Learning Something Everyday

[eye123]

I had no idea what went into the daily care when feeding horses. Not sure what is more impressive, the number of items available to maintain a horses health, or this girls memory.

[shoes]

This was very interesting. I had no idea it was this involved.

[eye123]

I've been wagering on horses for more then half a century, and as far as what they ate...hay and oats. That's as far as my thinking on that subject went. That video set a light off. Had to look a bit further.

[1hooper]

“In Ireland it's quite common for people to put Guinness in their horses' feed at night just because they think they do well off it,” said Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard. “It's an old-fashioned remedy, and I think there's some merit to it.”

In 2008, Sheppard's trainee Forever Together was in a slump at the beginning of her three-year-old campaign when he decided to start pouring Guinness over her feed.

“In the case of Forever Together, it was supposed to help make horses sweat. She turned into a bit of a non-sweater at one stage in her career. I think you've seen beer drinkers. They tend to be red-faced and sweaty, men particularly. I think it does help the sweat glands, and it helped her and I think she enjoyed it. It helped her clean up her feed, and it helped her resume sweating.”

Forever Together, powered by Guinness, commanded the grass that year, winning three Grade 1 stakes, including the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. She was crowned 2008 champion Female Turf Horse.