Harry was originally purchased for my daughter Kelly as a show-jumping prospect.  We had searched for many months all over Australia and had noticed Harry as a ‘new’ horse in the area just 1 km from home.   I passed his paddock every day and coincidently it was right next door to my parents home.  From a distance he looked like an aging trotter – very skinny neck, long head no weight.  He always seemed to be eating loaves of bread whenever I went past and thought, ‘poor bugger’. Reading the Weekend shopper I noticed an ad’ for a 2 yr. WB/TB cross in our area, not thinking for one moment it was the same horse.  Once I got into his paddock, my impression changed.  He was arrogant and gave me a glance, then a large snort and trotted off, something just said buy him.   He reminded me greatly of my first horse who had responded the same way, he was just skin and bone but almost 16hh, so I gave him six months in a paddock with good quality feed and taught him some basics while he regained some condition.  

When I started lunging him I was impressed with his movement and also his attitude.  The first owners may have tried to break him in, as he was very insecure and had obviously been mouthed before.  I decided to take a lot of time with him and as I was extremely busy with work and a business, this suited us both.  I drove him in reins for almost three months all around the area and then over cavalettes.  He could turn on a threepence, as they say.  I started loading him on a float and took that really slowly, he didn't trust anyone for over a year and seemed very tentative around men, after he could walk on and off without fear we took him for short drives around our area.  My initial impression was that he could have been a really mean buck jumper if he had been rushed or mistreated.

One incredible incident I recall was one day in the round yard he cut the point of his shoulder on the offside and we were unable to stop the bleeding.  I couldn’t get a Vet for about six hours, so I pinned the wound with two safety pins and a rubber band.  Finally the Vet arrived in the dark and stitched the wound.  I told him he was going to be a bloody beauty, so use small stitches as I didn't want an obvious scar.  Later I recalled that my first horse (the one he reminded me of) had a virtual identical injury in the same position some thirty years earlier, which I had to pin using the same method until a vet stitched the wound.  If there is such a thing as reincarnation, this horse has come back to me.  Every stage of his breaking process was the same and their personalities are identical.  Strangely Harry has always been far happier in the yard where the old horse is buried.

Kelly was the first one to sit on him and she really liked him.  She rode him but had  a couple of falls and as she was in year 12, I sent him over to the Dinmore Meat works to do some work behind cattle just to keep him going .  He was there for three weeks and came back a little quieter.  Kelly rode him a few times at  Guy Creighton’s ‘Gatton Show-jumping’ on Wednesday nights for education and then I paid Jamie Raymont to take him around the show circuits for two months.  He seemed to really like him and said he had jumped all the local D grade courses unofficially with no problem, he needed more work than the average beginner Show-jumper so I bought him home.  Kelly took him to Pony Club and did some dressage and jumping on him. One particular unofficial competition at Park Ridge comes to mind, this was when Kelly rode him with great confidence and softness, the rides that day  made all the difference to his confidence and trust. From that day onward he was a changed horse and I knew then that he was ready to move on to better things and along came Rebel, thankfully.

Rebel was visiting Brisbane to conduct a school at Park Ridge for some of her regular students and I invited her to ride Harry. On saddling I advised that this horse could have been the best Buckjumper ever but now he was on the right track. Walking to the long yard Rebel said "You ride him first and I’ll get a look at him" and something she doesn’t know until now, I thought this lady is a horsewoman not a horse rider, we're on a winner.

It was never my intention to make as much money as possible, or to give him a great home elsewhere.  I simply wanted him to have the best possible chance at being a champion with a champion rider and things have worked out perfectly.  Ann Maree and I are both happy and proud to have Rebel ride Harry and hope that the partnership will bring us all a slice of the dream.

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