"Persimmon" Statue at HM The Queen's Stud
On Thursday, 24 June, Dersingham Scouts met at the home of the royal stud owned by HM The Queen at Anmer near Sandringham. The tour had been organised by Scout Leader, Paul Hodgkinson, who also works at the Stud Farm. The families and friends of the Dersingham Scouts, Cubs, Beavers were also invited on the tour for a fee of £8.00 with all proceeds to benefit the local Scout Groups. These private tours are not conducted very often but when they are the funds are directed to charity and this particular tour raised £138 for the Dersingham Scout Group.
The tour group were welcomed by Bob Rowlands, retired Head Groom, who had worked at The Stud for some 31 years. Upon his recent retirement, Bob was asked by The Queen to become a tour guide at Sandringham House where he now works 2 days a week. In addition, Bob continues to give special tours of The Stud as in this case.
Bob began by explaining that bloodstock breeding was a hobby of Her Majesty The Queen which rewarded her with considerable success on the racecourse. He went on to say that The Stud was the oldest horse breeding establishment in the world (since 1886). It was established by Edward, Prince of Wales and was a significant catalyst in the development of the national thoroughbred bloodstock. The Stud was originally an old farm building prior to development into The Stud. A new maternity unit was opened at The Stud in January 2000 and the floors were made of layers of varying degrees of rubber (walls too) to ensure the foal had a soft landing area at birth. In addition infra-red lighting was included in the building so that the foal was not cold – the lights warmed the foal directly rather than the stable and the resulting body heat of the foal then warmed the stable area.
Bob explained how a mare showed she was close to foaling once the wax teats protecting her milk from infection were pushed out warning everyone to be prepared for the birth. The groom would then check where the foal was as he/she had to be positioned with two legs forward (face on their knees) and two legs behind. If this was not the case and the groom was unsuccessful in repositioning the foal then a vet would probably have to involved.
Race horses do not raise their own foals but instead the foals are given to “adoptive mothers”. The groom covers the nose and mouth of the “adoptive mother” with – of all things Vick!! – and does the same to the foal’s body. Thus the “adoptive mother” cannot smell whether the foal is hers or not and soon they settle down and accept the foal as theirs.
“Teaser” stallions are used to check if a mare is in season and then the stallion is sent in to “cover” the mare. Unfortunately for the mares they become in season just a week after birth and they are mated again!! But not before they have been examined and shown to be clear of equine illnesses. Of particular concern is, EVA which causes mares to abort and renders stallions useless for breeding purposes since they cannot be cured. Once conceived, a mare is examined by a vet early on and checked for the presence of twins. Twins are not desirable in race horse births as the chances of a producing a good healthy race horse is reduced. Thus the vet will “pop” one of the fetal sacs allowing the fluid and cells to disperse within the uterus. This allows the single foal room to grow and become a healthy race horse.
He went on to say that the primary function of The Stud was:
1. to produce race horses for HM The Queen (an objective which is sometimes successful and sometimes not so successful).
2. to produce stallions that attract mares from all over the world.
Bob equated The Stud to the hotel business: when rooms are full the hotel is making money – the same applied with The Stud. When the stables were full The Stud made money. Sometimes the stallions leave The Stud to visit mares in Newmarket. Each “covering” of a mare can cost in the region of £9,500. The stallions are “working” during February to June and foals are born January to May.
Some horses of note from The Queen’s Stud include racing legend “Persimmon” who won the St Leger and the Derby in 1896. The Prince of Wales ploughed the prize money from his winning horses into the Estate, particularly the vast walled kitchen gardens. Another renowned Queen’s Stud race horse was “Shirley Heights” who won the Derby in 1977 and produced a great many successful race horses.
During the tour, Bob showed us a beautiful garden which had been previously known as the “kitchen garden”. He told us he had spent two years redeveloping and cultivating it and it now contained a fountain in the shape of a golden globe. This fountain was a gift to The Queen on her Golden Jubilee and it was a fantastic feature of the garden. The two stallions currently standing at Sandringham are Royal Applause (co-owned) and Motivator (syndicated), the Derby winner, and they use these gardens as their luxury playground.
Once the tour was over the Scouts provided Pimms and Orange Juice and other refreshments for the group and donation buckets were available to help increase the funds raised over all. All in all it was an educational and enjoyable tour and it was obvious that the groom and his team were rightly very proud of their charges and the work they do.