Anything But Standard

On the 21st of December, we picked up Bluey Mahoney and Go Lush from the Camden Saleyards (original blog entry: A Lucky Xmas For Some) ... We thought it was about time we put out on update on them :o)

Bluey Mahoney was in the worst shape.... Skinny, alot of rain scald, bit and kicked to hell with marks off everywhere ... He has since been chilling out in our spelling paddock, doing naught-all but being a horse and eating ... While he still has a way to go, he is getting much better!!! ... Here's a little pictorial of his progress ...

And Go Lush?

This amazing mare has attended her first show, and was nothing short of a champion (co-incidently, coming away with Champ Led STB) ....

This mare will likely stay on at ABS, and become part of the Show Team, replacing our beautiful Hawk Bay (who really doesnt enjoy it, and will be foaling later in the season as it is, hehe) ... Lushy has beautiful fluid and expressive movement, and we're a little excited about the prospect of her saddle career ....

Lushy is shoulder branded, as well as neckbranded .... A passer-by at the show, only noticing her nearside shoulder brand said "Beautiful Thoroughbred" .... We'll take that as a compliment ;o) .... Shame they'd have run a mile if they saw her other brand ... lol ...

A bit of a diamond, we think ;o) ...

ABS isn't a rescue - we have always gone by the mantra Race Retrain Ride ...

I suppose I knew it was coming though, when I had to go to Camden Sales on the 21st of December to pick up Bluey Mahoney, a 100k winner with a best winning mile rate of 1.54, who was picked up by a dogger at Moss Vale sales on the 12th of November ... He was 'lucky' enough to be picked up by Les Evans - I say lucky, because Les's partner Dianne and a lovely lady named Ali, are rehoming quite a few horses that would otherwise end up 'you know where' .... Les took him to Camden for me after I purchased him, and I picked him up on the day (he wasn't run through) ...

But when in Rome, as they say, I stayed to watch to sales .... Towards the end, I ended up bidding for a black/brown STB mare ... The only ones bidding on her, were me and the dogger ... He could have pushed me higher I suppose, so I appreciate that he stopped bidding and let the hammer fall (previous mare went for more than her) ... She was branded on her shoulder, as well as her neck ... Turns out she was a winner too, in 2.03 and is quite nicely bred ...

While we have racehorses, we wouldn't send one of ours through the sales ... In all honesty, a rifle on the property would be a much kinder end ... (Not that we'd do that either, before anyone freaks out, haha) .... We don't normally buy from doggers, but I felt an affinity for this gelding (his dam was just gifted to us, and we stood his Dad privately last year) ... That left a spare spot in the float in sales day ... Was always gonna happen, wasn't it? ;o) ... With the sacked pacers that come in from trainers, it's not like we needed to add to the numbers here - but who can say no?!

Finding the right homes for all these horses can sometimes be hard!! We're just about to buy another of our rehomes back - and that's fine by us .... We'd rather they come back here, than end up somewhere like Camden passed around like meat .... Finding the right owners who will do the right thing, and send them back when circumstances change is just as rewarding ... While dealing with people is often troublesome, we've met some fantastic people and made some great friends along the way!! ... The bad times upset us, the good keep us going!! ...

We've never asked for help - we're 100% self funded .... I am kicking around the idea of expanding the work ABS does, but best laid plans are the ones thought out carefully .... It's not easy to balance fulltime work, and fulltime ABS, hahaha ...

But.. For now, enjoy this piccy of what I guess would be the first 'rescues' to come to ABS!

... Sometimes, boredom sets in and I start fiddling with pictures in Photoshop ... 

Today's entry: Trixie, our resident Jet Laag mare, posing like the true Diva she is!

Christmas is next month, can you believe it??!!

In conjuction with Stand Out - NSW Standardbred Social Network (find us all on Facebook Groups! Standies from ALL states welcome) a fantabulous BEACH RIDE at Nowra NSW is being organised for next month!!

Non-Standardbreds are more than welcome, however will be required to wear a "brand" for the day, in white zinc (nothing like a bit of STB Slip-Slop-Slap eh!!) ... You can make it hearts, stars, whatever - just gotta have a brand

Prizes for the best dressed horse and rider, in xmas theme ofcourse! ... Keep the 10th of December FREE! ... |

Being responsible pony owners, please pack some heavy duty garbage bags and a stable rake into those floats, so we can clean up as much of our "mess" as possible...

... Hope to see as many STB's there as possible ...

Any questions, ask on the Facebook page, or email admin@anythingbutstandard.com

October 2010, and the World Equestrian Games (WEG) - No STB's there right?! ... WRONG!!!

8 Standies, and their amazing owners / riders / drivers attended WEG to show everyone just what WE already know - The Standardbred CAN!!!

CHECK OUT THIS WEBPAGE for full details and pictures!

Whiz Bang (1995 Mare) and Sea The Gray (unraced) were representing Dressage

Veruca Salt (1994 Mare) was representing Western Pleasure

Dreamy Starlet (1991 Mare) in Eventing

Jambalayabar Man (2002 Gelding) in Show Jumping

Road Kar (1991 Gelding) showing his stuff in Hunter Under Saddle, and; 

Pro Gem (1996) and Draken (1992) gelding boys, showing off their Driving Skillz!!!


These Standardbred LEGENDS, are living proof that our fantastic breed to take it to others on the WORLD stage .... 

With hard word, dedication and training - there's nothing we can't achieve with this fantastic breed! ... Go forth, and spread the word! hehehehe ...

Ahhhhh daylight savings, how we love thee!!!

With these extra daylight hours of goodness, we are going to be accepting very limited numbers of outside Standies for training! ... All information is available BY VIEWING THIS LINK


In the last few weeks, we have rehomed 3 standies to wonderful homes, and will be picking up 2 new ones next weekend who very badly need new homes .... Never ends ;o) ...

Our beautiful girl Betsy (Dignity Miss) FINALLY arrived on the property ... She was bought as a broodmare, however after travelling 50kms to a friend's place in the Hunter, collapsed on arrival in extreme pain... She became a rehab case, with massage and movement therapy donated very very kindly by Misha Zemen of Equconnect  ... Our personal thanks to the many people who helped her these past months, and we are super pleased she has now arrived home on a permanent basis!!! Here she is: trotting out in her new home for the first time:

Our big grey fellow, Huey, has come back into work .... He's not very impressed, hehe, but he is looking and feeling fabulous.... Few shows in the cards with him, and we are also booked in to attend a 5 day clinic with Marji Armstrong of Classical Horsemanship International ... The first clinic I attended, was a very eye opening experience - and it's a path I'd like to continue travelling in my training...

... It's been a slow, freezing, and quite disgusting winter so far!!

We've well and truely broken the record for fatest selling horse: Within 30mins of advertising, the perfect home was found. Little Sonny (now known as Archer) will be heading off to his new home tomorrow, with the home we hand in mind for him all along ... Funny how things work sometimes! ... Unnamed and unraced - Sonny was sacked 3 weeks ago; Rising 3yo and measured at 14.1hh - this little tacker has the good life waiting!

Curly Wurly remains here (surprisingly) - and will probably be put in the spelling paddock soon to ride out the winter, then bring him back in for Summer and get him going to the 'basic education' stage. I'm sure he'll be very unhappy to hear he's heading out. haha.

When Curly goes out - Huey will come back in! He will most definitely be unimpressed - but we can't bear to part with him, and he's too good to be sitting in a paddock, so, he WILL be furthering his education, his ARC involvement, and competing...

I am dying to try out the new dressage saddle I bought, on the Huey-monster ... It is a 'soft tree' saddle, designed by Heather Moffett (http://www.enlightenedequitation.com/fhoenix.htm)  ... It's an amazing saddle to ride in, the only "fixed" tree part is the cantle, the seat and front arch are memory foam - which moulds to both the rider, and the horse ... I first discovered this saddle and rode in it, when attending the 5 day classical clinic with Marji Armstrong (http://www.classicalhorse.com/) .... I somehow managed to pick one up secondhand, that's barely been ridden in; Havana brown leather, smooth panels... Beautiful, beautiful saddle!! ...

Our 2 racemares are due early september (with another one due to foal down at Stud), so that's fast approaching! ... Time to repack the foaling kit with everything can could possibly think of that we'll need ... You never can be too prepared - one of our experienced mares resulted in a stillborn filly in an otherwise textbook birth last season... We were there for the whole thing: broke the sac as soon as the head was free, but after 60 seconds and still no breath, we started mouth-to-nose resussitation, and chest compressions .... There was a heartbeat, but try as we might, we just couldn't get the filly to breathe.... Anything can happen - so it helps to be as prepared as possible! ... Mother nature is a cruel thing sometimes.

But alas, to end on a happy note, here's Huey:

Wow, we really should post an update!

Winter is here, daylight savings is gone, and our fulltime jobs (the ones that pay for all the ponies) are ramping up ... As such, things at ABS have scaled back quite considerably for the time being ...

Some of the boys are all out spelling in our lease paddock, having the time of their lives with grass up to their eyeballs (not so much grass at our place - and parts of it being sectioned off for improvement) ....

Curly is one of those boys out spelling, and will be heading back in in the next couple of weeks to resume his training and get ready to start the search for his new home ...

Huey will be heading up north of the state, where he'll be on lease for 12 months with a friend.

Huelio had come back home, and since gone out again on lease with another friend, and we are told he's suckered everybody into loving him - he's got the whole family wrapped neatly around his hooves, and can now add hot chocolate to his list of favourite things to try and steal if the cup is left unguarded (apparently doesn't matter if you're holding it, either!) ....

On the racing side of things - our NZ filly has commenced being broken in, and will have a 4-6 week breaking/prep period before going out for another lengthy spell .... After she's done, our rising 3yo pinto colt Ranger will go back in for his 3rd race prep ... He was supposed to go back in earlier, but we held him over to mature a little longer....Then he injured his heel by jumping on it (repeatedly, the twit, despite being booted) - and that prolonged his spell even further ... I'm sure he's not too fussed about that ;o) .... He reached his first green trial in the last prep and rolled along great - so here's hoping he's got the need for speed ... We will eventually put him to saddle and attend breed / pinto classes - but for now, we'd like to hope he'll have a career as a racehorse .... Cross those fingers and hooves for us!

And that's about it on the news front for now :o)

We've had a few emails now, updating us with various past ponies so we thoughts we'd make a mini update on it!! ... Updates are always great - we love hearing what everyone is getting up to out there ...

Jimmy continues to go ahead in leaps and bounds with his new Mum - He bounced back from his illness in style, and is now under saddle again and going fab!!. His Mum reports she's just thrilled with him, and loving his forward strides and willing attitude ....

Tonto is going great in Narrabri, though he owner is less than pleased with that fact she needs a constant supply of licorice to feed his addiction, haha .... With the heat dying down soon, we expect many more updates on his saddle progress ...

Paulie is still just down the road! Had a setback in saddle work when he developed tender tootsies (spring grass, lots of wet ground) but he's still an intergral member of the family, and is as smoochy as ever ... We hope to see more Medieval Festival piccies to come!

Trina and Cam are both still in Braidwood, both very much loved! ... From what we hear, these 2 have a home for life and their Mum wouldn't have it any other way!

Andy is another boy who's scored himself a forever home, and is currently babysitting a yearling colt imported from NZ. Though he DID take a break from his uncle duties to attend a local show, where he picked himself up a 3rd Ribbon .... His dad was very, very pleased!! (And we can't wait to tell his old owner the news! He'll be just as thrilled - Andy was a real favourite) ...

Joni is still in Sydney, also on babysitting duties; a very pretty 2yo 2nd cross Andalusian filly keeps him on his toes, and he's got 4 human slaves who adore him; he is very much in horsey heaven ... (Can we move in too?! haha) ...


... and as for us - well, we have a Show coming up that we're getting a few ready for .... Red will be having a go at Led Gelding and Ridden classes, and Trixie will be making an appearance in the Led Mares class .... We may be taking Ranger (our spunky black/white tobiano pinto) for the Led Colt/Stallion class - but he's a maybe at this point ... The little darling keeps jumping on his nearside heel and opening it up - despite wrapping and putting a bellboot on, he continues to aggrevate it (all that 2yo energy spent covorting around the paddocks at a million miles an hour, you see!!) ... So we'll see what happens with that little devil!

So .... What's new with you and your Standy?