OUR 25-year-old girl groom has been working in national hunt racing stables since she left school at 16.
She’s worked in both big and small yards and while the horses are treated like royalty, the trainers often ride roughshod over the lads.
Horseracing attracts millions of fans every year – but a lot of the action goes on behind the scenes[/caption]
There are huge prizes to be won with owners, trainers and jockeys united in the pursuit of glory[/caption]
And while the wages might be small and the work back-breaking at times, there are certainly other benefits to enjoy, it seems.
Here our stable girl lifts the lid on the best and worst of life away from the parade ring including steamy sessions during shifts, taking cocaine just to stay slim and luxurious massages… for the horses.
A roll in the hay
There’s a reason why organisers supplied the Olympic Village with 300,000 condoms at last year’s Paris Olympics.
You put a whole load of young, fit athletes together in close proximity and a lot of sex will happen.
It’s the same in a racing stable – the majority of us grooms are young and we all have to be extremely fit as the work is taxing.
I don’t want to be tied down at this stage of my life and so I’m more than happy that there’s a ready supply of hot men to have sex with
So there’s a lot of casual sex. I was at one stable where I’d slept with most of the lads there. It’s not just in the evenings either.
I literally had a roll in the hay with one lad in the stable between taking different horses out for exercise – that was a race to the finish.
I don’t want to be tied down at this stage of my life and so I’m more than happy that there’s a ready supply of hot men to have sex with.
The hours can be long and the work has to be done… whatever the weather (stock image)[/caption]
It’s a hard life… unless you’re a horse
Believe me when I say the racehorses live in the lap of luxury.
They are monitored and looked after as carefully as a newborn baby.
Nothing is too much trouble for them, from massages to special diets. Every hair on them is checked regularly.
We invariably are there because we all love horses, definitely not for the money.
I started riding when I was five and never wanted to do anything but work in a yard.
I did holiday work at a local racing stable from the age of 14 and was taken on full time when I was 16.
My starting wages were around £200 a week, though I got free accommodation for a while – it was a static caravan with another lad.
And as it was a small stable I didn’t get a day off for months at a time.
It depends on the stable, but generally you start work before 6am, stop briefly for breakfast, then have a couple of hours for lunch and carry on until around 5.30pm.
You have to work in all weather as the horses need to be looked after whether it’s snowing or blowing a gale.
Weight watchers
If you work in the yard and ride the horses you have to maintain a low weight, as this is what the horses are used to carrying.
I’m 5ft 3in and stay under 8st. It’s relatively easy as the work is so physical and I eat healthily naturally anyway.
But one of the lads really struggles as he’s 5ft 10.
There are days when he eats nothing and at other times he’ll have one chicken breast and some vegetables all day.
I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been told my a*** looks good in jodhpurs
Although I’ve never done it, I’ve heard drugs like cocaine are taken to aid weight loss as well as recreationally.
Obviously jockeys can’t risk doing that as they are randomly drug-tested.
We also have to be very careful what we feed horses as treats as they’re constantly tested too.
They can have polos, carrots or apples, but we never give them anything else as there’s such a long list of banned substances in racing that you can’t risk it.
Horsing around
Although it’s hard work we do get a fair amount of down time and because we all live close to the stables we hang out a lot.
It’s not just sex – though there is a lot of that. But we also muck around like kids, the boys often play rugby or we’ll all have water fights.
There is a lot of camaraderie and laughter and banter.
It isn’t a place for the faint hearted – the banter is the sort that would get you dismissed from an office job instantly for sexual harassment.
I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve been told my a*** looks good in my jodhpurs. I laugh it off, it doesn’t bother me at all.
Misogyny
I don’t mind the banter it but does annoy me that it’s still a very male-dominated world and I feel women are seen as second class citizens.
While more women enter the trade, there are only a few top female jockeys.
The trainers are mostly men who are 60-plus and have old fashioned views that women are ‘pretty little things’.
Some will flirt quite obnoxiously, but I’ve learnt to let it go over my head. You become very resilient.
When they aren’t checking out my body, they command a lot of respect and woe betide anyone that crosses them.
Some jockeys get death threats if their horse doesn’t run well, and as a groom I do too
Even after nine years working as a groom I can still feel nervous if I mess up and miss something, like a small cut on the horse.
Mind you, some of them are worth a fortune so you do need to be on top of the horses you look after, and we each have between four and six under our care.
Social media death threats
It used to be that we were invisible, but now I really appreciate the times when a jockey wins on one of the horses I’ve looked after and posts on Instagram and tags me to say thanks.
Though it has a downside. People see it and then contact me asking for tips on how the horse is doing and whether they should bet on it.
I always block them immediately – we keep very tight-lipped about our horses.
Some jockeys get terrible abuse and death threats if their horse doesn’t run well and sometimes as a groom I do too.
The first few times I was shocked, but now I just shrug it off.
Hot favourite
You get very fond of some of the horses, they’re all individuals just like people.
There was one horse in particular, who was pretty successful, that I adored.
I remember sitting in his stable, just staring up at him and marvelling about how gentle he was in the stable. I still miss him and the bond we had.
And it’s really exciting when the horse you tend does well in a race.
Other horses I’m reluctant to ride, and I point blank refused to ride one – he was known to gallop off with people.
I don’t want to become a jockey, I’m very happy to be a lad, but those who want to go on and race themselves are under more pressure to ride any horse, however difficult he is.
I’ve only had a couple of minor injuries, like broken toes when a horse inadvertently trod on me.
It’s an incredible feeling to work with such amazing animals and be part of a winning team[/caption]
Party time
I’ve worked in Newmarket previously and the social life was incredible – as the place is filled with different trainers.
After big race meetings the lads often gather in one pub and then go on to an after party at someone’s accommodation.
There’s such a celebratory air that we all let off steam together and that’s when we have even more sex.
Though I’ve slept with a lot of the lads, I’ve never even kissed a jockey – I’m not interested, and there are so many women that flock around them, I wouldn’t get a look in anyway.
On a few occasions after a big win at a race, we’ve stayed up celebrating all night and gone to work the next day, drunk in charge of a horse.
Thankfully I’ve been riding for so long I could do it blind-folded… or blind drunk!
