Ruth Carr's face

[action man]

what happened? she didnt look like that last time i saw her

[Biddy 62]

Was wondering the same, looked like a birth mark.

[Chompy]

Port-wine stain, always had it

[TightEnd]

who is ruth carr?

[horseplayer]

horse racing trainer

has a superb website with an excellent feature on old horses and what they are doing now, this will probably mean nothing to anybody but this is a great entry on an old favourite of mine from way back

"8th January 2011 Jill emailed " Hi Ruth
Just thought we would drop you a line to wish you a Happy New Year. 
Torrent is well although a little hacked off at being in and not doing much recently - we've not even ventured to the beach.   Jim took him to a dressage evening a couple of months ago.  He was not too impressed in the collecting ring, especially as there was a shetland whizzing around.  I think he thought it was going to go under his belly.  Anyway, once in the arena he settle very well and did a lovely test, which he remembered quite well and anticipated!!  The judge made some nice comments about his lovely paces and gave them a good score.  I think we will be doing a few more soon as this may suite him.  My horse also did a couple of good tests, with another rider!! 
We have just heard that a friend of ours has lost her ex-racer which she has had for some years.  She spent a fotune on vet's bills but sadly lost him to colic.  Therefore, she has asked us if we know of any ex-racers looking for a good home.  I can assure you that it would be very well looked after and she is a competent rider.  If you know of one, either from yourself or another trainer, please could you let us know.  A project would be fine as she has little or no money left!!  She stables down the road from us and we have known her for at least 20 years.   We will keep you up dated about Torrent's progress in dressage.   Looking forward to hearing from you. 
Regards   Jill, Jim and Torrent"
January 2012 Jim emailed " Hi Ruth,   It is lovely to hear from you. We do think about you a lot and are always watching your results, but don't like hassling you with lots of messages.   Torrent is very well and thriving. He will be 17 on 17th February !!   We have not managed to do any showing with him in the last 12 months due to work problems. Jill was made redundant and ended up working for Jet2 at Blackpool airport through the summer from March until the end of October. She worked every weekend between March and October so showing had to take a back seat. It was a pity really because Torrent was doing so well and picking up some great prizes and awards, but as we are sure you know keeping the wolf from the door and having any sort of job is better then nothing and it had to be done.   Jill is currently having to do temp work at various places but looking for a new job and if we can get that sorted then we might be able to do more with the horses this year.   We did a bit of digging regarding Torrent's breeder and managed to make contact with her and she was absolutely delighted to hear from us and how he was doing and so happy that he had a good home with us. She even sent us photographs of his mum and dad which was lovely. He certainly took after his mum.   We had some problems with Jill's horse Inca and found her cast in her box twice in about 10 days. We think it was due to her going a bit soft in the muscle as we have not been able to do very much with her due to the weather and we do not have particularly good facilities for exercise when it is dark. We have actually moved her to another yard where they have a walker and indoor and outdoor schools so she can get more exercise and touch wood we have not had any further problems with her.   We are just waited for a good weekend weather wise and Torrent will be getting taken to the beach for his favourite pastime of splashing about and making sure everyone is wet through. He loves the sea.   We will certainly keep in touch with you with any further news. This year has to be better than last.   Good look and we will keep watching your progress. Best wishes to you all and hopefully we can meet with you as this season progresses.   lots of love   Jill and Jim"
20th May 2012 Jim emailed " Hi Ruth Hope that you and all your family are well. Just thought we would send you an update on things.   Torrent is well and thriving and I have attached a picture of him for you to see.   We took him to a dressage competition last night and he was really good. I had not had time to practice the test due to work commitments and last rode him about a week ago so knowing what he would do was a bit of a concern. Having said that he was wonderful and got a score of 60.8% and some really good comments from the judge. He behaved so well and I was really pleased with him. He really seems to have chilled out and realised he is now 17 years old and not 3.   In terms of us, unfortunately Jill's horse has suffered an injury to the suspensory ligament under her hock. We are not really sure how it has happened but think she may have done it trying get up in the stable after lying down. The vet has taken stem cells from her and they are currently being cultured and she is going back to the vets on 30th May to have the stem cells put into the injury and it will then be a case of wait and see if the stem cells can make the inury heal enough that she can be ridden again or if we will have to consider other options. The vet suggested that if things don't heal enough for her to be ridden we might consider putting her in foal late in the year or early next year.   Jill has already suggested Redoutable might be be a good match !!   Jill has a problem with her leg following a fall at work last October and the doctors have only just thought that she might have snapped her achilles tendon. Taken them long enough to decide that. She is going for a scan on Tuesday so we should know what is wrong soon.   Think she is going out in sympathy with Inca !!.   Take care and best wishes for all your runners.     Jim, Jill, Torrent and Inca "

[tikay]

LOVE that sort of stuff, thanks.

I have a book which is almost entirely composed of letters like that, between the great trainer of stayers, Cecil-Boyd Rochfort (Henry Cecil's stepfather), and his various owners, most of whom resided in the USA.

In those days, no internet, everyone wrote letters, & the style of Cecil-Boyd's was simply beautiful, ditto his owners. 

People just wrote differently back then. I hesitate to say "better", but I'm sure it was.

Times change.

Now it goes by text.

I fort it ran gr8 2day

[Chompy]

For those that don't know, Ruth Carr is David Chapman's granddaughter. D.Chapman was an absolute legend. Never anyone quite like him when it came to sprinters.

Chaplin's Club, Glencroft, Raccoon, Soba, Quito, Soaked.

Tbh Ruth Carr has done at least as well in her own right but there was always something about seeing the name of a sprint handicapper with D.W.Chapman's name next door.

[horseplayer]

correct chompy

worth a read that section it really is

on the trail, paddywack (my fav) and redoutable are all on there



find it fascinating a fibresand sprinter can go onto be a decent show jumper

must take a lot of work

[Chompy]

Spoke to D.W.Chapman a few times on the phone and he once said he thought all the best sprinters did it on one lung full of air. Wonder if that's true for showjumpers too? Who was the sprinter that made the switch?

[typhoon13]

Used to like watching David Chapman place his bets at Southwell, then bookie knock a couple of points off instantly.

[The Camel]

LOVE that sort of stuff, thanks.

I have a book which is almost entirely composed of letters like that, between the great trainer of stayers, Cecil-Boyd Rochfort (Henry Cecil's stepfather), and his various owners, most of whom resided in the USA.

In those days, no internet, everyone wrote letters, & the style of Cecil-Boyd's was simply beautiful, ditto his owners. 

People just wrote differently back then. I hesitate to say "better", but I'm sure it was.

Times change.

Now it goes by text.

I fort it ran gr8 2day

I'd really like to borrow that please Tony.

Sounds great.

[tikay]

LOVE that sort of stuff, thanks.

I have a book which is almost entirely composed of letters like that, between the great trainer of stayers, Cecil-Boyd Rochfort (Henry Cecil's stepfather), and his various owners, most of whom resided in the USA.

In those days, no internet, everyone wrote letters, & the style of Cecil-Boyd's was simply beautiful, ditto his owners. 

People just wrote differently back then. I hesitate to say "better", but I'm sure it was.

Times change.

Now it goes by text.

I fort it ran gr8 2day

I'd really like to borrow that please Tony.

Sounds great.

Booked.

You will LOVE it Keith, I'm quite sure.

Quite an odd side-story too, in that he married a war-widow, & so became the stepfather of her existing infant children. The kids used to help out around the stables, & one in particular was especially diligent, & developed a wonderful "eye" for a horse's well-being, development, state of fitness etc. Eventually, when he grew up, & the old man became too unwell to continue training, there was a seamless transition & handover to the new trainer - being his stepson, Henry Cecil.

Henry, in due course, became, in almost every way, the very spit of his stepdad, in that he was especially good with stayers, & never rushed a horse in it's preparation, but most of all, he had that eye for a horse that is almost impossible to teach. Vincent O'Brien was much the same in that respect - he could see things in a foal that others could not.

Not sure when we will next bump into each other, but I'm sure we will both be at DTD sometime soon.

[horseplayer]

Spoke to D.W.Chapman a few times on the phone and he once said he thought all the best sprinters did it on one lung full of air. Wonder if that's true for showjumpers too? Who was the sprinter that made the switch?

gem bien and headland both did along with a few others

not sure headland was a sprinter actually?

[horseplayer]

even more unlikely is ice planet who was all pace mainly with dandy but ended up at the champmans