Former England footballer Michael Owen has said that he has a strong affinity with racehorses as their training is similar to that of a professional footballer.
According to the Daily Star, Owen, who swapped the football pitch for the racecourse last season, trains 95 thoroughbreds with his wife Louise Bonsall at their Manor House Stables in Cheshire, England.
Stating that horses are his main passion after his family and football, the former Manchester United and Liverpool striker said that he could understand the hard work and effort needed by a horse to be as fit as possible to win a race.
According to Owen, he can sympathise with a horse with how the animals feel after a race and their need to recover quickly, adding that he has always been an animal lover, especially of horses.
Owen further said that his wife is teaching him the rudiments of riding a horse given that he was unable to do so while he played football over injury fears, adding that he is hoping to take part in a charity horse race in the near future.
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Stating that he got hooked up on horses when he just a child, Owen also said that his love for horses began after he started to read in newspapers about which jockeys were winning the races and who their trainers were, adding that his father used to place small bets on the Saturday races, where he would pick three horses and let Owen choose one of them.
According to the report, Owen had teamed up with his co-presenter on new channel BT Sport, Clare Balding, to find the right horse for a riding stable dedicated to the disabled.
While Balding hunted for a perfect horse for youngsters facing a range of different physical and mental challenges at the Riding for the Disabled Assocation (RDA), Owen supplied the horse box to transport the animal to its new home in Carlisle, the report added.
