a book bought in error.

​Occasionally I mistakenly buy a book believing it is something other than what I believe it to be. Sometimes I never regret the purchase, as with ‘Passport to Life’ by Harry Llewellyn, an autobiography that went unread for the best part of ten years and which upon finally reading turned out to be as interesting and informative as any book in my horse racing library.
I recently purchased from R.E. & G.B. Way of Newmarket, the new supplier of my burgeoning racing collection, ‘Are Your Horses Trying’ by Fred Rickaby, ex jockey and trainer. I had a few weeks earlier finished reading his brother Bill’s autobiography ‘First to Finish’ and thought Fred’s book would equally be an account of his life as a jockey. Not that Fred had a long career as a rider as by the end of his teenage years his weight had soared and not fancying life as a jump jockey and he was forced to turn his hand to training, becoming assistant to College Leader, one of the country’s leading trainers at the time.
When given the opportunity to go to South Africa to train Fred saw no disadvantage and set off with his wife to build a new career for himself. After an abortive beginning when the new culture and climate nearly defeated him, he moved to Durban and made a name for himself in the training ranks. ‘Are Your Horses Trying’, though, is not the story of training success. It is very much a horse management manual. Chapter 1 is titled ‘Primary Problems’. Chapter 2, ‘Selecting Yearlings’ and chapter 3, ‘Legs, Lameness and Lamentations’. You get the picture.
The book is dedicated to his wife, Molly, ‘without whose continuous interruptions this book would have been finished long long ago’. It is with such humour the narrative is laced.
Veterinary science has come on leaps and bounds since 1967, the year of publication. The book was successful enough to warrant a reprint in 1968, which tells you that within its pages there are gems of wisdom to be gleaned. Although I am certain a copy of this book would help any young man or woman starting out as a trainer, especially chapter 6, ‘Digestion and Feeding’, there has to be the caveat that scientific detection methods are today so precise that some of the treatments he prescribes may contain elements on the prohibited list, even if most, if not all, of his ‘germs of wisdom’ come from nature.
Over his lifetime Fred was to become fascinated by the physiology of the horse, especially the hoof and digestive tract and in his homespun, humorous and self-deprecating manner, he enlightens the reader with anecdotes of his time in South Africa. And it must be remembered that he is mainly writing about horse problems related solely to South Africa and his cures and advice may not translate to the colder climes of Britain and Ireland.
Fred, and he makes no bones about it, had little faith in the indigenous stable staff he had to employ. Not that he referred to them as stable staff; they were his ‘crew’ and of the lot he had in his employ at Merryvale only one member of staff had ever seen a racehorse before joining his stable. And trainers over here think they have staff problems!
Fred did, though, produce two star apprentices, both of whom should still be known by race-goers on these shores. John Gorton came over here to ride and won the Epsom Oaks on Sleeping Partner and Michael Roberts went one better and was champion jockey and rode Mtoto to many big race victories.
‘Are Your Horses Trying?’ is enhanced by a dozen or so hand-drawn diagrams that help the lay-reader understand the medical issues Fred writes about, such as ‘Ligaments of the off-knee’, ‘Teeth of mature horse’ and ‘Ground surface of Hoof’. It is my advice to any aspiring racehorse trainer, hobby rider or even point-to-point owner that this book should be acquired as at some point in life some element of knowledge contained within its 188 pages will be of great assistance in sorting out an equine issue.
Fred Rickaby died, aged 93, in Boston, Lincolnshire, in 2010.