Vet taking time off to train horses

A well-known P.E.I. horse trainer and veterinarian is taking a leave of absence from his job at the Atlantic Veterinary College to train horses full time.

Dr. Ian Moore will soon be leaving for Sorrento, Fla., where he will devote all his time until May to training six horses.

'We've had some good luck in recent years.' — Dr. Ian Moore

Last year, one of Moore's horses, Shadow Play, won the prestigious Little Brown Jug in Ohio.

Moore told CBC News Friday it was getting too hard to train horses and work at the vet college full time.

"For the last four years, probably, I've been on planes travelling all over the country, primarily to Ontario, but sometimes in the U.S. as well, and then trying to manage what I do at the university at the Atlantic Veterinary College during the weekdays," he said.

"I found that I couldn't devote 100 per cent of my time to either, the way it was shaping up, especially this year. We've had some good luck in recent years, some decent horses that had to go elsewhere to race for bigger money."

Moore has been teaching at the vet college for 27 years.

Originally he was planning to resign, but decided to take a leave of absence when that was offered to him.

Moore's latest training success story — five-year-old stallion Astronomical — will move to a stable in Ontario. Astronomical is the fastest free-legged pacer in the world and has taken in almost $800,000 in his racing career.