Lune De La Terre | Lucky Lenny Loving Life

Lune De La Terre is a Victorian bred gelding by Puissance De Lune. Bred at Gilgai Farm, the very same stud that bred Black Caviar, Lune De La Terre was snapped up quickly at the two-year old Sydney sales and sold to Western Australia. Trained by Rebecca Shanks, ‘Lenny’ raced for six starts before retiring and going out to spell.

Sarah Micallef was contacted by a friend during this period who had Lenny spelling on their property. She asked whether Sarah was interested in a summer project, to which Sarah politely declined.

Not long after, Sarah popped in on her way to compete at Swan River Horse Trials with another horse and was greeted by a lanky, narrow thoroughbred with an incredible trot.

“We trotted him up and I was like wow!”

A week later, Lenny and Sarah became a team.

After a week at home, Lenny’s affectionate and loving personality really shone through. Sarah’s partner fell in love with Lenny and insisted he stayed; Lenny was no longer just a summer project.

The retraining process with slow, with Lenny proving to be a sensitive type with a big reaction to the world around him.

“Everything had to be broken down and simplified. We would try to walk over a pole and I couldn’t even get close to it.”

At six, Lenny was tall and lanky and didn’t really know where his legs were. With persistence from Sarah, she eventually got him going nice enough that they were willing to give things a go. Despite the struggles to overcome his anxious nature, Sarah persisted knowing that there was a star hidden inside of Lenny waiting to be unlocked.

After gaining Lenny’s trust, Sarah entered him into his first ever EA event: Wooroloo CCN. To Sarah’s surprise and delight, Lenny blew everyone away to win his class from start to finish.

The next year was all about learning, with Sarah learning how to deal with Lenny’s reactions and Lenny learning how to become an eventer. Thanks to assistance from coaches, clinics and a great support team, Sarah has discovered how to get the best from Lenny and describes him as, “phenomenal to ride”.

Now, eventing one star and jumping 1.10m classes, Lenny and Sarah have developed a solid partnership.

“He trusts me now and we are getting some good results.”

“He is such a sweet horse and is a pleasure to work with.”

“We have some goals to kick, and I would love to get him over East one day to compete. I just have to be patient and keep going with the foundations.”

Sarah plans to compete Lenny at this year’s Equestrian in the Park competition, which we look forward to watching and following along! Lenny’s story is one of understanding and persistence, and we are thrilled that Sarah and Lenny have become a team.