A Typical Day At Easdon Lodge

A typical week generally consists of trials on Tuesday and racing on Wednesday and Saturday with an increase in the number of race meetings now being held on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. Gallop mornings are traditionally Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and Jump-outs (where the horses have practice in jumping out and galloping away from the barrier stalls) are scheduled twice a month.
From Monday to Saturday the day starts at 4.30am with the first horses out on the tracks by 4.45am and the last being finished by 8.15am. The early start provides the advantage of first use of the track. Once the horses have been worked and had their breakfast Vet rounds begin for any who need such attention and our farrier Jared Smith is usually found at the tie-ups plating up horses that are due to race. At 9.30am everyone goes home for breakfast and the horses have a bit of quiet time before it all starts again at 2.30pm.
Afternoon Stables usually consists of grooming, farrier work and the chiropractor or dentist. This can be a good time for owners to come and see their horses being paraded on the lawn. Horses who need a bit of extra conditioning may be taken through to the pool for a few laps and the horse walker is available for warming up and cooling down or for times when inclement weather has reduced full access to timeout in the paddocks.
Feed up is at 4.15pm and the horses are usually tucked up for a good nights sleep by about 4.30pm. Evening rug up in the warmer months is at 7.00pm and then it’s off to bed before doing it all again tomorrow. We try to keep Sundays quiet with work kept to a minimum so only the horses who are racing the following week being exercised.