Doncaster Equine College: The Yorkshire yard giving injured racehorses a second chance

In his career Steel Blue competed in four countries, notching up 106 races and winnings of £109,000. But for the past 13 years he'd not ventured out of the college's yard.

"It's asking a lot of the horse to start travelling and doing - so he went to live at my house," said lead tutor Rachael Proudley, who compares preparing a horse for such an event to "going from playing football in the back garden to Wembley".

“He stayed a few days at my niece’s and went to a colleague and a local yard. My daughter took him to a show for a different atmosphere."

The college, a charity which opened in 2017, has 32 students. Based at the National Horseracing College, in the grounds of Rossington Hall, near Doncaster, they get a mix of horses in need of a slower pace of life, from ex-racehorses to coloured cobs - 22 in total.

Steel Blue, who Rachael fondly describes as "beautifully kind, well mannered - but no pushover" - came a cropper last May when he was kicked by another horse out in a field.

"It was a really serious injury," she said. "If he'd caught the tendon we probably wouldn't have been able to get him back on the road. It took us until Christmas to get him back. Since then he's gone from strength to strength."

The next problem was raising enough money for the pair to show in an amateur class at Hickstead, during the build up to the main showjumping event. Finding a commercial sponsor proved impossible, but the students went the extra mile, raising £900 from a sponsored ride.

After a horrendous seven hour trip horse and rider, followed by a minibus full of students, arrived at Hickstead. They didn't get placed, but that wasn't the point. Rachael said: "It's all about the student experience.

Libby was the youngest rider by far at 16 years of age - she'd literally done two college competitions. Everyone else in the ring was a seasoned campaigner.

"Steel Blue looked after Libby in the go round, but when the ride judge got on and asked him to breeze up Hickstead hill, his ears pricked, and it was a very emotional moment for us all. Me and Libby were in tears."

The college offers courses in horse care and management to students from the age of 16, who may never have ridden before. Ex students have gone on to varied careers – one as an equine dentist, working in established racing yards and as grooms for GB para-riders.

Rachael said: "We started with eight stables and 18 students - we're now at 24 stables and 32 students and in September we'll go up to 45. We are a very little known college but that has its advantages in that we can give a real personal journey to students."