The idea for the 13-year-old to pay a visit came about because Nada Watson, a St Mary's resident, had been keen to visit Karloo Mick at Barry's property.

Nada has been a long-time fan of Karloo Mick, following his career with interest.

Poor health meant she was unable to go out to Karloo so the Lew's decided he would go to her instead.

"Barry and I thought it would be nice to bring Karloo Mick to the nursing home.

"Nada and all these people have supported us through all our big races so we thought that was something nice we could do to repay them for all their support," Rhonda said.

Even though he hasn't raced for more than 12 months, Karloo Mick is still a popular horse and has a bigger following than most.

"I think it was a story people loved because Barry was only a hobby trainer, lived in the bush and people thought if Barry can get a Group 1 horse, we can all do it," Rhonda said.

"We took him everywhere to try and promote harness racing. He raced at 30 different tracks and people could see him.

"Quite often there were races worth more money but we would go to others because people would want to see him.

"It's such a privilege to have a horse like him and we felt we owed it to people.

"He got to be not our horse but the people's horse."

The Lew's haven't ruled out Mick making a comeback to the track either but it will depend on circumstances.

Barry is currently fighting to get his racing licence back after it was suspended in February last year. Karloo Mick was found to have a trace of the drug norketamine in his system after a race.

Lew has always argued that he never gave the horse the substance and he believes the tiny amount could have been picked up by being in a stall after a horse that received norketamine for a gelding operation.

He could have had his licence back by now if he had pleaded guilty but says he is determined not to plead guilty for something he hasn't done.

"Hopefully these people may see him race again but because of some issues we are having with Barry unable to get a licence because of an appeal pending, we aren't sure if that is going to happen," Rhonda said.

"We sincerely hope he can race again."