You can’t get further into the Christmas spirit than the cover of Horse & Hound’s Christmas issue in 1980 can you? If you can’t hear the sound of Prokofiev’s ‘Lieutenant Kije’ rattling around your head after a glance at that, I suggest you see a doctor before it’s too late.
Within the pages, for those who had escaped the ferocious recession that had taken hold in the first year of the decade, Ivor Herbert had a novel suggestion for a Christmas present – a racehorse.
“Few Christmas presents can earn you money. The best may save some. Diamonds, those best friends of girls, will probably appreciate as the looks of the recipient decline; but they don’t earn…the diamonds I mean.
“A well-chosen racehorse does earn, however, and in tax-free prize money too; so the pleasure is keeping one, dreaming about it, visiting it with loving eyes, and even seeing it – an extension of your persona, conquering the world by winning a race – are not just psychological or aesthetic; they can be financially profitable too.”
From there, Herbert ran the rule over forming a syndicate, funding the training costs, and, above all, finding the right steed – a discard from the flat was his advice.
Whether you take the plunge or not, it is a fascinating article, and you can find the whole thing here.
