The Current Team

Ringwould Jaguar

A Registered Australian Stock Horse  i was asked to ride him by his owners Jim and Gussy Saunders of Jerramungup. While training him to round up cattle on the Johnson farm I found that ‘Jag’ had a talent for jumping fallen logs and that he was slightly afraid of cows!

I worked Jaguar on the farm, at the same time as developing his skills for dressage, cross-country and show jumping. After realising, that this bold, brown, beautiful horse had hidden talents the Saunders allowed me to train him for eventing.

Since that decision we have been a winning combination on the Australian and International eventing circuit.

After the World Cup in France it was rumoured we were offered a six figure sum for Ringwould Jaguar, which we never heard of. The Saunders and I both feel that Ringwould Jaguar is a great ambassador for the Australian Stock Horse.

My goal was then to take him to the Olympics, and we achieved that goal last year when we went to the Beijing Olympics in 2008 to represent Australia and came home with a silver medal..

Jaguar was retired after the 2010 WEG where he injured a fetlock on a piece of brush. He did not retire because of the injury but because at 19 what did he have left to prove?

He is now having fun taking the micky out of people as a school master and NO we still cant catch him. However he still deserves his spot here at the head of the team.

Parkiarrup Illicit Liasion

Ben (Parkiarrup Illicit Liasion) is a 2000 born TB gelding by Made of Gold a USA stallion. He is a character with a colourful history. He was bred in SA and sold to WA as a yearling broken in by Bruce Watkins at Capel who suggested the horse should not be raced until he had grown up. The advice was of course ignored.

He was a brat as a racehorse, always in trouble. They seem to have hated him, so he was about to go to the knacker when the trainer who was in at Murdoch vet clinic at the time mentioned it to one of the vet nurses with the comment that she could have the horse provided she got there before the knacker. Murdoch let her go and get him and so he was saved.

He was sold on to a 13 year old girl who did an amazing job. No 13 year old could hope to ride him as he is just so quick mentally and physically. She did a year of Prelim on him and he earnt the reputation of being a lunatic.

At this stage George Oakland Boyd, who is never to be seen on a horse that is not a very good type rang me and said I should buy it. I did not need a horse but trust George so went to look. The only problem was I had badly sprained my ankle so was on crutches. Hence I made Tyana Lawless come and ride him. Tyana thought that he could learn to do dressage. Now I will trust the odd person's view of a horse on the flat, but I only trust my own feel re the jump. So I got on with serious help and jumped him with one useful leg.

Because I did not want a horse after a couple at Prelim height we put it up to about 1.25m and wide. The first time he hit the front rail. The second time he hit the back rail. The 3rd time he gave it so much room I very nearly fell off! So he passed Michael Procter's stringent vet test and came home as a horse to be sold on.

There was many an occasion in the next 4 months when I thought I had gone mad. However, he could really jump, so I took him to Moora and ran him in the 1*. He was a little green XC but awesome. He won I think his next two 1* starts so we put him 2*. He won six out of six 2* starts at which stage Nikki and Olga who had been looking at buying me a horse to ride for them bought him.

This was perfect as by this stage I loved him to bits.So now my adopted Grandma and big sister own him and I still get to enjoy him.

In 2008 I ran him 3* and he actually qualified for the Beijing Olympics which is pretty clever as a 7 year old. At that stage I was off to the Olympics so sent him home to Brookleigh where Tyana Lawless took him on to help develop and strengthen his dressage.

He is now short listed for the World Equestrian games in 2010 and should be a contender for  London 2012.

Ben is a loveable, irritating, highly intelligent brat .

He is now owned by Nikki Brooks because unfortunately Olga is not longer with us. 

Belfast Mojito