This was my favourite horse I looked after in racing…
This was my favourite horse I looked after in racing… It’s Master Hope
There is about six/seven months between the first photo and the rest of them
The first one is on Jackdaws Castle Open Day 1994 and my horse was wondering what was going on… there was a lot of people about and he needed a bit of reassurance that everything was going to be ok
The rest of the photos were taken 16th March 1995
In the months between the photos Master Hope had a bad injury on the Jackdaws Castle gallops
I used to ride him all the time and this one day we were doing quite a strong canter up the short all weather gallop when he lost his action, we pulled up quick and I dismounted… he didn’t want to put weight on his near hind but his leg wasn’t hanging so appeared not broken
The Duke was there and he got the horsebox brought to the gallops to collect Master Hope… he went up the ramp into the box and was taken around to the yard to his stable
The vet came out and x-rayed Master Hope’s leg and he had a fracture of the Cannon bone
His leg was plastered and for two months he was made to stand tied up near his water trough, haynet was on the wall by him and at feed time I also held up his bran mash feed bucket so he could eat
It was like this to keep him as still as possible
After a couple of months he was allowed to be loose in his stable
Some time later I started riding him out again… I was instructed to get him trotting and cantering up the gallops literally from the word go (to see if he could stand the work) and this is when the second lot of photos were taken
He was a lovely horse to know and quite a lively ride… he liked going up the gallops and before his injury he loved jumping
He was intelligent… he showed that when he was convalescing, it must have been nearly soul destroying being tied up but he just stood there looking at the wall for two months… very strong willpower
Another example of intelligence was when he had an abscess in the toe part of his foot (this was when he was in training)
I was told to tub his foot in hottish water. I put the bucket down by his foot and he lifted it up and put the infected part (with his leg bent at the knee) in the water all of his own doing and stood like that for 30 minutes without moving a muscle
He was owned by Waterloo Boy and Another Coral’s owners
… and The Duke allowed me to ride the horse in two races, this was after saying
“Richard you are not coming here to ride in races!” (when I started at Jackdaws)
Master Hope ❤️