holding out for A hero !

HORSE-LOVING Sarah Parker has discovered the grey steed she is lovingly bringing back to health was once a highly-acclaimed prize-winning wonder on the UK racing circuit, reports Asma Salman.

She scraped together BD1,000 to buy Bravely Does It after spotting him in a pitiful condition and later discovered the prize-winner once sold for BD117,000 at an auction.

Pictures of it racing in its prime still adorn stables in England and Sarah, who was taught to ride in Bahrain at the age of three, believes the brave animal she has renamed Hero will fully recover after undergoing aggressive rehabilitation.

"He is a quiet and obedient horse, very friendly but naughty," said Sarah, 25, adding that she has developed a unique emotional bond with him that far exceeds any monetary value.

"I could never sell him. Can a parent think of selling their children? My only wish is for him to be fit and sound so that he can perform well in local competition."

A gallant grey steed fighting back to good health at Osama Haram's stables in Shakhura once galloped on prestigious racing tracks in the UK and won the hearts of thousands of race-goers.

Bravely Does It - or Hero, as he is called now - is now under the care of compassionate Sarah Parker, a project manager at Unisono, a strategic branding and communications consultancy based in Bahrain.

Sarah, an experienced rider who was introduced to the world of equestrian sport as a young child by her parents while living in Bahrain, was overcome by horror when she spotted the horse's pitiful condition at a different riding stable in the kingdom last year.

"Hero was emaciated, sickly and looked extremely unhappy in the paddock. After making the necessary enquiries I discovered that Hero was an ex-race horse and was brought to the stables by its Bahraini owner to be treated, schooled in dressage and jumping and eventually re-sold," said Sarah, a resident of Jeblat Hibshi.

Sarah owned a beautiful brown mare, Malika, but felt an innate desire to nurture the sickly steed.

"Hero had a kind eye and an underlying potential when I rode him briefly at the paddocks but he was plagued by lymphangitis. The horse chiropractor informed me that Hero required complete therapy, a change of shoes, regular massages and gentle exercise along with a special diet," said Sarah.

Despite Hero's weak physical condition, Sarah offered to buy him from his owner in instalments. "I wanted to take up the challenge of rehabilitating Hero because all my life I'd had wonderfully healthy horses," she said.

With the help of a friend - Hillary Picton - who was also an avid horse-lover, Sarah started the painstaking task of rejuvenating Hero. Anki, the owner and instructor at Twin Palm Riding Stables, offered her vast experience of working with horses and helped out too.

Hero responded well to treatment but his recovery was an uphill task. Along with progress came many setbacks and there were days when his colic, joint and muscular problems would return to plague him.

His feed was a special blend of fibre and protein to build weight and special herbal medicines were imported.

In March 2007, after paying the total sum of BD1,000 in instalments, Hero's previous owner gave his passport to Sarah which had details of Hero's lineage, his previous racing record, past stables and owners.

"I was stunned to see embossed certificates of eligibility to the European's Breeders Fund with Hero or rather Bravely Does It's name on it.

"He had certificates of nomination to the Breeders' Cup for the entirety of his racing career.

"When Hero was a yearling he was sold at an auction to Gainsborough Stud for $310,000 (BD117,000) and later taken to Tattersalls - the Christie's of horse auctions - and sold to Ness Strange Stables in Nesscliffe in 2003," said Sarah.

Joy followed disbelief and Sarah put her investigative skills to the test to find out more about her prized possession.

From Kentucky in US where Hero was foaled in February 2000 to Gainsborough Stud in Berkshire in 2001 and champion trainer Sir Michael Stoute's yard in April 2003, Hero was auctioned at Tattersalls and sent to the idyllic Ness Strange Stables in the later half of 2003.

A manor house with acres of rolling hills was Hero's home till a buying agent from Kuwait bought him in December 2005 at Doncaster sale and Hero was later transported to Bahrain in 2006 where he changed buyers and is presently owned by Sarah.

"I think it was fate and I was meant to have him because during my investigation I discovered through my mother that Nescliffe was a short commute from Burlton where my parents live presently.

"So last September I went to Ness Strange Stables to meet Mark Briscombe, Hero's trainer, and his jockey, Katrina, who were distraught to hear about his condition.

"Photographs of Hero racing in his full glory grace the walls of Ness Strange to this day," said Sarah who has struck up a friendship with Katrina, Hero being their common link.

"While training under Mark, Bravely Does It won two races at Wolverhampton in 2004 and was placed second in another and has several certificates to his credit," said Katrina talking to GulfWeekly from Nesscliffe.

Hero's journey from being a spirited muscular grey steed with an admirable racing record to a sickly horse struggling to attain satisfactory health is hard to imagine.

At one point Sarah was forking out a whopping BD200 a month on imported supplements alone for Hero.

Presently he is on a special diet comprising 24-hour hay, alfa alfa, equijewel, vitamin C, electrolytes, additional supplements and special medicines for liver and hooves.

Although still on the road to recovery Hero's personality shines through. Sarah is schooling Hero and rides him every day.

Last season Hero participated in some preliminary and novice dressage and novice level jumping competitions in Bahrain and although he was not placed it is just the beginning of another chapter in his remarkable life.