Forsman back in saddle

Cambridge trainer Andrew Forsman is pleased to have horses trickling back into the stable after the month-long lockdown period and is taking positives from the late-season planned restart.

With level four restrictions downgraded this week allowing horse training operations across the nation to resume again, Forsman, who trains in partnership with Murray Baker, was busy managing horses coming back into training.

‘‘It is great to have horses back in work,’’ Forsman said.

‘‘If anything, we are lucky that it has happened at a relatively good time of year because a lot horses would generally be out having a rest now and come back in the next month or so to get prepared for spring racing.

‘‘It could have been a lot worse. It could have hit us in the height of summer. You have to look at the positives, there is not much we can do about it, you just hope as an industry we can bounce back from this.’’

While New Zealand has enjoyed unseasonably warm weather deep into April, there is no doubt winter won’t be far away and as such most horses entering stables this week are either young stock or winter gallopers. ‘‘People will be getting a few in that need further education for the next month or so and a few that might get up early with our racing season tentatively scheduled to start in July,’’ Forsman said. ‘‘Horses that will handle wet tracks will be coming back in the next week or so but a lot will be left for another month and aim for spring and summer racing.’’

After the initial shock of New Zealand’s total lockdown, Forsman made the most of his time off, spending quality time with his wife Sara and the couple’s two young children Maija and Hugo.

‘‘It took a bit of getting used to,’’ he said. ‘‘I suppose the nice thing was that the phone wasn’t ringing, and it gave me a bit of time to relax and switch off.

‘‘I’m not much of a handyman so I wasn’t painting or building treehouses. It was hard, I did a bit of home schooling which is tricky with a seven-year-old who thinks she knows everything.

‘‘We kept ourselves entertained. We had a few horses at the stable ticking over and going on the walker.

‘‘It was a good enough distraction for me, even though there wasn’t a lot to do it was still good to go to the stable and take care of those few horses. It got me out of the house and kept me sane.’’