For Raelene Kwong, the dream of a tree-change to the countryside became even more fulfilling when her family moved to a home with enough land to finally get their own horses.
Raelene recalls that the decision to move from the Mornington Peninsula to Yackandandah in 2018 was made appealing by the promise of horses for their eighteen-year-old daughter, Natasha.
“Even months prior to moving, Tash started researching horses and this is how she connected with Julie Duffy, who’s involved in harness racing and the rehoming of retirees.
“Julie asked us a lot of questions before even mentioning she might have a suitable horse, but that he was still a way off being ready to rehome.
“This worked quite well for us, as we were going through the process of moving and needed the time to complete this and set our new farm up for horses.
“Before we took the horse, a six-year-old gelding who raced as Stuover NZ but was affectionately known as ‘Big Stu’, we drove up to meet him, take a few trail rides and we even had a couple of lessons before committing to a purchase.
“As first-time riding horse owners, with prior experience with a miniature pony and donkey, we really appreciated the care and effort that went into ensuring Stu was a suitable match for us and that we had a good handover”.
Once Stu arrived at his new home, Raelene surrounded herself with a wonderful network of professionals and new horse friends who supported her journey into horse ownership.
“We were fortunate to find a great local horsemanship trainer, who worked with me on groundwork training with Stu”, Raelene explains.
“Taking it slowly helped Stu and I to build a strong connection and to improve his suppleness, manners and the foundation skills we could transfer to his ridden training.
“I also took a barefoot hoof trimming course, which I’ve really enjoyed deep diving into, and joined our local HRCAV club (the Yackandandah Riding Club, which Raelene has gone on to become the current Vice President of)”.
A couple of years into their journey, the pandemic hit and Raelene’s family found themselves shuffling horses.
“A friend of mine needed to rehome her horse during the Covid lockdowns and it was around this time that Tash’s horse fell lame”, Raelene recalls.
“I started riding the new horse and Tash started to school Stu in show jumping. When Tash moved out of home, she took Stu with her. They enjoyed a good few years competing together, as a bitless and barefoot combination, and Stu proved very talented and a big lover of jumping!
“Unfortunately, I suffered a serious fall off my horse out on a trail ride, which resulted in a broken back, two rods placed in my spine and a year of recovery.
“My first ride back after my fall was on a magical holiday in Patagonia, as I couldn’t resist ticking a South American trail ride off my bucket list, and it definitely gave me the bug to get back in the saddle again!
“I was grateful to be able to bring Stu home and to have such a reliable horse there to help me to regain my confidence after a long break.
“Stu is just such a safe, trustworthy boy that I didn’t even hesitate to enter him in a 3PE event my club was hosting, despite it being held only a month or so after I got back in the saddle after my recovery!
“We had such a great time and a lot of fun at the 3PE event and Stu didn’t miss a beat. He took the obstacles well and cantered part of the speed phase to a cheering crowd!
“Even now that I’m back riding every day, splitting my time between Stu and another horse, I definitely don’t have the confidence I used to and it’s a constant worry that I’m going to get hurt again, which I really can’t afford to do. But, having a horse like Stu alleviates most of my concerns, as he’s so unflappable and I feel very safe on him.
“Stu is a real gentleman and he’s even learned to stand calmly next to the block for me to mount and also dismount, so as not to jar my back. I’ve also started having regular show jumping lessons on him, which we both thoroughly enjoy.
“I regularly ride out with my neighbour and I’m steadily working on increasing Stu’s fitness out on trails so I can take him back to the High Country again. Stu’s so sure-footed, not spooky and happy to go with the flow; he’s a tremendous trail horse.
“Standies have such a trainable nature, lovely forward walk and gentle keenness to get out and explore, without getting too hot or silly. They seem to approach work with a positive, ‘what are we getting up to today?’ attitude, which makes going out for a ride very enjoyable.
“I think it’s very important to be mindful that standies are quite stoic, so we have to listen to them, be patient and take our time, particularly in the early stages of retraining.
“If you do this and focus on groundwork, remuscling their body and creating a connection with them, you can achieve some wonderful things with your standardbred and enjoy many years of fun and adventures together!”
