give horses the benefits of a healing walk in the sea after their work. Designed to reduce injuries and promote good health the Seawalker brings together proven healing technologies; chilled salt water, and controlled movement to encourage healthy circulation. The Seawalker took over two years research and investigation to develop and involved travel to Australia, Germany, Holland and Ireland to speak to leading experts in the fields of equine hydrotherapy spas, horse walkers, and equine medicine. The Seawalker has the following features:
Scientific studies show that immersing horses’ legs in salt water at low temperatures is effective in both healing and preventing injury. The Seawalker offers those benefits and the opportunity for horses to slowly unwind after work or to have a good work out without a rider. Horses coming into training can be built up with maximum protection against injury.
For more information, please visit www.equinehealthcentre.co.uk
The Softwalker is surfaced in 'wetpour' soft tarmac, a surface designed to cushion the impact on the horses’ joints and ligaments. At a huge 25m diameter, six horses can use the walker at once and it is ideal for cooling them down after work. Like the Seawalker, speed and direction can be varied via a sophisticated control panel, allowing automated programs to be set as well as manual adjustments.
For more information, please visit www.equinehealthcentre.co.uk
Our custom-built indoor walker is designed with the walker mechanism coming down from the roof, allowing us to utilise the space in the middle as a lunge ring/sand roll. It has the same surface as the softwalker, providing safe, cushioned ground for the horses to walk on.
We recently imported a high-speed equine treadmill from Australia, which allows us to work the horses without a rider and closely observe them in all four paces. We are able to scope horses with suspected wind problems on site and the treadmill is also great for working horses with back or mouth problems.
‘The Bowl’ is so called because the hills form a beautiful natural amphitheatre. Within the oval gallop, it provides a nice grass surface to work the horses on and is ideal for freshening them up.
We have an 18 obstacle schooling facility set in 16 acres. This was developed specifically to allow horses to find a rhythm, jumping in a continuous circuit, rather than the traditional approach of jumping 3 fences in a line then having to pull up and go round again. The obstacles range from steeplechase fences and hurdles to tyres and more cross-country based fences. This means there is a good range suitable for starting young horses off, improving the confidence of more cautious horses and simply refreshing the old pros who just need a pop over a couple of fences before a race.
The Vitafloor is a full-sized stable floor which variably vibrates and tilts, working on the same principles as the well established Power-Plate for humans. Over a number of independently conducted clinical trials, it has shown to be highly effective at improving blood circulation and lymphatic drainage as well as reducing inflammation, speeding tendon injury recovery time and relaxing the horse through massage. Equally, it can be used to train/maintain muscles for horses unable to exercise due to injury.
Our 30 x 60 metre outdoor waxed sand and rubber arena is an invaluable tool in our training programs. An outer ring enables the arena to be used as a loose school, where horses can canter and jump without a rider. The string also assembles in the school before each lot goes out to enable Jeremy to look over the horses and give the riders their instructions.The middle of the school is used mainly for flatwork. Some of our horses do flatwork sessions to improve their muscle tone, balance, flexibility and co-ordination. It is also good for teaching the discipline necessary for safe and effective training.
We have a set of state of the art 3-bay training stalls, developed specifically for starting young horses and working with remedial stalls cases. All horses are put through the stalls before they race on the flat and youngsters do extensive work in the stalls to ensure they are completely at ease with them before they race.
Our horses are turned out as much as possible and great emphasis is placed on paddock care. We are gradually re-seeding the whole farm, with a special deep rooting seed mixture, including plants with natural worming properties.
Having 160+ acres of grazing enables us to rotate the horses frequently, and turn them out into their natural environment as much as possible. We have smaller paddocks suitable for horses that need solitary turnout and larger fields where horses can be turned out in small herds. All of our fields have field shelters or good tree cover to provide shade and protection from flies in the summer.
Our stabling is situated in large, airy barns which have excellent ventilation to minimize the risk of viruses. We have stabling capacity for 70 horses in five different barns, including a 20 horse facility situated a little way away from the rest giving us isolation options. We also have a specific isolation unit for horses coming onto the farm for the first time. All of our stables are roomy and most have automatic waterers with meters on them which provide the horses with a constant supply of clean water and also monitor the amount they have drunk.
We have converted one of our barns into a wash-down area for the horses when they come back from exercise. There are 5 bays, each supplied with its own warm water hose. Not only does this make the morning exercise routine more efficient, it is also lovely for the horses to have a warm power-hose after work rather than a cold hose or a warm sponge. Cold water on hot muscles can cause stiffening, which can lead to injury, so the warm water has real benefits. Additionally it opens the pores to wash out all the sweat from their work, greatly reducing any possibility of skin problems.
We have plenty of long all-weather tracks which are lovely for hacking around the farm and provide a safe route to and from the gallops. We are also situated in a quiet village next to Eastliegh Woods, providing a lovely environment for giving horses quieter days and a change of scenery.
Our tower stands overlooking all of the gallops and gives a great view of the horses working. Jeremy uses it as a second office, basing himself in it most mornings to watch the horses work, time gallops and give riders instructions. Our owners can use the tower whenever they come to see their horses work.
Our purpose-built Owners' Lounge provides owners with a comfortable place to relax when they visit the yard. They are able to make use of the dining facilities and review their horses' races on the widescreen TV.
A special facility that we are offering our owners this year is our private box at Salisbury Racecourse. Salisbury are hosting 16 meetings this season and there are members of the Horses First team in attendance at every one. If you are attending the races feel free to pop in and say hello.
Organic Land Management
We are fully organic certified through Demeter. Certificate no. 430. Demeter are the certifying body of biodynamic farming in the UK. More information on Biodynamics is available from the BDDA website.
Wildlife
We care very much that our farm is a haven for wildlife. We have planted 1800+ new trees and are currently planting extensive new hedgerows, as well as maintaining the existing ones according to strict guidelines which protect the nesting and feeding sites of the birds. We have owl and kestrel boxes installed on the farm, the kestrel box has been regularly used, the owls have yet to take up residence but we are hopeful! We are in the 'Organic Entry Level Scheme' run by Defra to promote good environmental management of farm land. Already we are seeing more birds and a greater variety of insect species on the land.
Reduce, Re-use, Recycle
We follow a policy of reduce, re-use and recycle as much as possible on the yard and in the office. We compost down all our bedding and muck from the yard on site, and use the composted material to return the nutrients to the land. In the office we use recycled paper and envelopes and recycle our used paper and ink cartridges. We compost our tea bags, and recycle packaging and cardboard.
Renewable Electricity
We buy all our electricity for the farm from Good Energy who supply 100% from renewable sources such as wind and wave power.
Reduced traffic impact
Most of our staff live on site, and do not have to drive to work. Those that do drive live very locally. We all share driving where possible and try to limit our time on the roads, taking the train when suitable.