A stable relationship: the male racehorses that fell in love
‘They were like best friends in the human variety, who go to the pub together, who go shopping together’
IT IS an unlikely tale of an enduring bond and a refusal to be separated that could warm the most jaded heart.
Yet the tale is all the more remarkable because the pair in question are not human, but two male racehorses.
More than a year after a tragic fall cut short the extraordinary animal relationship, those who worked with the pair have described what they believe to be an exceptional equine coupling.
The unusual bond between the late Simonsig and Triolo D’alene even left them apparently ostracised by other horses, The Washington Post reported.
The geldings were trained by Nicky Henderson at Lambourn, Berks. They had not mixed at his yard but became inseparable almost as soon as they met while summering at nearby Hillwood Stud. They were among 10 horses placed together in a field, and the pair quickly stood away from the rest.
Mr Henderson told the newspaper: “I mean, it must be colour. Had to be about colour, didn’t it? Because the bays were all in a pack, and 500 yards away, on their own, were the grey [Simonsig] and the chestnut [Triolo D’alene]. And they just spent the whole summer like that together.”
The pair spent the summer inseparable, returned to spend their autumn and winter alone, until the following year they reconvened as if nothing had happened.
Mr Henderson said he had seen abundant “friendships” among horses, “but not affairs”. He said: “So what you’d call Triolo and Simonsig, I don’t know, but it was two boys that fell in love with each other.
“The whole thing was weird. But the thing out in the field was the extraordinary part, how they were completely and utterly ostracised or wanted to be separate from the bays. And there were always 10 in that field, every year. And I’ve never seen it happen before.”
Tracy Vigors, who runs Hillwood Stud with her husband, Charlie, added: “They started segregating themselves off together.
“It was quite apparent quite quickly they were very much bestie-mates, I suppose you would say.
“They would stand together, eat together, walk together, trough together. They were like best friends in the human variety, who go to the pub together, who go shopping together. You see dogs cuddled up together. They were almost like that.”
Although she said there was no physical dimension to their friendship (“They’re geldings, so nothing too much can happen”), their intimacy was not confined to the field. As their bond become clear, they shared a barn at Seven Barrows.
“It was the most extraordinary relationship,” said Mr Henderson. “And, I mean, most horses, if you put them in a box together, you’d have to take the hind shoes off because it would be too dangerous. But you knew they weren’t going to kick each other.”
Both were successful racers. Simonsig won eight of 13 races over jumps and Triolo D’alene won seven.
But tragedy struck on Nov 13 2016, when Simonsig broke a leg falling at the third fence at Cheltenham and had to be put down. As the horse trailer returned that night, everyone’s minds turned to Triolo’s reaction.
“They’d sort of shout for each other when the horse box got home,” Mr Henderson told the Post. “But then all of a sudden he wasn’t going to come off the horse box.”
Emails and letters arrived, offering sympathy for Triolo D’alene in its possible grief.
Mr Henderson said despite the horses’ close bond, it was unclear what Triolo felt.
“You can’t say he cried or he did anything like that; we were all doing that bit,” he said. “You’d be making up stories if you said that [he mourned].”