Glen learnt to ride as a child in Essex at a local riding school. At 15 he went to The British Racing School in Newmarket and secured a job with one of Britain’s best racehorse trainers, Luca Cumani. This is where he learnt his trade, hanging on to every word of some of the best stable lads and head lads in the world.
From the first few months where he got ran away with up Warren Hill gallops on the old hack (lead horse) to being entrusted with final race gallops for horses running in some of the biggest races in Europe and going to the races to put difficult horses into the starting stalls ahead of important races.
After 6yrs at Cumani’s and a vast amount of experience and knowledge gained, Cumani’s then assistant Ed Walker set up training and asked Glen to go with him. Here Glen started his love for breaking in and soon became a very young head lad, a very prestigious title at the time, regularly left in charge whilst the trainer was away, checking legs, taking temperatures, working closely with some of the best vets in the country.
The number of horses that pass through the yards whilst working in a racing stable is really what has given Glen the experience, more so than the number of years. The character and behaviours of horses, the injuries and illnesses witnessed alongside the treatment of wounds, rehabilitation, and management of bringing horses back into work following an issue.
After short stints with both Sir Mark Prescott and David Simcock, also in Newmarket, where again a fantastic amount of experience was gained from learning how others do things differently, Glen and Lucy decided to set up their own breaking and pre training yard on Hamilton Road in Newmarket, and Morris & Smith Equine Services was born.
With 18 stables and a limited time to get each racehorse broken in, cantering upsides on the gallops and being well mannered in the stable, the sheer number of horses coming through their hands has been invaluable in providing experience of horses with so many different personalities, characters, and attitudes, but also in identifying problems that stem from physical issues. This means that bar the occasional anomaly, they have the ability to assess a horse very quickly, as either or both will have seen one very similar in the past.
Lucy grew up with horses thanks to her Mother and officially started riding at 2yrs old on a Palomino Pony called Sunny, she was out on the lead rein with the North East Cheshire Drag at 4yrs and the love of riding continued.
An active member of Glossop Pony Club in Team Show Jumping, Mounted Games and Tetrathlon.
After a slight discipline change Lucy went to University where she gained a BA (hons) degree in Business & Management for the Horseracing Industry. Working alongside her studies riding out for point-to-point trainers, working in a betting shop and becoming an accredited Stalls Handler for Arena Leisure, and in her gap year working at Doncaster Racecourse, she was accepted onto the British Horseracing’s Graduate Scheme in 2010.
After a stint in Australia working as a Head Girl for Malua Racing where she was riding round the famous Flemington Racetrack in Melbourne, Lucy gained a job as a Racing Secretary & rider for Luca Cumani in Newmarket (and where she first met Glen!)
Having ridden out over the years for some of Britain’s top racehorse trainers including Marco Botti, Roger Charlton, William Muir and Mick Appleby and also achieved her BHS Stage 3, evented up to BE Novice (albeit not particularly successfully!) and done lots of Team Chasing, Lucy has all round experience, although is generally found on the ground at the moment looking after her and Glen’s baby boy, answering the phone and running after Glen to get videos for owners weekly updates!