Success stories Racing Staff Week - Lyndsey Goldie

Last in our series of features marking ‘Racing Staff Week’, is Lynsey Goldie who tells us how she juggles her racing job, a family and her own horse and how she came to own former racehorse Quick Decisson.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself? My name is Lynsey Goldie, I am 44 years old, married with two children Alex and Jack and I work for my father-in-law, Jim Goldie.

When and how did you get your former racehorse? My husband George introduced me to my first former racehorse, a horse called Knockdoo who he originally bought to Point to Point. Knockdoo enjoyed a few seasons pointing but sadly sustained a tendon injury. I decided to take him on to be a general all-round riding horse and we mainly hacked and did the odd local show. When he started to show signs of old age, I decided to retire him completely and he lived a long and very happy life to the age of 27.

I missed riding a horse of my own so when a horse called, I Got Sunshine retired from racing I decided to take him on. At first, he wasn’t the easiest and we spent an awful lot of time training and not actually competing however, he gradually got better and we started competing and we won lots of red rosettes. Our biggest achievement was competing at Blair Athol Horse Trials in the RoR classes. Unfortunately, two weeks after Blair I lost him to colic.

When I was ready for another former racehorse, we didn’t have any in the yard ready to retire, so my good friend Aileen Firth put me in touch with Stuart Coltard and Tony White who owned a horse called Quick Decisson. He had struck into himself at Musselburgh while winning his last chase. He had a year off and his owners decided to rehome him while he was still young enough. George and I drove down to Stuart’s yard and brought home the lovely Toby (as I call him now) and the rest is history.

What was he like in his early retraining and did you know the horse during his racing days? Toby has always been very straightforward from day one. He takes everything in his stride and is happy to give anything ago.

Does he have any funny quirks? Toby is not a quirky horse but does think he is king of the field and yard. He also likes to help when putting shavings down in his stable.

How do you juggle working in racing and looking after your former racehorse? I am lucky, I work part-time so I am finished at 12.30pm most days, this leaves the afternoons free to spend time with the gentle giant that is Toby. I start work at 6.30am mucking out and come in just before 8am to get the kids sorted for school. Once they are gone it's back out to ride out and the do the rest of the yard duties.

What has he achieved and has your partnership exceeded all your expectations? Toby has achieved a few red rosettes in local showing classes. We competed at the Royal Highland show a couple of years ago and enjoy competing at local showjumping competitions and the odd bit of cross country. Jumping is his favourite thing!

What plans do you have with him? I plan to keep going to as many competitions, clinics and camps as we can, especially the Park End camp which is our highlight of the year. My friend also has former racehorse so it's nice to have someone to team up with.

Have his racing contacts kept in touch with you? Tony, his old owner, keeps in touch via Facebook and messages and he’s always welcome to come and visit if he wishes.

Why do you love thoroughbreds? Thoroughbreds are amazing to work with, they are affectionate, intelligent and are willing to try new things.