Although she’d heard many riders talk about their ‘heart horse’, it was not until Madeleine Pritchard brought home her first standardbred that she got to experience this firsthand.
“I’d had a big gap from riding for about twenty years and the horse I got back into the saddle on was a bit unpredictable “, Madeleine explains.
“This knocked my confidence and highlighted the importance of finding a safe new horse as the priority.
“It was during the Covid lockdowns that I saw Smoulder advertised on Hero Retrainer Jodee Young’s Facebook page and something about him just stood out.
“I spoke with Jodee and she did a fantastic job of describing Smoulder and asking all the right questions to make sure we were a good prospective match.
“After my chat with Jodee, I went about researching standardbreds. I didn’t know much about the breed, but a lot of the information I read talked about how quiet and sensible standies were and this was very appealing to me”.
Defying even her own expectations, Madeleine felt an instant trust and connection with her new boy.
“Smoulder arrived after dark on the truck and spent the first night settling in”, Madeleine recalls.
“Despite the next day being horribly windy, I felt inspired to have our first ride. Looking back, I can’t believe I felt confident to even consider getting on a brand new, green horse. The conditions were so poor I definitely wouldn’t have ridden my last horse on a day like that!
“I think this is testament to Smoulder’s personality and how he puts me at ease. I’ve always had this trust in him, even from the very beginning”
With their partnership off to a positive start, Smoulder and Madeleine spent their first year ‘just pottering around the farm getting to know each other’ and building a bond.
Cited to be ‘gentle, but a little standoffish at first’, once Smoulder’s walls came down his relationship with Madeleine moved to the next level.
“Once we clicked, Smoulder and I bonded and he started to become really clingy. He would follow me around the paddocks and we became incredibly in-tune.
“I’ve seen such a sweet side to Smoulder and I finally understand what it’s like to have that special ‘heart horse’. There is truly no better feeling than knowing your horse is your perfect match!”
With their partnership moving from strength to strength, Madeleine began to seek opportunities to take Smoulder out into the equestrian world.
“Initially, I took Smoulder to a couple of ‘cowboy dressage’ days, as these were run locally and really low-key”, Madeleine explains.
“After we had a couple of outings under our belt, I joined the Werribee Central Adult Riding Club (HRCAV) and we started dabbling in a bit of everything!
“I invested in dressage lessons with a coach, to improve Smoulder’s gaits and balance. This has been going well. Smoulder collects compliments about his movement everywhere we go, particularly his canter which is very natural for an ex-pacer!
“We’ve also participated in a couple of poles clinics and ‘combined training’ events. This has given Smoulder the opportunity to discover jumping, which he really loves!
“It’s so great having such a versatile horse, which I hear is typical of standardbreds.
“I always feel safe on Smoulder. He looks to me for confidence, but as long as I keep my cool, he just feeds off this and will give anything a go.
“I can load Smoulder on the float and he just goes with the flow. Having an unrufflable horse has done wonders for my confidence and this is the opposite of the experience I had with my last horse.
“Sometimes I have to pinch myself at how lucky I am to have such an easy horse. Smoulder really has put the fun back into riding!”
