Well, that wasn't there last week......

Regular visitors to the yard and gallops may have noticed a couple of improvements to the layout. Or marginal gains as Sir Dave Brailsford is wont to say.

At the foot of the yard a 5-berth Horse Walker has been installed.
Note : after conducting in-depth research on this type of apparatus, we can reveal that Dodlands Steading is not the first yard in the country to acquire such an aid.

But seriously, a fantastic addition which will be mainly used in the capacity of post-gallop warm downs.

Away from the yard and onto the gallops across the road.
The schooling lane has been re-positioned - well, the chase fences have been moved into the same field as the hurdle schooling lanes.

As you can see below, on the right are the 5 sets of 'hurdles' comprising of tyres, mainly for initial education of our young horses.
In the middle are our two chase fences, which have been recently re-birched.
And on the left, adjacent to the chase fences are two flights of hurdles which have been in use for a couple of seasons now.

All on a slight incline - ideal really - with our main Up-the-Middle gallop about 100 yards to the right.

 

Stable blackmail

Well, the unscrupulous website team guys did give plenty of warning that unless palms were crossed with silver, those little embarrassing moments from the lives of our stable staff would emerge..........

Recent incidents, with name omitted to protect the guilty :

• Who sent their son to school only to receive a phone call and be summoned back to pick him up after riding out second lot? It was an 'in-service' day........
  
  
• Which senior stable employee spent an evening post-Sales enjoying a 'quiet' drink with one of our owners, returning to the yard next day in a disheveled state vowing "Never Again!!".....
  
  
• Who still insists that the (fully laden) skip was moving when carrying out a maneuver in their recently acquired car? Contender for 2021 3rd annual Helen-Whillans-Car-Reversing-Ooops Award.....

There may be more to follow, donations gratefully received. You know it makes sense, Rodney.....