Tinney Eventing has enjoyed successful partnerships with many owners over the years and continue to do so
We have been following the enjoyment of being a new eventing owner with Corinne and Darren Huskinson through Corinne’s articles on their horse War Hawk, ridden by Stuart Tinney. It set us thinking that maybe we should regularly feature eventing horse owners, which we plan to do in the near future. After all, many eventing riders rely on the goodwill and support of owners to keep their horses competing, especially those competing at high level who may be one day representing Australia.
After many years of hard work, it is tempting for riders and owners to sell top class horses; they are worth a lot of money and all parties deserve to enjoy the fruits of their years of hard work, investment and patience. The only sad thing is that often these horses are sold overseas and therefore the pool of top horses diminishes for our riders.
Some owners however are ‘serial’ owners and often the money they make from selling a top horse goes towards buying young horses for their riders, which means that everyone benefits. Many owners have supported Australian riders for years – both here in Australia and overseas and we hope to bring you some of their stories and shed some light on these often ‘unsung heroes’
There are also some moves by Equestrian Australia to make their programmes more inclusive for owners of top level horses
“As a part of the Equestrian Australia High Performance Squad initiatives, owners now receive team packs when their horse is listed on a national squad” explains Lauren Ryan, Commercial Manager at Equestrian Australia
“Owners of horses which are listed on a national eventing squad have been extended VIP hospitality at events such as Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Badminton when their horses are competing at these events.
At the recent Sydney International Horse Trials, each of the horse owners of the six member Trans-Tasman team also received team merchandise and hospitality. National eventing squad horse owners also received team gear when the squad was announced in early 2013.
Following on from the London Olympic review EA is looking to expand its owner program to include an owner liaison officer which will work across all Olympic and Paralympic disciplines and will offer owners increased communication and integration into the squad program”
Julia McLean, owner of Algebra, enjoys the hospitality at Sydney 3 Day Event provided by EA
Julia McLean, owner of Natalie Blundell’s Algebra, one of the Australian Trans Tasman team horses at the Sydney International 3 Day Event, was at the event to watch Nat and Algebra compete.
“It’s really nice to be now recognised by EA as the owner of a top level horse” she said
Although Julia was busy on the weekend on her trade stand for WOW saddles, and therefore wearing her familiar WOW colours, her husband John Glenn was happily wearing his team shirt
The happy owners of Pluto Mio, John and Jane Pittard along with Karen Tinney savour the moment at Sydney
The winning horse at Sydney was another great grey, Pluto Mio, owned by John and Jane Pittard and ridden by Stuart Tinney. Both John and Jane were wearing their team gear as they celebrated the win!
John Pittard is not unused to big wins, as the owner of some very good racehorses he is used to large prize money at big races but he still says there’s no thrill like winning one of the big eventing competitions. He loves computing the penalty points (he refers to the scoreboard as the ‘Wailing Wall’) and the thrill of the last day show jumping where everything can change in an instant.
We’re sure that every eventing horse owner will have a different story and there will be many different backgrounds but they all share one love – their eventing horses. We’re looking forward to bringing you the stories behind these vital owners and their horses
It's a long journey for riders and owners to wear the green and gold
