Red Rum - The Aura of a Legend

Here is a tribute video to honor the indomitable Will, Power and Charisma of the legendary Red Rum. Early on in his racing career Red Rum was diagnosed with the debilitating bone disease known as pedal osteitis, - i.e. an inflammation of the pedal bone, or coffin bone. In late 1972 Red Rum was bought at auction for Noel Le Mare. Le Mare's purchase was influenced by his trainer Donald 'Ginger' McCain; who had already been keeping his eye on this descendant of the mighty St Simon. McCain then quickly proceeded to work and rehabilitate Red Rum with his unique method of taking Red Rum onto the sea and sand of the Southport beaches. According to Fran Jurga from hoofcare.com:

"...McCain was a genius in the way he trained Red Rum. He was the first trainer to harrow the beach, marking the gallop--this came after another horse of his cut its tendon on a broken bottle that had washed ashore, but it also softened the hardpacked sand. Other trainers had given up galloping on the beach because they felt it made horses more lame, but the harrowing really seemed to work for Red Rum.

If you've ever taken a horse to the beach, you know that it can be an interesting ride the first few times. After a while, horses usually love it, but the waves, open space and the shifting sand take some getting used to. But not for Red Rum: the first time McCain took him to the beach, the gelding walked right into the ocean up to his chest.

McCain supplemented the gallops on the flat sand with lots of time standing or walking in the water; surely the cold Irish Sea was good for any inflammation in the horse's feet. He also trained him up and down the forgiving sand dunes, which were great for the horse's muscles without putting a lot of stress on his feet."
read more here:- http://hoofcare.blogspot.com/2009/04/...

Out from the beaches of Southport arose one of the greatest and noblest equines the world has ever witnessed.