A Little Wet in Wandi | Educating Retired Racehorses

Our OTTWA Encouragement Clinic at Magenup Equestrian Centre in June was hit by the winter weather, leaving the arena a little wetter than anticipated. This provided a great learning opportunity for the horses in attendance, and we might have spotted some future eventers in the making!

Luckily, the arena drained eventually to allow the riders a reprieve from the wet. The sun even came out briefly, allowing photographer, Jessie Lloyd from Eric Lloyd Photography to snap some lovely warm shots of horses during their lessons.

It was wonderful to see previous clinic attendees such as FlightofAttack NZ, Eugenio and Pasaran entered into lessons, along with several new faces such as Hinchinmose and That’s Funny Az!

Of the horses who attended, That’s Funny Az was the most successful racehorse, with 35 starts and eight wins to win over $460k. Azza retired from racing in 2023 with his trainer, Jeremy Easthope, and has made the transition into life off the track with Sienna Newport.

Standardbred gelding, Whozidewasthis NZ participated in jumping with Dawn Foster after a successful racing career of 116 starts for 29 wins! Now transitioned into life of the track, Eddie jumped his socks off to show everyone just how super a Standardbred can be.

Fellow Standardbred, Strike A Life NZ also surprised everyone with his super attitude and pint-sized stature. Not letting size stop him, Strike A Life raced in 164 starts before retiring from racing in 2014. At 22, ‘Tom’ is a beloved riding partner for Bethany Peacock.

Our coaches, Rebecca Thomas and Don Hawkins, braved the weather to help riders and horses with their guidance. We thank everyone who attended this clinic for their participation and hope this experience was a positive one to help guide your retired racehorses further into their off-the-track careers.

These Encouragement Clinics are designed to provide a welcoming environment for horses who may be freshly retired or green to life away from racing. We look forward to hosting more later in the season.