Latest News

Latest News

Team How High

The boys do well at Goulburn.

Goulburn hosted the NSW State Championships and we were there with a truck load of horses making up our part of the 300 plus entries.

With 5 youngsters entered in the Prelim classes we were hoping for some good results - and we got them, especially from the two stallions Ringo (aka Highland Charmed), and McGuire (aka Highland McGuire). Both the boys were leading their respective classes after the dressage which was fantastic. Both boys are still pretty green - its only Ringo’s 3rd competition, and McGuire was only broken in at the start of the year, so we couldn’t have been happier with them. Both went clear and under time cross country and went into the showjumping holding on to first place. McGuire was first to go and jumped great but gave the slightest rub to one fence - pole down! But he hung on to second place overall so it was still a super effort.

Ringo was second of the boys to go and had a lovely clear round earning him a very swanky rug!!

The other horses all went great. On the back of very strong performances Flash is set to do his first 1star at Wagga and all being well Tommy (Highland Inspiration) will make his return to the 3star class.

Canberra Horse Trials

James, Phil and I went off to Canberra Horse Trials as our first event for 12 months! Emilie was back in Denmark so missed the first one back. We took 5 horses and considering they have not been out for so long they went pretty well. James ended up placing on both his mares, I (Bec) was happy with my two but went slow X/C so incurred time penalties, Phil took Ringo who was still recovering from a bruise so he just went very steadily, but was extremely well behaved.

Jump Club

The following week Emilie was back from Denmark and we were straight off to jump club with 7 horses!! We had a great day and it is just great to be back out again.

Sydney Horse Trials

The weekend after jump club we were off to Sydney with 6 horses. I had Tommy in the 2** (after not competing at 2** or 3*** for 4 years this was abit scary!) I also had Flash in the prelim, I was pretty happy with them both, they were both abit tense in the dressage, were super X/C and jumping - just good to blow the cobwebs out.

James had Rosie in the 1* and Sexy in the Intro and was really happy with how his two little mares coped, again they have not had a run in a long time.

Phil rode McGuire our ISH Stallion that has not been broken-in very long and he was amazing, very well behaved and relaxed - placed after dressage and clear and clear so came home with a 3rd for his first ever event.

Emilie and Peggy did their first ever event and it was a great start for them both, again a relaxed dressage and clear and clear. So Emilie is now converted to an Eventer and is loving it!

Jump Club and Harden

Next we were off to another jump club followed by Harden Horse Trials, all the horses started to feel like they are getting back in the swing of competing which is great. Flash did his first Pre-Novice and felt amazing, I did however have time on both of mine, as I want to make sure they are really fit! Phil took Max to his first event and he was very well behaved, this horse has so much talent and just needs to get out competing, he is certainly one to look for in the future. McGuire and Peggy were really good again, this time Peggy and Emilie were in the places. Phil crossed his tracks on McGuire just trying to set things up nicely for him, so got an unfortunate penality, but once again he was great and so bold, he just covers the ground so well. James mares both did lovely tests it was Sexy’s first prelim and she was just a little green with the water but otherwise was super. So a little bit of schooling and she will be ready to go up the grades with James.

Coming up we have another jump club and then Camden Horse Trials at the end of the month. See below for some pictures of some of the horses at the first few events.

How High Updates:

Keep and eye on the website as How High will soon be offering a much larger range of quality products - clothing, saddlery and much more!!! We will also be doing packages for Clubs and Groups so if you are in need of new breeches get together with a group and we will see what we can do!!

Talisman Sport Horses Update:

Talisman has been a busy place but with four of us now on board we have been breaking-in a lot of the youngsters, taking in horses to school and even pre-training some race horses, to get them going nicely and fit before they start their racing career.

If you are looking for a purpose bred horse to buy check out our ‘Horses for Sale’ or get in contact with us and let us know what you are after.

We are also getting ready for the breeding season so if you have always wanted to bred your own foal check out our Stallions, I am sure we would have one that would suit. They are all at very reasonable service fees at the moment which will only go up as they get more competition experience under their belts. Get in early and we are offering a discount for mares booked in before the end of October!!

Bye for now from the Talisman and How High Team , we hope that you enjoy the new website and will do our best to do more regular updates.

Canberra:

A week later with 7 horses we went to Canberra which was a great event. James and I both had blonde moments and it was suggested we both needed a GPS! James jumped the wrong fence in the S/J on McGuire and I missed a fence in the X/C at the end of the course on Tommy - so both eliminated due to stupid rider errors. I had also got 2 errors of course in the dressage on Tommy (really more of an inaccuracy) as I did not go the wrong way but made my counter canter loops a little large as I could feel Tommy wanting to put in a flying change but the judge thought otherwise.

Flash put on a performance in the dressage again for the judges, but went clear again around another pre-novice course. Sexy and James had a good solid run and then for the others Lilly, Max and Ringo it was a huge ask as they all had to step up to Prelim and they coped really well considering how green they are still. Ringo has only ever done 2 newcomers classes 1 about 18 months ago and the other about 5 months ago so we were not sure if he would be abit green, but he did us proud and was placing after dressage and showjumping and went clear X/C. Phil took him slowly X/C so he had a lot of time that dropped them out of the placing's.

Scone:

It was the first time we have ever made a trip to Scone and although it was very windy it was a great event. We left on the Thursday with six horses (Tommy, Flash, Lilly, Max, Sexy and McGuire) and stayed at Sam’s for the night and finished the drive to Scone on the Friday. The horses all went well it was Lilly’s first ever outing in the intro and she was a little green in the dressage but went double clear with Emilie so a great start. Emilie has now taken the ride on Lilly as Peggy has been sold.

James had McGuire and Sexy in the prelim and was really happy with them, both did nice tests, jumped clear s/j and x/c but had some time penalities.

Max was not as settled in the dressage as Phil would have hoped due to the wind but held it together and also had a double clear with some time penalties.

Tommy was a little more settled in the dressage and great X/C except for the fact that there was a plastic bag blowing on a fence line that took some time to get past so a lot of time - but clear. Flash was very well behaved this weekend and would have placed other then a slight slip up X/C when he was watching another horse gallop past and did not want to turn for me and we missed a fence, turned around and jumped it no problems so at least he is starting to be a established pre-novice horse and hopefully not far off 1*. So all in all we were happy and then just had a very long drive home!!

Camden:

Well again the team has been busy and we have been to Camden, Scone and Canberra Horse Trials. At Camden we took five horses Tommy, Flash, McGuire, Peggy and Max. Tommy and Flash had another couple of confident runs in the x/c with me still taking things slowly so getting a lot of time, except Flash was very naughty in the dressage and I just had to smile at the judges! I just really want to get Tommy super fit before going abit faster, but he is starting to settle a little in his tests. Max was placing after the dressage and show jumping and Peggy and McGuire also did well (James was riding McGuire in his first prelim) unfortunately the youngsters did not get to go X/C due to the event being cancelled.

Lessons with Sam

It was great to have Sam Lyle (Australian Showjumping Coach for Eventing) to be back at home. We had a great weekend and Sam had fun riding the stallions and testing out some of the clothes!!

Breeding, foaling and a new face to Team How High.

Off season for us means stud work, and its been a busy time with four stallions standing at Talisman this year. Highland McGuire had his first season and had some great quality mares to him. Ringo (Highland Charmed) continued to be popular as his first foals hit the ground and the owners were all extremely happy with the quality of the youngsters he is producing. Jimmy Diamond produced some beautiful foals for us and for our clients and Ed (Highland Salute) just keeps the Salute reputation going strong with some of the nicest foals we’ve ever produced.

This season we were able to offer fresh semen and AI here at Talisman for mares to McGuire and Ringo. It has been a steep learning curve and we would like to thank Greg Gilbert (our local vet) for all his help and guidance as we have had another 100% success rate getting mares in foal.

In exciting news Claudia Graham has joined Team How High as one of our sponsored riders. One of the best riders in Australia, and a super coach, we look forward to providing Claudia with quality products from the How High range to help her achieve success in 2010. Claudia put a mare into foal with Ringo this year, so as well as products we hope to help her with the horses power she needs to stay at the top!

Now its time to get our horses going again so we hit the ground running for the upcoming season. We look forward to seeing you all out there!!!