Hotfoot to a new life

You may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks but it seems the same cannot be said of horses.

Sophomore, an ex-racehorse retrained in dressage, was recently crowned the overall dressage champion at the Festival Association Championships at Arena UK, Allington.

The 14-year-old thoroughbred, who belongs to Mrs Lizzie Houghton-Hallam (40) of Nicholson’s Wharf, Newark, was a racehorse for eight years, competing across the UK under several top trainers including Barry Hills.

He raced 37 times, winning the The Lazy Day Summer Ale Claiming Stakes at Leicester in 2000 and The European Breeders Fund Wheatley Park Maiden Stakes at Doncaster in 1996.

Mrs Houghton-Hallam, who bought Sophomore in 2004, said it had taken two years of intense training to get him to the standard he was at today.

“Racehorses have two speeds,” she said. “They either walk or gallop with their heads up, so making him bend round corners and go from walk to trot was a real education.

“It takes a lot of patience.

“Even going to a local competition is a big deal.

“He thinks we are off racing so he can still be a handful.”

Mrs Houghton-Hallam keeps Sophomore at Newark Dressage, Coddington.

Thousands of foals are bred each year in a bid to find the next racing champion but only a handful make it to a high ranking status.

For those that become too old to race or become injured, it is not always such a happy ending.

But Sophomore and others are now being given a second chance thanks to the charity, Retraining of Racehorses, which helps provide facilities for the care, retraining and rehoming of former racehorses.

Mrs Houghton-Hallam said that after the dressage success she now wanted to take Sophomore to his first cross-country event.

“He jumps really well because he used to hurdle,” she said.

“He’s okay if they’re rustic jumps like hedges, but he doesn’t like coloured poles.”

Mrs Houghton-Hallam, a former veterinary nurse, said although it was hard work training a horse in another riding discipline, it was worth the effort.

“He’s such a star. He’s achieved so much,” she said.