Halado Park Performance Horses

I started riding like many young horsemad girls - using up pocket money to go trail riding.  I taught myself to stay on the bolters, buckers and rearers that seemed to be the norm at some of those places and had some degree of control.  A few years later I had progressed to riding friends' Thoroughbreds where I learnt to be a little more "correct".  At age 14, I got my first horse, an OTTB called Flynn who has his own page here.  I started working at the agistment farm - a Warmblood stud - on the weekends and started working with stallions for the first time.  I had never seen such big horses before (over 17h) so it was very daunting prospect.  With no help or advice, I was thrown in the deep end and so, through trial and error, I started learning the art of stallion handling.  Not long after, my family was reunited with a long lost relative who owned a stud farm where she bred Percheron crosses.  I started to go there and help her out by breaking and educating, exercising, escorting B&B guests on trail rides and running the horse side of the business.

Right: My first breaker, a Percheron x called Jimmy.

At age 16, I met Marian Malecki who started me off on my dressage addiction and gave my riding a direction.  He is still a strong influence on my riding today.

After finishing High School, my family bought 12 acres at Woodside, SA where Flynn was able to retire and I took on a give away Thoroughbred, King.  He was an unlikely dressage prospect being a small, long, half-blind TB who at 16 years old, could struggle through a Novice test and came with an incorrect flying change.  He was my only riding horse at the time, so he was stuck with the job of being my dressage horse. 

Around the same time, my mother bought a horse which I tried out for her.  After the sale, the seller called me to say that she was impressed with the way I rode, and she'd like me to work for her with her dressage horses.  It was a perfect opportunity for me and I eventually became head groom and Stallion-man.  I was responsible for the schooling of her horses including an 18h Oldenburger working medium, her young Valuta stallion and her Grand Prix horse by Contact.  During this time, a half-brother to her stallion was born, by Wunder and I bought him for myself.  That was Titan and he was only 5 hours old when I knew he was the foal I'd been looking for.

I spent nearly a year riding these horses every day, gaining invaluable experience from the GP schoolmaster and taking that knowledge back home.  King was progressing rapidly at this time and was working Advanced while I also had a rescued Baroque-type Thoroughbred mare (Louise) who, although hot, was doing some lovely medium work.  When I learnt to piaffe, I was very lucky to have two horses at home who were also ready to learn it so I was able to take my new-found knowledge to put to work on them, then "re-tune" myself on Sam the next day. 

Unfortunately, I was finding that the Kieffer that I was riding in was too wide through the waist for my pelvis, but I was told that I had to ride in that saddle or not at all.  Who would pass up the opportunity to ride a GP horse every day?  So I persisted in ignoring the pain, not realising the damage I was doing or the long term effect it would have.  Soon, I was no longer able to half halt.  I started compensating for the pain by twisting, until eventually, it was simply too painful to ride.  My employer at this point decided to get out of horses for personal reasons and, as I had begun a TAFE traineeship with her, I was transferred to the only other available trainer...the Adelaide Hunt Club.

What a shock to the system that was!  I was almost in tears and ready to call the RSPCA after seeing the way the horses were ridden.  There was no love towards horses in this place, but here I was.  I was still having trouble with my hip - if I gave a half halt, I would pull a muscle/ligament and would not be able to half halt again for 2-3 days.  Riding was still painful, but doing straight fitness work with shorter stirrups was a help in the recovery process (not as much as not riding would have been of course!).  I was invited to go on a hunt...I said yes before I could back out from nerves as I had always wanted to try but kept chickening out.  I turned up to the most gruelling hunt property in my dressage saddle at which I received more than one "She won't last long" look.  Well, not only did I last through a run which was still being talked about five years later, but I was the only one in the field who kept up! (I wasn't informed about field etiquette and the role of the Field Master!).  I do remember yelling at everyone during the run that they were a bunch of suicidal idiots and they were mad.  That didn't mean I pulled up though. 

That was it.  I was hooked on hunting....hunting does have that effect.  King was retired from dressage (having achieved PSG level at age 19) and began his hunting career.  I apparently proved myself because soon I was whipping in myself and being supplied with horses.  I became kennel-man and 2nd whipper-in.  One of my roles was to educate and re-educate Thoroughbreds both on and off the track.  Racehorse trainers would send their problem horses and I would get the job to "fix" them.   Educating racehorses to become hunters became my specialty.  I gained a reputation for being able to hunt anything and was given the problem horses to hunt that needed tuning up, unproven horses, even a racehorse still in race work.

Above: Todd, my top whip's horse.  A rather hot, bouncy little Thoroughbred who never failed me on the tough Hills hunts. 

A few horses came and went during this time.  We tragically lost Flynn at age 23.  We lost King at age 24 after retiring from hunting only 6 months before.  Titan continued to show promise and became an AWHA Recorded Stallion.  He also won the AWHA National Performance Horse Competition the next year, completing a 100cm showjumping course after jumping under saddle for only 3 weeks and even then only over 80cm (they didn't tell me they were raising the course from 80cm and from all my hunting, I was no judge of height!). 

The hunting was fantastic and I met a lot of wonderful and notable people.  In the off-season, the hunters went out and the polo ponies came in.  Usually there were about twenty polo ponies in work and in addition to grooming for my A Grade player boss, I was often hired out to other players.  Polo is a rather miserable sport for everyone except the players and the spectators.  I always felt sorry for the horses who really do get a raw deal in life and it was always an exciting time when the polo ponies went out and the hunters came back in.

After six years though, it was really time to get A Real Job and I wasn't getting time to work on Titan (Werdun) who was now going under saddle.  I got work at the local abattoir which gave a year of great work hours, MUCH better pay and an exceptionally fun environment where I had an absolute ball.  I also met my partner, Dave, there.  I caused quite a stir by demanding to become a knifehand - accepted as a Man's Job - and after much hassling on my part, I finally got my wish.  Of course the guys (and particularly the supervisor who's name was - would you believe it - Ashley Hole! How many people can actually say their boss is an A. Hole and get away with it?!!) never thought I'd last in the role and were always telling me to go faster.  By the time I was going as fast as everyone else, it had become a bit of a joke amongst them and they would still tell me to hurry up....only I was never quite sure if they were joking or not!  I kept pushing myself more and more, getting faster and faster until I was the fastest knifehand in the room.    Unfortunately, it was to be my undoing.  When the abattoir went export, we were overworked and I was having to go super-fast to try to help us keep up.  This resulted in a severe case of tendonitis in both wrists which I am still suffering the effects from (at one point it turned into Carpal Tunnel Syndrome) and I had to find another job fast.

As luck would have it, my uncle informed me of two Government positions available in his Department.  Dave and I both applied for and got the jobs.  We basically walked out of the abattoir, took our holiday leave and walked straight into our new job.  Karma.

Back to horses.  With no strength in my wrist, and my stallion showing an aptitude for jumping, I asked around a bit for someone to campaign him for me.  Jeff Bloomfield was recommended to me and after satisfying all my extremely picky requirements, he was given the ride.  I was lucky to be able to stop in every now and then for a ride and did the whole Show Mum thing.

After living with my father for a year (my mother and I have never gotten along), Dave and I started looking for a place of our own.  After a couple of months of looking, I found a property too perfect to pass up at Springton.  It was the only property we inspected, but it was exactly what we were after.  In a couple of months, we were in our new home (which ironically is just around the corner from Jeff) and I started riding Titan again as I couldn't afford to pay a rider and a mortgage!  After a brief forray into showjumping, I decided it was far too scary jumping that high and I was finding myself thinking of the hunt field more and more.  I made a decision, and for the 2007 season, I hunted Titan and we both had an absolute ball. 

I clipped professionally for 9 years, although I got out of this due to the problems with my wrists and lack of time.  I now limit my clipping, but will give clipping lessons and online advice.  My Step-by-step Clipping Tutorial can be view here or from the Tutorials page.

In a strange flurry of events, I suddenly realised that I was going nowhere with the government and I enquired about work in the racing industry.  Before I knew what was happening, I found myself working 20 minutes from home with better pay on the state's biggest Thoroughbred stud.  I am back working with horses and feel that I am finally back doing what I was always meant to be doing.  I have time for my own horses, and can take in the occasional horse for training again.  Funny how things turn out.  My current role involves on-stud IT/computer work (specialising in the reproductive cycles of some 400 mares), foaling down, yearling prep and general stud duties, and I could not have found myself a better job.