Checking In with Batavia Bonfire

Having never raced, Batavia Bonfire entered into the OTTWA Retraining program in February of 2023. This lovely bay Standardbred gelding settled into life at the OTTWA Estate quickly and underwent his full work-up in preparation for starting his ridden career.

In June of 2023, ‘Teddy’ began his retraining at Oakford Equestrian with the first comments from his retrainers’ being that Teddy is ‘sensitive but handling everything well’. He undertook groundwork and long-reining in his first week and proved to have a gentle, kind and sensitive nature.

The following week, Teddy’s retrainers commented that he was coming along in leaps and bounds! He was beginning to settle into the busy atmosphere at Oakford and relaxing into more ridden work.

In week three, Teddy’s retrainers wrote in their notes that ‘Teddy is the best horse out’, claiming that nothing phases him and that he is willing to please. Teddy began to walk, trot and canter in week three and proved to have great movement.

In week four, Teddy’s retrainers were thrilled with his work, commenting that ‘he gets better every week’’. By this point, Teddy could hold his canter and was managing to canter circles. He was noted to be a very quick learner.

By week five, Teddy’s retrainers had fallen in love with him, highlighting him as ‘a really lovely horse with a heart of gold’. He continued to progress through his work and was beginning to explore more open spaces and pop over small jumps.

By week six, Teddy was viewed by two prospective buyers. His retrainers crowned him the ‘best Standardbred they’d had’ (at the time) and things were looking very positive for Teddy’s off the track career.

By the end of July, Teddy was rehomed to Tracey Barnett, who was looking for a horse to add to her herd and regain confidence with. Teddy proved to be just the horse for Tracey, who has continued to work hard to develop his ridden and groundwork. As a young horse, there’s never been any rush with Teddy, with every ride furthering his education and potential.

Tracey and Teddy are quite the pair, and have formed a strong partnership in their now two years together. Exposing Teddy to all sorts of experiences, this young Standardbred has blossomed in his new off-the-track home. Teddy and Tracey competed at their first competition in late 2024, winning both their dressage tests and securing Champion Standardbred at Bunbury Horse and Pony Clubs Dressage Day. Just the start of Teddy and Tracey’s successes together.

Adding jumping to his resume, Teddy and Tracey recently completed their first eventing competition at Dardanup ODE, placing sixth and securing themselves the Runner-Up Best Performed OTT Horse title. Congratulations to Tracey on her hard work and it is so wonderful to see Teddy thriving in his new home.