Success stories Maxilian's Story by Aimee Leach

Max was trained and raced up until he was 5-years-old with racehorse trainer Emma Lavelle. In 2014 he was given to his stable lad/jockey who was originally going to keep him. Myself and my mum were looking for a horse to buy, initially something that had been there and done it for me to learn to ride on.

That's when I saw Max's advert, the main photo was Max with his owner stood on his back in a river. Mum's first response was, "Aimee, you are not learning to ride on a racehorse". After lots of persevering I managed to convince my mum and uncle, who was a retired jockey and is sadly no longer with us, to go view him. We instantly fell in love with his calm and gentle manner and he clearly did not have a bad bone in his body. We paid our deposit and collected him 2 weeks later.

Fast forward 6 years to now, Max is thriving. I've paid out hundreds of pounds on lessons, both flatwork and jumping and last year was our first successful season. He was placed 2nd at Ascot-Under-Wychwood unaffiliated horse trials at 80cm and we also qualified for the RoR Dressage Championships at Blenheim International Horse Trials, not only did we qualify but we came 6th in the Novice section. This horse makes me beam and to say I've ridden him at Blenheim makes me so, so proud. From the girl and her former racehorse who didn't know how ride, to riding at Blenheim just makes me smile every time I think about it.

It hasn't all been fun and games though, being a Thoroughbred we have a constant battle on our hands with his feet. We have now got a fabulous farrier who knows Max inside out and keeps him happy, comfortable and sound. Along with his feet, he also struggles with his sacroiliac joint and has this medicated every 9 months to help keep him comfortable and perform to his best.

Unfortunately, in December 2019, Max sustained a check ligament injury, we went through intense rehab and box rest for 3 months and I'm happy to say Max is doing really well, he is currently on a little holiday but his leg has healed well and when the time is right he will be coming back to work to try and get a couple of runs in at the end of the season.

This horse is our dream, he is one in a million and our best friend, I would never own anything other than a former racehorse.