August 28th, 2014 | Uncategorized
I have rode horses before. Flashback to when I was 11 and went to horseback riding camp at Mount Ida Stables and thought I was a professional rider as well as various trail riding in Massachusetts, Arizona and Wisconsin. However, the real extent of my horse knowledge comes from my sister’s American Girl Doll horse riding set. For those who do not know, these are dolls and the horse was plastic.
Now having been to one of the most famous stables in the world, I can finally tell you something about racing that I haven’t made up myself. We had a day off from coaching and were lucky enough to get a tour of Coolmore Farm in Tipperary, Ireland. I was expecting to see a few stables with some horses, yet that would be too simple. Each horse has its own stable-much larger than my bedroom at home. They are kept on strict diets to keep them in optimal health for racing. When they are out of their stables, each horse has their very own field to run around in. They also have a vet available 24 hours a day and are constantly being watched on surveillance cameras. Needless to say, these horses live in an all-inclusive resort.
What surprised me most was how the entire stable functioned as a business. They have over 300 employees, each with a particular role from managing finances to managing the horses. People bring their horses to Coolmore from all over the world to breed with the stallions.
Racehorses are elite athletes just like us. The fastest horses may not have the best stride, but they do have the most heart, which is something we can all embrace no matter what we are trying to accomplish.
