Flying Start: George Broughton blog

"For the finale of my first year of the Godolphin Flying Start programme, I have been lucky enough to join the team at Tweenhills Farm and Stud for 8 weeks.

"The reason I targeted the opportunity to do this externship with Tweenhills is the multifaceted nature of the business. This has allowed me to see and learn about so many different aspects of the breeding world, from helping in the covering shed as the season draws to a close, working with the mares and foals as well as seeing the amazing physicals of the Roaring Lion and Zoustar yearlings.

"With so many progeny of the stud’s roster present on the farm, I have been able to work on my eye for conformation and noting the trends and resemblances within families and sire lines. I have also had the opportunity to go around with the farrier and continue on from work done with Godolphin in developing my understanding of foot placement and forelimb conformation.

"A personal highlight so far has to be the access to the four stallions. With the studs I had worked on before the Flying Start not having their own sires, the ability to work and learn more about stallion management has been an amazing learning curve particularly with regards to the horsemanship required in their care.

"Another highlight of the externship so far has been the opportunity to join the team at the Arqana and Goresbridge breeze-up sales, in Doncaster and Newmarket respectively. Both sales presented very strong catalogues with the markets continuing to show remarkable strength and resilience despite the obvious challenges both logistically and in terms of the wider economy.

"To be able to inspect these two-year-olds alongside David Redvers, whose eye has selected numerous Group 1 winners over the years, was amazing. To see the eye for detail the team have and to be able to understand their different selection criteria was absolutely fascinating and it will be interesting to follow the careers of the team’s selections going forward.

"It has also been great to learn more about the QIPCO sponsorship and their promotion of the British racing industry both in terms of the British Champions Series as well as initiatives such as the Hall of Fame.

"Although I am just a few weeks into my time with Tweenhills I feel I have already been exposed to such a wide variety of learning opportunities and in the process gained so much both in terms of my understanding of the farm itself as well as the wider industry."