Retraining ex-race horses is Karol Kelly's passion.

From a young age, the Lisbellaw woman has had an interest in horses, going on to study an equine course at the College of Agriculture Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) Enniskillen Campus where she got a taste for riding out race horses, easing them into their post-racing life retirement.

"I would have been at the Agricultural College, CAFRE, I was one of the first people on the course more than 20 years ago. I would've been there when the race horses started and I would've been one of the few people who rode out the race horses," Karol told this newspaper.

Following her time at college, Karol worked with horses until she got married.

"I was kind of out of horses for 10 years," said Karol, adding: "[Then] we separated, and by that stage I had children, and I ended up buying them a pony and then that was me back into horses.

"So I had a pony, and now I have eight horses," she laughed.

Although she wasn't working with horses over that 10-year period, Karol explained that she would've 'rode out' race horses for people on occasion.

However, she always wanted to get into hunting.

"I'd been out on a couple of hunts when I was younger so I messaged a man that I know in Galway – they breed show jumpers, but it turns out his dad owned [the race horse] Black Apalachi, who had been in the Grand National. He had retired from racing and I said, 'sure bring him up'. I thought he would probably enjoy hunting because he would've been used to jumping hedges.

"That's kind of how I got into [retraining ex-race horses]," said Karol.

Along with Black Apalachi, Karol took on another racehorse called Darenjan, who belonged to a man from outside Strabane.

"Darenjan and Black Apalachi looked exactly alike; they both had a star on their head and they both had a white ring. They had so much in common because they both raced until they were 13, which was unusual, especially for flat racers – they often finish up racing at six or seven; there's not many that go past that."

Karol explained the different types of racing that the ex-race horses that she would train would have been involved in.

"There's flat racing, where they don't jump at all, and you have your national hunt, the likes of the Grand National, and then you'd have a Point to Point.

"Then there's flapping; people would have that in farmers' fields. That's where a lot of horses that have been in mainstream racing end up then – they end up as flappers, they're not quite strong enough to be on the mainstream."

Karol is currently working with two ex-race horses who had been trained by a race horse trainer in Tipperary.

"I have two from him at the moment; Comghghairdeas and Spiorad Saoirse. The reason that I usually get them is that their joints might not stand racing, but they are fine for anything else."

Retraining race horses isn't without its challenges, as Karol explained. "Comghghairdeas is one of the quietest [ex-race horses] I've had, but he has his moments."

As Karol is used to riding out race horses, she doesn't panic too much when one acts up when she is riding, but she went on to explain that her most serious injuries have happened whilst she's been on the ground.

"I was hosing a horse one day and he reared up and he landed on my big toe, and snapped my big toe in two," said Karol.

However, that wasn't the worst injury that she has received. "The first time I took Comghghairdeas to a hunt, I didn't even get to do the hunt, because he was that excited about being there!

"I brought him in someone else's horse lorry; he actually jumped off the ramp, which is about eight feet away.

"Luckily I had my riding hat on, because he tossed me on the ground, and I ended up in hospital for a week with bruising on the brain."

Describing herself as a "bit of an all-rounder" when it comes to retraining the ex-race horses, Karol noted that she has some experience in dressage, show jumping, cross-country and showing.

"Someone like me who is an all-rounder like that, I can put the horses into everything to see what discipline they are best in, and then send them away, but I can't do that on my own because I'm a jack of many trades, master of none," she said, going on to explain that she therefore brings the horses to specialists in different areas.

"I would get showjumping lessons with them, to get them used to learning how to jump with Harvey Smith in Seskinore – he would've jumped for Ireland – and then I take dressage lessons with Yvette Truesdale – she's in Banbridge, and would've represented Ireland in the Olympics before – so whoever I bring them to, they are at the top of their game," she said.

Talking about her love of working with the ex-race horses, Karol told this newspaper: "They are brilliant and they are very, very elegant, and they are very intelligent."