Side Glance

My name is Side Glance. They call me Sidey now. I turn twenty next year, that’s very old for a horse like me. They tell people I’ve retired, but it isn’t true. My job has just changed.  

My last race in Britain was in June 2014, but it didn’t end there. I went on to Race in Australia, then the USA, then Dubai. Thousands upon thousands of miles in transit, confined to horse boxes with no clue where I’m going or why, and not even a glimpse of the sky. Have you had jet lag before? Imagine what it’s like when you don’t understand why the sun isn’t where it usually is anymore, when the air feels different, and the season seems to have changed overnight. 

My actual last race was in March 2015. And still it wasn’t over. Still they had more to take from me. I am now an ambassador for the industry that has taken every minute of my life. They roll me out at events, use me as an example to prove that we horses are ‘treated like kings’ in the industry. I’m the official equine ambassador for Ascot Racecourse, and they say I’m proof that horses have a good life in racing. 

On the day I ran my last race at Ascot two horses were killed there. They don’t tell people that when they come to see me at events, do they? Case Statement and Sir Graham Wade suffered fractures and were killed. Two days later Inchila was killed after a fractured pelvis, and two days after that Tiger Cliff collapsed and died after the race. The industry chooses not to tell their stories. They choose to write a different narrative – literally. They have released a book about me, about what a wonderful life they choose to believe I have had. 

I turn twenty next year and I no longer hope I will get to live in peace one day. I’m nearing the end of my life, and they have taken it from me from start to finish. Even in ‘retirement’ I am just a prop to them. 

But my name is Side Glance. I am someone.