Amongst the Clouds | A Match Made in Heaven

Amongst the Clouds is a 2017 foal by Follow the Stars, bred at Allwood Stud Farm in Bullsbrook. Following just one trial, the decision was made not to pursue a racing career and Amongst the Clouds went on to join the OTTWA Retraining Program.

Amongst the Clouds started his ridden career firstly with OTTWA Official retrainer Bayley Thomas, before moving to the team at Oakford Equestrian. Bayley commented that Amongst the Clouds (known as Pluto) had a fantastic canter with loads of potential as a riding horse. Pluto eventually found his way into the life of Linda Smith, who purchased the gelding in October 2022.

Linda was on the hunt for her next all-rounder — a horse that she could enjoy out on trail rides, take to adult riders, and compete in low level endurance rides. Linda had previously tried several other horses and breeds, but none had stood out as a suitable match. By chance, Linda was browsing Facebook when she came across an ad for Pluto. He sounded like everything she was looking for and immediately caught her attention. Having previously owned a standardbred, Linda was fond of the breed, and after giving Pluto a test ride, she knew he was the one!

Despite still being young and green, Pluto proves to be very sensible and mature with his work ethic. Linda looks forward to developing his confidence further over time as their partnership develops.

“Training Pluto has been so rewarding because he honestly just tries so hard to please!” Linda said.

After just five weeks into their partnership, Linda and Pluto set off for the Murray Adult Riders Matchy Matchy Encouragement Hack Show; their first show together. The event was a success, with the pair taking home fourth place in the Best Ridden Off the Track Gelding Walk/Trot class. Linda was delighted that Pluto took everything in his stride despite having minimal exposure to new environments.

“I was pretty pleased with him as we were competing against both thoroughbreds and standardbreds.” says Linda regarding their result.

Pluto is enjoying his new life as a ridden horse. He enjoys exploring the trails as well as attending adult riders. Pluto has also formed a great friendship with the stable cat, and they enjoy a good smooch together now that Pluto isn’t so afraid of it.

Linda and Pluto aim to complete some endurance rides next year.

We are excited to watch Amongst the Clouds progress in 2023 and wish them all the best for their bright future!

If you are interested in finding your own Off the Track match as Linda has, please submit an expression of interest through the OTTWA website.