BEING a horse trainer and owner can be tough, but for Gawler’s Nichole Searle it’s more than just a job – it’s a way of life.
Mrs Searle has been surrounded by horses since she was young and said she “couldn’t imagine her life without them”.
“They’re most definitely part of the family,” she said.
“They can be the most loving and loyal creatures.
“They don’t know if you’re a good or bad person, they’re like a dog and they love you no matter what.
“My life has always revolved around horses and I’m lucky enough to still ride every morning.”
Because Mrs Searle and her husband, and fellow trainer, Gary treat their horses like part of the family, there is often great sadness when one passes away.
The Searles had to endure three heartbreaks of this nature in the space of 10 days recently – one of those horses had been with them for over a decade.
“We lost a two-year-old who hadn’t even managed to get to the track; she picked up some bug that was in the ground and it attacked her from inside, and she died within 24 hours,” Mrs Searle said.
“Our daughter lost a horse we used to race, called ‘Just A Giggle’, through an unfortunate incident; he drove a nail into his foot in the paddock where he was, and did enough damage that she had to make the decision to put him to sleep.
“That was hard as he was only 15 and we’d had him as a yearling and trained him.
“He was literally part of the family.
“We lost one of our yearlings we bought this year in an incident as he was being gelded; he just fell the wrong way and injured himself badly enough that he had to be put to sleep.
“That was gut-wrenching losing three horses in such a short time, it really kicks you in the guts.
“You put your heart and soul into them and they’re a big animal, you can’t foresee what’s going to happen and sometimes these things just happen.”
The horse racing industry has in the past been targeted by animal rights activists, which Mrs Searle said is extremely frustrating as many of their comments are either ill-informed,
or misguided.
“Come and spend a week or two with us – see what we do,” she said.
“They don’t seem to understand the love, effort and time that goes into them.
“To us, they’re not just a money making machine, they’re far from it.
“Any horses we retire here we do our utmost to find the best homes for them, and generally on the proviso that if they are not suited to that person who’s taken them, they’re to let
us know and we re-home them again.
“We are extremely careful about where we place our horses, we don’t give them to just anyone; they need to be someone who’s suitable, and that we know will look after them extremely well.”