Sunday boasted strong fields in each of the races with good going. Although it was a chilly day the crowds were treated to an excellent day’s racing in glorious winter sunshine with a real buzz at Barbury.

19 of the 25 entries stood their ground including the John Corbet victor Now Ben, Lilbitluso – who had such an outstanding season in 2015 – and Ericht, useful under rules for Nicky Henderson, who was also present to watch daughter Camilla ride. The spoils, however, went to Iberico, following up last year’s success in the same race and initiating a double for rider Sam Jukes and owners Clive and Eileen Bennett. The 11-year-old made smooth progress to lead three out and score comfortably by five lengths from Lilbitluso, who was always prominent and made a pleasing comeback after a shortened 2016/2017 campaign. Big Casino, who also raced up with the pace, was eight lengths back in third on his debut between the flags.

“It was worth cleaning the cup after all,” laughed a delighted owner Clive. “When we saw the entries, we thought we had no chance this year, but that was extraordinary. He’s 11 going on 12, but he’s still improving.” “We’ve had him since he was five and bought him from Padge Berry,” added Eileen, who took no credit for this impressive victory. “Sam (who also trains Iberico) plans the whole thing,” she confirmed. “It’s all about the jockey.” Iberico is likely to stay pointing, but the winning trainer-rider refused to be drawn on plans, saying only, “We’ll see how he comes out of the race. He’s direction-dependent – he wants a flat left-handed track and soft ground is best.”

Justin Chittenden, Managing Director of Equine Health Centre Ltd commented, “I thoroughly enjoyed an exciting day of racing at Barbury. With so many good quality horses involved in the Mixed Open race it was fantastic to watch. Equine Health Centre has some great connections within racing and it’s a pleasure to support the grassroots of the sport. Congratulations to Sam, Clive and Eileen.”

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The first product developed by EHC back in 2005 was the Seawalker, born out of a racing trainer seeing the benefits of working horses in the sea, but being nowhere near a beach.  It was designed by Justin Chittenden, Managing Director of EHC, and the approach was to build it around the horses’ health and well-being rather than purely as an engineering project.

Developing on from the Seawalker, products like Equivia, a riding surface that blends wax with fibres and sand, Vitafloor a vibrating floor system and Belebro walkers followed at EHC.  Putting the horse first was always the initial point of reference for all these products and making them as easy and comfortable for the horse to use.  “Our Seawalkers have probably had more than a million horse sessions over the past twelve years,” said Justin.  “Obviously each horse will have had many treatments but that’s certainly a lot of horses and to my knowledge I haven’t, to this day heard of any issues for the horses using it.  They seem to like the feel of the water and enjoy it like a spa experience. The benefits of salt water have been well documented and this has been borne out for horses using the Seawalker around the world,” he added.

The Vitafloor, akin to a PowerPlate for humans,  stimulates blood flow to injured areas and helps maintain strength and bone density; a successful non-invasive solution for training, rehabilitation and injury prevention.  “The impact of competition and training on a horse’s legs is an issue and having a proven benefit like this is a real advantage for our horses,” Justin commented.

Top Eventer, Izzy Taylor uses the Vitafloor at her yard in Oxfordshire, “The Vitafloor is an intrinsic part of our training and fitness programme.  All the horses on the yard use it every week throughout the year, so this includes the hunters, eventers and my children’s ponies. I feel the floor improves muscle stability and tone. It is a vital piece of equipment for Team Taylor and I would not be without it.”

Horses train and compete on surfaces much more than ever before and Equivia is a mix that can be produced to meet the needs of all the very varied equine sports; from racing gallops to polo pitches the density can be adjusted to make it just right.  Whilst the Belebro horse walker was specifically designed  to give the horse a more natural exercise experience – in their natural habitat a horse will walk for about 16 hours a day and using the walkers in the correct way can benefit not only their fitness but also their well-being.

There is much to look forward to at EHC with the first equine altitude training chamber currently in development and we will be in for some interesting products in the years to come.

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