b4breeding

Complete change of tack from my recent blogs – here’s a blog about my mare Have No Secrets.

Many of you willhave discovered one of my early pageswhere I wrote about My Learning Curve when I first started breeding standardbreds.

The mare I wrote about was Have No Secrets, by Camtastic out of the Vance Hanover mare Mafia Miss, who herself was a daughter of Joyable.  This is the family of Robert Reid’s good mare Plead, and the best branch of the family has been the Pat Hanover/Miss Clevedon line.  Joyable was a very nice racehorse, earning over $220,000 racing in Australia; her progeny included the speedy youngster Gran Montana, but not much else. Mafia Miss produced a durable pacer in Seven Hills who raced in Australia for many wins, and in fact most of her progeny other than Have No Secrets ended up in Australia (the Kellys in NSW) but their breeding efforts have been very disappointing. Nothing much has really fired at all, apart from Miss Adriana and Miss Livia from Have No Secrets’ half sister Midnight Madam (by What’s Next).

I fell in love with Secrets at the yearling sales and when she put her head on my chest in her box at Karaka I told her “I’m taking you home.” After realising early on the “Secrets” was not interested in being a racehorse, I bred three foals from her – and went up that steep learning curve which My Learning Curve relates.

Iain and Secrets hacking on Iain’s property.

She is now 14 years old. We’ve looked after her well and she’s been an asset, never a burden.  Kym broke her in to saddle early on, and she has been ridden occasionally, including a memorable afternoon when she was 3yo and I was perched in the saddle. Me riding is not a pretty sight, but Secrets was patient with me, even ensuring I stayed on board when we slipped into a ditch rather than giving that cunning little tilt-and-off that horses will try when they know you are a nervous rider.

She’s always showed a character that was gentle, kind and yet had a distinctive personality and an interest in whatever was going on.

For the usual reasons – lack of paddocks, tight finances  – it was time to move her on to a place where she could also be more active, have more company.

It was with great pleasure that I found Iain, who is an experienced rider and has a property near Hamilton he wanted to explore on horseback. After a few weekends of getting to know each other, he and Secrets have paired up wonderfully well. Iain’s kept me posted about progress, hence this lovely photo. “She is so inquisitive as she explores new territory – what is around the next bend. Definitely not a plodder, a lady with character and attitude,” he writes.

Secrets has found an excellent home and is loving her new life as a hack.

It’s never easy finding homes for ex-racehorses, and I know there are calls that have to be made from time to time. There are people and groups who can help if you want to try harder to give your horse a life after racing – and certainly breaking a horse to saddle (if they have a good temperament) early in their life can be a life-saver later on – as well as an option for training regimes at certain times.

In this case, credit to Kym for ensuring Secrets was ride-able.

And credit to Secrets for being so sweet and such a character that finding a good home was the only option.