Shae's FAQs
Why are you selling her?
I have a 7 month old baby and will be going back to full time work after my maternity leave finishes in a few months. It's not going to be possible to keep 5 horses in work, plus work full-time, and be the mum I want to be for my darling Leo. Sadly for us, but luckily for someone else, Shae is the straightforward, saleable horse who will suit anyone, so she's the horse who has to go.
Why didn't you sell her when advertised in September last year?
My plan had been to film both her and the gelding I was selling, take them to a comp and film the whole thing to show how sensible they were (he was in the same boat of not having competed in ages) and then advertise, but between the morning sickness and other family health stuff, I never got there. In the end, I figured I just had to get her on the market, but I was actually 35 weeks pregnant by the time I finally advertised. Because I'm really picky about the home she goes to, I'd just left it all a bit too late and I decided to wait until I was back riding so I could find her the perfect home.
How did you decide on her price, when there are cheaper horses on the market that are at the same level?
We have $65k on her, but may be negotiable to the perfect home. Her price is reflective of her incredibly rare temperament, which is priceless, and she has the talent and trainability that I know someone could put a few months into her and she'd be small tour in the blink of an eye. At that point, she'd be a $100-120k horse, again because she's just so delightful to have around and do stuff with. So the old diamond in the rough analogy, and definitely my loss is someone else's gain. Also, although we haven't explored it, she's got fantastic bloodlines, so her price also reflects the opportunity of breeding with her.
What type of rider would Shae suit?
She's one of the very very very few horses over my 25 year riding career, that I'd be confident selling to a junior/AOR/para rider. She's the horse I put my Dad, and my beginner husband, on to learn. I trust her so much I was still riding her at 36 weeks pregnant.
Is she mare-like to ride/handle?
To ride, the only mare-like tendencies Shae displays are the good ones - she's got the mare trainability and work ethic, but without the grumpiness! She is so eager to please! On the ground, like all our horses, Shae has her own individual paddock. If you let her touch noses with another horse, she will squeal and so we haven't tested any further than that!!
Has she had any vet/medical/soundness issues?
She had the altercation with the fence about 5 or 6 years ago, was treated at Charles Sturt Uni at Wagga and fully recovered (she was insured for loss of use at the time so if there had been even the slightest indication she wouldn't continue her dressage career, we would have put in a claim and bred from her).
She passed annual flexion and hoof tests every year, for all the years we had ours insured for loss of use (until we dropped that coverage for all of them several years ago). I think, touch wood, in the whole time we've had her, there was one really mild colic episode about 6 years ago after a run of 40 degree weather, treated with a dose of flunixil and full recovery (she never even rolled and was back to grazing 15 minutes after the injection). And I think she's had one hoof abscess!
How often does Shae need to be ridden?
She's the sort of horse who is fine with not being in work and then being hopped on, she was actually the first horse I got on after I'd had 3 months in a neck brace. Out of habit, I do tend to lunge ones that have had time off before riding.
Does Shae require any joint supplements or medications to stay sound?
Shae is not on any joint supplements or medications, so you've got all those escalation points if ever required in the future. She has never had a joint injection or vet check. Luke Wells-Smith from Motion Equine works out of our place each month, so I get him to look at all my horses from a shoeing and management perspective. Luke's helped us adjust the length of her hind feet, which were being left too long, but she's not on any special shoeing and every time Luke sees her he comments on what a lovely horse she is.
Does she require a lot of feed and is she on any supplements?
No!! Shae is a very easy doer. Most of the year she just gets 1/4 scoop of a basic Allrounder pellet and doesn't require hay as we have plenty of grass. At the moment, because our paddocks are dirt, she is also getting teff hay. She's currently slimmer than normal because of the change in weather (she's already got her winter coat after some negative temperatures in Canberra), but when there's lots of grass around, if she's overweight we give her Khonkes Trim. Like all our horses, she gets the daily recommended dose of Fabby.
Has she competed recently?
I took her to an ACT Dressage Association comp in February. We just did the prelims as she'd only been back in work about 2 weeks after my 3 month baby break, so it wasn't fair to do higher levels, but I wanted to get recent comp results under her belt so I could prove just how lovely she is to take out (and you can see from the video that she can do the higher movements).
She was an absolute delight and won both tests with 70.714% and 73.6%. I loaded her on the float on my own. She hadn't been off the property in 5 years (through no fault of her own). A 20 min warm up for the first test because I was running super late. Only did 10 min for the second test as it was really hot and humid. She was totally on the aids, had plenty of energy, but was relaxed. Truly delightful. Tied up to the float, warmed up with lots of other horses etc. I've got it all on video too (see below). Honestly the coolest horse I've ever ridden and felt 2000% safe. Mum asked "are you sure you don't want to keep her?!" because she noted what a nice change it was from me normally ricocheting around fearing for my safety 😅
How did she behave at the competition?
As above, she was an angel. There was an enormous puddle in the competition arena which she happily went through, I even accidentally dropped my reins at one point in the test and she didn't miss a beat.
What is her competition name and results?
Her competition name is High Calibre Magic, but until February this year, she hadn't competed in ages because she did the paddock injury in 2019, then we had covid, then I didn't have a groom for ages after covid so just had to toss her in the paddock (6 horses + full-time work etc etc). Her previous results aren't anything special either, as she always suffered from being a bit too easy and me having to focus on my feral ones 😅 she was always earmarked as being a future FEI horse, rather than a "young horse" type, so I was just taking her out a few times when she was younger so it wasn't a shock when I took her out in the higher grades. Unfortunately, I then kept taking on client horses, while my own sat in the paddock getting older and not progressing through as fast as they otherwise would have. In the photo gallery I've posted some screenshots of Facebook posts from the previous times she competed, which provide some contemporaneous records of how delightfully she behaved, including at SIEC!!
NB the 2019 result I don't think is even the right horse because she wouldn't have scored only that at prelim. Also, back then I was probably a bit unrealistic in my expectations - as you can see we went from Prelim to Elem in a month 🙈
Can you provide some video?
The video was taken last year before I got a big belly. She hadn't been in a lot of work as I had terrible morning sickness and I hadn't seen any footage/had any eyes on the ground for years with her so I promise she can actually bend in the half passes etc etc! https://youtu.be/NvEDQuO-SUU?si=2uw5UUFs3ITYmXRr
And here is the competition video. Unfortunately mum missed the first part of the second test but I've included the test papers in the gallery so you can see she was super and there's nothing to hide!! The tests are at the 5 min 20 sec and 13 min 25 sec marks: https://youtu.be/PFLbw0M7GaE?si=uYo2b09TwI-2EdAS
Lastly, here is some video showing just how cool she is, with cows no less!! https://youtube.com/shorts/fmiqUWM-F0k?feature=shared
I have a 7 month old baby and will be going back to full time work after my maternity leave finishes in a few months. It's not going to be possible to keep 5 horses in work, plus work full-time, and be the mum I want to be for my darling Leo. Sadly for us, but luckily for someone else, Shae is the straightforward, saleable horse who will suit anyone, so she's the horse who has to go.
Why didn't you sell her when advertised in September last year?
My plan had been to film both her and the gelding I was selling, take them to a comp and film the whole thing to show how sensible they were (he was in the same boat of not having competed in ages) and then advertise, but between the morning sickness and other family health stuff, I never got there. In the end, I figured I just had to get her on the market, but I was actually 35 weeks pregnant by the time I finally advertised. Because I'm really picky about the home she goes to, I'd just left it all a bit too late and I decided to wait until I was back riding so I could find her the perfect home.
How did you decide on her price, when there are cheaper horses on the market that are at the same level?
We have $65k on her, but may be negotiable to the perfect home. Her price is reflective of her incredibly rare temperament, which is priceless, and she has the talent and trainability that I know someone could put a few months into her and she'd be small tour in the blink of an eye. At that point, she'd be a $100-120k horse, again because she's just so delightful to have around and do stuff with. So the old diamond in the rough analogy, and definitely my loss is someone else's gain. Also, although we haven't explored it, she's got fantastic bloodlines, so her price also reflects the opportunity of breeding with her.
What type of rider would Shae suit?
She's one of the very very very few horses over my 25 year riding career, that I'd be confident selling to a junior/AOR/para rider. She's the horse I put my Dad, and my beginner husband, on to learn. I trust her so much I was still riding her at 36 weeks pregnant.
Is she mare-like to ride/handle?
To ride, the only mare-like tendencies Shae displays are the good ones - she's got the mare trainability and work ethic, but without the grumpiness! She is so eager to please! On the ground, like all our horses, Shae has her own individual paddock. If you let her touch noses with another horse, she will squeal and so we haven't tested any further than that!!
Has she had any vet/medical/soundness issues?
She had the altercation with the fence about 5 or 6 years ago, was treated at Charles Sturt Uni at Wagga and fully recovered (she was insured for loss of use at the time so if there had been even the slightest indication she wouldn't continue her dressage career, we would have put in a claim and bred from her).
She passed annual flexion and hoof tests every year, for all the years we had ours insured for loss of use (until we dropped that coverage for all of them several years ago). I think, touch wood, in the whole time we've had her, there was one really mild colic episode about 6 years ago after a run of 40 degree weather, treated with a dose of flunixil and full recovery (she never even rolled and was back to grazing 15 minutes after the injection). And I think she's had one hoof abscess!
How often does Shae need to be ridden?
She's the sort of horse who is fine with not being in work and then being hopped on, she was actually the first horse I got on after I'd had 3 months in a neck brace. Out of habit, I do tend to lunge ones that have had time off before riding.
Does Shae require any joint supplements or medications to stay sound?
Shae is not on any joint supplements or medications, so you've got all those escalation points if ever required in the future. She has never had a joint injection or vet check. Luke Wells-Smith from Motion Equine works out of our place each month, so I get him to look at all my horses from a shoeing and management perspective. Luke's helped us adjust the length of her hind feet, which were being left too long, but she's not on any special shoeing and every time Luke sees her he comments on what a lovely horse she is.
Does she require a lot of feed and is she on any supplements?
No!! Shae is a very easy doer. Most of the year she just gets 1/4 scoop of a basic Allrounder pellet and doesn't require hay as we have plenty of grass. At the moment, because our paddocks are dirt, she is also getting teff hay. She's currently slimmer than normal because of the change in weather (she's already got her winter coat after some negative temperatures in Canberra), but when there's lots of grass around, if she's overweight we give her Khonkes Trim. Like all our horses, she gets the daily recommended dose of Fabby.
Has she competed recently?
I took her to an ACT Dressage Association comp in February. We just did the prelims as she'd only been back in work about 2 weeks after my 3 month baby break, so it wasn't fair to do higher levels, but I wanted to get recent comp results under her belt so I could prove just how lovely she is to take out (and you can see from the video that she can do the higher movements).
She was an absolute delight and won both tests with 70.714% and 73.6%. I loaded her on the float on my own. She hadn't been off the property in 5 years (through no fault of her own). A 20 min warm up for the first test because I was running super late. Only did 10 min for the second test as it was really hot and humid. She was totally on the aids, had plenty of energy, but was relaxed. Truly delightful. Tied up to the float, warmed up with lots of other horses etc. I've got it all on video too (see below). Honestly the coolest horse I've ever ridden and felt 2000% safe. Mum asked "are you sure you don't want to keep her?!" because she noted what a nice change it was from me normally ricocheting around fearing for my safety 😅
How did she behave at the competition?
As above, she was an angel. There was an enormous puddle in the competition arena which she happily went through, I even accidentally dropped my reins at one point in the test and she didn't miss a beat.
What is her competition name and results?
Her competition name is High Calibre Magic, but until February this year, she hadn't competed in ages because she did the paddock injury in 2019, then we had covid, then I didn't have a groom for ages after covid so just had to toss her in the paddock (6 horses + full-time work etc etc). Her previous results aren't anything special either, as she always suffered from being a bit too easy and me having to focus on my feral ones 😅 she was always earmarked as being a future FEI horse, rather than a "young horse" type, so I was just taking her out a few times when she was younger so it wasn't a shock when I took her out in the higher grades. Unfortunately, I then kept taking on client horses, while my own sat in the paddock getting older and not progressing through as fast as they otherwise would have. In the photo gallery I've posted some screenshots of Facebook posts from the previous times she competed, which provide some contemporaneous records of how delightfully she behaved, including at SIEC!!
NB the 2019 result I don't think is even the right horse because she wouldn't have scored only that at prelim. Also, back then I was probably a bit unrealistic in my expectations - as you can see we went from Prelim to Elem in a month 🙈
Can you provide some video?
The video was taken last year before I got a big belly. She hadn't been in a lot of work as I had terrible morning sickness and I hadn't seen any footage/had any eyes on the ground for years with her so I promise she can actually bend in the half passes etc etc! https://youtu.be/NvEDQuO-SUU?si=2uw5UUFs3ITYmXRr
And here is the competition video. Unfortunately mum missed the first part of the second test but I've included the test papers in the gallery so you can see she was super and there's nothing to hide!! The tests are at the 5 min 20 sec and 13 min 25 sec marks: https://youtu.be/PFLbw0M7GaE?si=uYo2b09TwI-2EdAS
Lastly, here is some video showing just how cool she is, with cows no less!! https://youtube.com/shorts/fmiqUWM-F0k?feature=shared
