Category Archives: Viewpoint

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A young jockey about his horses

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Horse head by Kate Woodlock

I have always loved horses, and this morning, in amongst the gloomy news about strikes and interest rate rises, I heard a short interview with a young jockey, sixteen-year-old Billy Loughnane, son of an Irish racehorse trainer, now living in Worcestershire.

Over the past few weeks I have heard Billy’s name mentioned now and then in sports reports, so it caught my attention when I heard he was about to be interviewed. I knew he was the jockey achieving win after win in the flat-racing world.

The interviewer wanted to know what the young jockey thought was the reason for his success.

Billy was certain. His voice soft and confident, he said he’d always wanted to ride, and to race. He’d grown up around horses, and said they were almost like pets to him.

At this, the interviewer interrupted to point out that horses are not pets.

Without a pause Billy responded, his voice as steady as when he began. He agreed with the interviewer that horses were not pets, then he added: “They’re more like friends.”

That little phrase made my day.

I hope it’s been a good day with you.

Here is a link to another interview (2 mins) with Billy Loughnane

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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Sorry now it’s gone

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This is a thank you to a young shop, that turned a dark corner bright, during the lock/unlock days of Covid. Sadly, without enough customers, the shop has had to close.

We shall miss it. Purely selfish, but we loved knowing it was there. On some days, the space it occupied with such welcome, felt so sunny, that we might have been on faraway shores.

Now there is a gap in our lives, and in that gap there is a feeling of guilt. We were happy, occasional customers, serving our needs, not thinking about what the shop might need to benefit as much as we did, from it being there. We were careless, and are now sorry to have lost a business with such heart.

My thanks to the little wine shop, for the light it brought in the dark days. I hope that in the future we’ll do better at supporting the physical businesses that add so much to our lives.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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Ukraine – always in our news

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This flag was flying in New Zealand when I was there last year.

Wherever I see the flag, the blue and yellow seem so full of sunshine and hope, despite the bitter assault faced by the country it flies for.

Ukraine has been in the UK news for over a year now. We hear daily of devastation, too horrifying to believe at times, and yet it is happening – families, lives, whole towns are being destroyed. And the abuse is multiplying, continuing through the freeze of winter.

As we listen, one question, keeps repeating in my heart. Surely we cannot be doing this to each other now? History is flooded with needless bloodshed, but that is history. Surely not now?

And yet the scarring continues. Last Saturday in Dnipro, an apartment block full of life was shelled. A few days ago a helicopter crashed on to a kindergarten. And all the while, thousands of troops on both sides are losing their lives.

The trauma reaches us daily through the media. Like a muffled pain it throbs incessantly, flaring suddenly with news of a disaster, or stilling briefly, before hopes of talks collapse. It seems wrong to continue our day to day around it, but that is what we do.

And over us, and in between us and our every day lives, the beautiful flag keeps flying.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023