Trot up at Lakes and Craters with Secrets
Hello everyone and good-bye 2014!
As a keen reader of everything An Eventful Life, I feel very privileged to have been invited into the team of bloggers.
You can read about everything Teegan on my biography page so I thought I would introduce my team both horsey and human and recap on 2014
We are based on a property in Howlong NSW, 30kms from Albury/Wodonga so we have plenty of room for horses. The head count of horses (our own and clients) is 24… For now! We have one more foal due this year
The human team:
Teegan (me!) – Part time uni student, full time rider and coach! Loving every moment of it!
Jade Willis – Our Kiwi import was a very valuable part of the team in the second half of 2014, earning herself the title of super groom.
Helen (Mum) – Truck driver extraordinaire and fabulous helper at shows and at home, thanks Mum
Warwick (Dad) – In charge of finances and stallion chooser for our lovely broodmares. Dad has bred me some wonderful young horses so far and I’m already excited for next season’s babies! Dad also runs the farm when I am away competing which is a huge help to know all the ponies at home are in good hands.
Sponsors:
My sponsors are a very valuable part of the team and I wouldn’t be able to do it with out them. From Pryde’s EasiFeed making sure my ponies eat well to Black Horse Clothing making sure I look stylish in their wonderful range of riding clothes.
Coaches:
I cannot thank Sandy Rosenbrock (dressage) and Jenny Sheppard (jumping) for the many hours they spend working with me and all my horses. Their time, guidance and words of wisdom help me achieve the very best out of all my rides and I appreciate it so much
Boris made the cover of the Berrima Horse Trials program this year
The competition team:
Rockingham No Reason (Boris) - 2001 WB x TB Gelding competing at 3*, member of the 2016 National Development squad aiming for the Rio Olympics. Boris is the wise old man of the team and is my very best friend, being used as a lead horse for the babies one day to winning a 3* the next!
Waitangi Password (Secrets) - 2006 WB x TB Mare competing at 2*, imported from New Zeland in April 2014. Secrets is our resident dressage hater and jumping legend!
Nukku Park Royal Desire (Desmond) - 2009 WB Gelding, competing EvA95. Desmond is Mr Fancy on the flat and is equally as fancy over a fence.
Desert Storm (Stormy) - 2009 WB Stallion, imported from the UK, competing EvA80, owned by the Dean Family. Stormy is looking like a fantastic competition and breeding stallion for the future, having won two EvA 80’s in a row
Marlo (Benny) – 2001 Clydie x Arab Gelding who I rode up to 1* on. The clumper, carthorse of the team. Benny is currently leased out to a young client of mine, who is aiming him for Melbourne International Horse Trials 2015 in the Junior 1*
Des jumping 'a big kids jump' at Albury in the Andrew Hoy clinic
The baby team:
With 9 horses aged 3 and under I am kept on my toes. They are all very exciting and hopefully you will see 3 of them in the 4 year old class in the Young Event Horse class at Sydney International Horse Trials 2016. Keep up the quality breeding Dad! There is something special about riding a home bred horse
2014
Our 2014 didn’t start the way we had planned, with the loss of a beautiful young horse to colic. We had huge hopes for him and he left Desmond with big shoes to fill. I think Des has done a fantastic job, going from a dressage pony in January, when we purchased him to being competitive in EvA95 in less than 12 months.
Having Boris at 2* level and baby Des left us with a gap in our competition team so that’s when our horse hunt began. We found ourselves looking in New Zealand and oh wow - I would have happily brought home every single horse I sat on! Unfortunately Mum and Dad said no to that idea and I ended up with Secrets. I cannot thank Carolyn Jolley enough for finding me this super young mare
I set off to shows all around the countryside with my team of 3 and achieved some fantastic results. Travelling in New South Wales into Victoria and even a trip to South Australia, we did some miles this year
The team gained a very valuable member at the end of the season when I picked up the ride on Desert Storm. Thanks for his owners, the Dean Family, for entrusting me with their lovely stallion.
Boris winning the 2* at Sydney
2014 highlights include;
- Boris winning the CCI 2* at Sydney International Horse Trials,
- Boris placing 3rd in the CCI 2* at Melbourne International Horse Trials and giving me the opportunity to ride in hopefully my first of many Australian teams in the Oceania Young Rider Championships against New Zealand, which we won!!
- Boris winning the CIC 3* at Canberra Horse Trials, our first 3*
- Nearly winning our second 3* at Goulburn but unfortunately I missed a set of compulsory flags on cross country and got us eliminated. I have now learnt the hard way to read course maps carefully!
- Secrets placing 2nd in the CCI 1* at Lakes and Craters in the Young Rider section.
- Des jumping clear cross country in his first 2 Eva80’s then stepping up to 95 and jump around clear at all 5 of his starts.
- Storm winning his division of the EvA80 at Wallaby Hill Horse Trials after only 10 days together.
- Storm winning the EvA80 at Berrima Horse Trials
2015
We already have our 2015 calendar jam-packed and I’m looking forward to another exciting year of riding, teaching and competing
Goals for 2015 include;
- Boris – CCI 4* at Adelaide in November
- Secrets – Master the dressage and be established at 2* level competing at either Sydney or Melbourne CCI 2* in the first half of the year then Adelaide CCI 2* in November, possibly having had a 3* start before then
- Desmond – Start next year in the EvA95 then step up to EvA105 and hopefully 1* before the end of 2015.
- Stormy – Start out 2015 in the EvA80 then upgrade to 95 and hopefully 105
- Get my NCAS Level 1 coaching accreditation
- Complete my Uni subjects successfully
We are now madly preparing for our January Kids camps. We are running 3 camps over the duration of a week and will welcome up to 18 kids and ponies onto our property. I am already excited to see how it pans out for us and hopefully we will be able to offer these every school holidays and I have already had a request to run an adults camp also for the parents!
Keep up to date with my team and I at Facebook/teeganashbyequestrian
Wishing everyone a happy, safe and very Merry Christmas. Looking forward to seeing what 2015 has to offer.
Xx Teegan
