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The Hayes family have appealed for help to re-home 23 retired race horses following extensive damage to Lindsay Park from recent bushfires.
The Hayes said on Sunday that 7 horses had died in the fires, with another critical, while Ben Hayes’ home was destroyed.
On Monday, the Hayes the loss of fencing and infrastructure means they will need help rehoming a number of horses.
‘’This is an update on the plan for the 105 spellers and 23 retirees currently at Inglis in Oaklands and for all horses who will spell with Lindsay Park going forward. All the horses currently accommodated at Inglis will be moved to Dorrington Farm (now known as Nook Farm) in Nagambie,’’ the statement said.
‘’This movement will begin tomorrow by commercial transport. Nook Farm is an amazing property that will offer our horses secure, specialised accommodation.
‘’We plan to house our spellers, together with any yearlings we purchase at the current sales, at Dorrington until around mid-February when we aim to have our Collingrove property near the main farm in Creighton’s Creek fully operational and ready to receive the spellers. Collingrove is a beautiful property that was not impacted at all by the fires and has been used previously for spelling. Yearlings will be moved to our main farm.
‘’Due to the loss of fencing at Lindsay Park, the 23 retirees are now looking for their forever homes. If you are in a position to offer one of these beautiful horses a first class home, please text or call Lisa McMaster on 0407874934 for more information. Lindsay Park is an acknowledged Off The Track (OTT) Retrainer and many of these horses were in line for our retraining program but now need to be rehomed as is, due to our current situation.’’
The Hayes said the business is gearing towards a return to trackwork.
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‘’We continue to work steadily towards restoring normal trackwork and training, and we are very close. As our major training infrastructure is located within irrigated areas, horses were able to safely complete slow work today. Horses currently in training with us will return to full, normal training over the coming days,’’ the statement said.
‘’Thank you for the overwhelming support and the many offers of help – it truly means a great deal to us and our team. We apologise that we are unable to respond to everyone individually at this time, as all available resources are focused on operations and horse care.’’
