Meet our Reporter on the Ground

While I had the great honour of introducing our exciting new blog, I wouldn't want you to think it is going to be a one man show of a blog - far from it. I've yet to find a member of Bears Unlimited (well the Norfolk Branch anyway) who doesn't like horse racing, so this new project will be a team effort - exactly as it should be.

There is one member of Bears Unlimited though, who needs a special introduction at this early stage, as he will be a key member of the reporting team and, no doubt. the most authoritative correspondent. So, please meet Curly ...

You will note his small, light and compact frame, just like a jockey's and that's because he is a bit of a jockey (a fairly modest amateur rider, but a jockey all the same). While I am a great racing enthusiast, I enjoy the sport from the sidelines, unlike Curly who rides and schools horses and mixes with a lot of horses, owners, trainers and jockeys. What Curly has to say is always worth listening to, and unlike me, who speaks a lot of blarney, Curly speaks from experience.

If you're ever looking for Curly at a racetrack just head for the winner's post in the winners' enclosure (our earlier picture provides a good example) as he'll be there to welcome the horse he's backed home - you'll probably find me closer to one of the other position posts!

Curly's a very hands on sort of bear, so you'll be as likely to find him walking the course and inspecting the going, as leaning up against the rails spectating.

Here he is, out on the course at our local racecourse of Fakenham, inspecting the approach to the final jump on the chase course. These big jumps don't phase him, but there again, he has such good rapport with the horses he rides, that he knows what they are capable of and knows just how to get the best out of them.

Sounds a bit like A P McCoy really  - one of Curly's heroes.

Back soon with some more racing talk.

Love Patrick and friends xxx

PS I'm afraid that Curly rarely looks towards a camera when at a racecourse, as he's simply too engrossed in the business of racing.

We're Off and We're Racing!!

It is my absolute pleasure to introduce this new blog to you. It has taken me a while to bring it together, but as my Bears Unlimited friends will tell you, my relaxed and laid back Irish style means I never do anything in a hurry. The blog is inspired by what I believe to be the finest hobby in the world; going to the races to see our beautiful equine friends in action, doing what they do best, running and jumping in the incredible fashion that only they can achieve.

When I joined the Norfolk branch of Bears Unlimited from Ireland (please see my Bears Unlimited biography for the full story) I think I changed their lives in more ways than one – I like to think for the better.

My finest achievement has been to introduce the guys and girls of Bears Unlimited to horse racing, after discovering they had never been to a race meeting.  I found this hard to believe as they had the National Hunt racecourse of Fakenham, almost on their doorstep.

I took them along to a meeting and they loved it. They were hooked right from the start, and it wasn’t long before we all became Fakenham members. The great thing about race course membership is that reciprocal meeting are arranged with other racecourses and you can go along and enjoy member privileges for the day for free – marvellous! We were all keen to take advantage of these meetings so started organising our diaries so we could go to as many as we could. And what a year it’s been: we’ve had a great time travelling the country  and watching some fantastic racing.

Each race course is unique and has it’s own style and atmosphere. We therefore thought it would be good to bring you a flavour of each racecourse and share with you our racing experiences.

And so this blog, slow in the planning, has finally come to reality. Our plan is to give you an armchair journey to the courses we’ve been to and feature some of our winners. As we visit more racecourses we’ll add them in, until we’ve achieved our ambition of visiting every race course in the country. We’ll also aim to bring you racing news and views throughout the year as racing is just such an interesting sport. If you’re not interested now, hopefully you will be as you keep reading.

Lots of love Patrick