May 2026 Blog

The yards have emptied and the luscious grassy fields are filling up with very happy herds of horses, growing chubby and relaxing under the early summer sunshine.

A Sad Farewell

At the end of April, the last remaining Don’t Push It sheep died.

               2010 Aintree Grand National winner Don’t Push It was famous for living from a pen and paddock with a herd of six patched brown and white horned ewes. By the time I started in September 2012, Don’t Push It had retired to Ireland and the herd was five. Over the years, the number dwindled until, two years ago, only one remained. She lived in the paddocks around the pens, when I worked there, and she was once joined

by an escapee lamb. I nicknamed the ewe Gnarly and the lamb Minty.

Both would bleat for a daily half scoop of racehorse nuts, and they were never far away from each other. The lamb, having grown into a sturdy sheep despite being a small to begin with, was eventually rounded up by the farmer and rejoined her flock.

The Jacob led a solitary existence in the shady paddock behind the boss’ walled garden. She was found dead there on the 30^th April, having lived an unbelievably long life. Maybe due to all that racehorse feed!

It was the end of an era.

Farewell Percy

Around the same time, Percy the peacock stopped being spotted around the gardens and carpark behind the staff hostels. I queried if he had gone back home to his peahen, Penny, but the local gamekeepers hadn’t seen him either.

I sincerely hope he has just gone to explore another home and hasn’t been caught by a fox. I miss him strutting about, spurs like those on the boots of a cocksure cowboy, preening his beautiful iridescent feathers and dropping some like whispered memories. He definitely brought the yard luck and a few staff appreciated his beautiful presence, so I hope he passes through again in the future.

               In the meantime, he’s left behind a track in the undergrowth from the trees where he used to roost at night, his tail a waterfall of shimmer, a peacock-shaped groove beneath the hedge where he sheltered from rain and a tub of meal worms in my utility room.

Pioneering at Punchestown      

Punchestown week passed quickly, with horses and staff enjoying a successful week. Even though we didn’t have a winner, Wilful ran well in the Irish Champion Hurdle behind the brilliant Lossiemouth and Golden Ace. Pioneer Pete finished second by a short head, unlucky in that the winner won on the nod but delighting his syndicate owners, and breeder Lady Anthea Leigh, who had named him after her late father, the wonderful trainer Peter Beaumont.

Winner Number 1

  On 5^th May, the yard sent out its first winner of the season; Mersey Street over fences at Fontwell, under Richie McLernon. ‘Mersey’ is a bit of a yard legend – he’s a little wayward on the gallops, but in the stable, he’s really soft. He lowers his head for cuddles and is loved by not just his groom Florin ‘Fred’ Mirea but by all of us.

That Time of the Year

As galloping hoofbeats are our winter soundtrack, droning pressure washers are our summer one, as well as the grumble of mowers and the wailing whines of strimmers.

‘That time of the year again,’ said head lad Johnny Kavanaugh as he passed with the jagged gait of many an old horseman. I was blasting a winter’s worth of mud and dirt from turnout rugs with a pressure washer. I used bubbles and hot water, then rinsed with cold, the whirring of the pressure washer loud in the ears as the jets of water hit at point-blank range, creating miniature rainbows in the sunshine. The forklift, head lad van and yard jeeps had all passed by, but I didn’t notice.

Yet, Johnny startled me and reminded me how I washed the rugs annually, and that it always comes around so quickly. It’s a task I enjoy, gaining satisfaction as the dirt disappears down the drain. In the barn, now empty of horses and equipment, Ionut ‘John’ Dina and Fred, clad in shiny waterproofs, had a pressure washer each, beginning the big spring clean – the same droning noise and the same gunning water. The summer is the season for cleaning, washing, repairing and painting, and that duo will pretty much pressure wash the whole yard of its grime, dried poo and dust. 

It is also John and Fred’s job to clean the area by the swimming pool every week throughout the winter, leaving the black non-slip rubber flooring flawless. Where horses are involved, it never stays clean for long but they always do a great job.

The Remainder of the Month

In May, my family and I visited Ireland to see relatives. It was lovely to watch the kids play with their cousins, wielding small hurleys that they usually don’t have the opportunity to play with at home.

Then I had two weeks of jury duty. Expecting to be plunged into a court situation, I was disappointed when, the first morning, the other jury members and I experienced a delay, in which I finished a novel, to be told the defendant had pleaded guilty. We were sent home, without ever even seeing inside the courtroom.

Then, I was discharged for the remainder of my jury duty. So much for sending down the bad guys!