Back in November 2015 Yorkshire-based charity New Beginnings, well known for taking in former racehorses, were told about Chester who had been neglected and was found in a poor state.
The six-year-old Thoroughbred bay gelding had raced between July 2012 and April 2014 and after being brought back to the charity’s yard and facilities, Chester showed signs of being very food aggressive due to being hungry most of the time.
Said Pam Hollingworth of New Beginnings: “As we do with most of the horses we take on, we started Chester on Fibre-Beet along with a suitable hard feed to provide him with a filling high fibre diet.
“We believe that the diet is one of the most important parts of a horse’s retraining and our philosophy and regime is to always feed fibre first. Fibre-Beet offers highly digestible fibre sources to maintain a healthy digestive system whilst adding condition.
Chester slowly started to gain weight and condition and by April 2016 he was thriving. With such great progress Pam and the team decided it was time to bring him back into work and found that he loved being ridden and, in particular, jumping.
Added Pam: “He’s competed his first ROR class this year finishing third which was fantastic! He has also done some combined training and cross country schooling. He has progressed really well under saddle and went to do his first BE80 at Cumwhinton Horse Trials in
August and came a very respectable ninth place in his section.”
August and came a very respectable ninth place in his section.”
Chester has now found his forever loan home where he will continue to compete and fly the flag for the successful transition from racehorse to riding horse… he now has his new ‘Life Past the Post’.