Honey & Michelle

I would like to introduce you to Michelle Shambler and her horse Honey.  Michelle as trainer and Honey as sprint horse had their first 400m race at the Mareeba races on the 3rd August 2013.  This race is just the 2nd sprint race to be held in Mareeba this year.  And by all accounts is proving very popular with spectators. 

 

We first set eyes on Honey (J Bee Swallows Gold Q-64988) when we went to visit John's (my husband) sister in Yeppoon, her good friend bred QHs, and wanted to us to have a look at some young horses she had for sale, not that we needed any prompting.

They where all beautiful, especially the palomino filly! Not for Sale we where told, but we had fallen in love with her, and talked the breeder into selling Honey too us. We got her as an unbroken rising 2 year old, our main interests at that time where horse sports and maybe a few bush races.  We broke her in and started to compete with her lightly, we ended up not racing her.  I retired from horse sports and decided to do a bit of Working Equitation, western pleasure, trail and Halter classes, which she places in consistently.

 

In Jan this year we heard that there was going to be a sprint race over 400 m.  We where keen to have a look as we had thought about racing her when we first got her. As soon as those barriers opened and the horses jumped I was hooked.  Such power over a short distance. 

We wanted to have a go with Honey but our main concern was, we still wanted to use her competitively for Working Equitation and didn't want a hot head on our hands. Chris Chalmers and Mark Baker (Hamdani Arabians) convinced us that if we continued to do what we normally do with Honey (Working Equitation )and incorporate a training program she would still be the Honey that we know.

So the journey begins, Honey at 5 yrs old had her first start on the 3rd of August and came 4th, she did well for her first go, the week before she placed with firsts seconds and thirds in her Working Equitation classes. Her Jockey Lisa Donovan is impressed with how she is learning this new sport.

We are looking forward to her next race with Lisa on the 25th of August at Tolga.

If we can do it, and have fun, and continue doing everything else with Honey so can others.

 

 

 

Thank you Michelle & Honey.  It will be great to see you at the Atherton races on the 25th August.  We will look forward to more photos and your future results.

 

If you would like to know more about the races in Atherton & Mareeba that are coming up please contact Chris Charmers.  His contact details can be found on previous posts.