Alex and her riding
There are many wonderful things that happen when you have a child and when Alexandra Mae came into the world on April 17, 2004 we had no idea that this little bundle of joy could change our lives so much.
Over the past four years, she has spent a lot of time with the ponies because Filipa spends a lot of time with them. However, in the past six months her own interest in them has taken off. She now attends Tatura Pony Club on a monthly basis and rides most days. The hardest part now is getting her off her Shetland called Karlie.
Alex's first show was at Rochester Agricultural Show. We borrowed Fairlight Acres Lucinda as the Shetland she had been riding had gone foot sore. Lucinda was wonderful and happily stood there whilst Alex got up to all sorts of antics. Once her classes were finished however, there were tantrums aplenty when she thought she should be allowed to ride all over the showgrounds. Apologies to other competitors that day...
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First Led class, Above: things get a little boring when you are lined up with 10 horses working out. Best solution, do some loosening up exercises Below: Whilst waiting your turn to work in in the rider class, practice your up downs... |
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After Rochester Show, all the foals came in to be handled and prepared for the Foal Shows. Peter Collins had lost a Shetland mare and Alex had helped raise the foal - Fairlight Acres Kali Rose. We took her to the Tatura Foal Show and Alex took pride in leading her.
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| Preparing before we head into the ring. | Waiting for the class to be
called Photo: Stephen Shaw Photography |
Once the foal shows were out of the way, Karlie came back in. At this point, Alex has taken a real interest and wants to go places. Enquiries are made and we join Tatura Pony Club where she can go along and have an enjoyable day without having to fit in with Mum and several other ponies. Her first rally was in early July and the improvement in her riding since then has been remarkable. However, even on her first day she headed over some of the cross country jumps with her Dad nervously watching on.
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Alex at Tatura Pony Club, July 2008 |
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Her next event was attending the Bendigo Pre-Royal. She headed out in the Shetland Led Mare class but isn't really keen on the whole led pony idea. As soon as this class was over, it was straight out to put the saddle on and get ready for her rider class. Once the rider class was over, we dressed for the fancy dress class. Fancy dress classes always seem like a good idea before the mother has to make the costume...
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| Alex and Fairlight Acres Karlie | Bendigo PreRoyal Show 2008 |
In 2009, Alex rode Filou Lane Tiny Dancer. In August she took her to Pony Club. This is one special little pony who had only just turned 3 with a 5yo child on board. Nothing was too much for Dancer and she tried jumping, barrel racing, bending racing, flag racing and anything else that was thrown at her. I was becoming very depressed as a cute little 11.2 black pony with a even cuter red haired girl leading was unbeatable at the shows. Dancer took out many led championships in 2009 all being lead by Alex.
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| Dancer and Alex at Pony Club | Dancer and Alex - Kyabram Show |
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| Nathalia Show - Champion Australian Pony |
Kyabram Show Champion Australian Pony |
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| Kyabram Show - the workout | 2010 Victorian Stud Show 5th in Open Leading Rein Pony with 14 entries |
The spring shows of 2010 were a trying time. Many in our area were a washout, but Alex attended a few riding Dancer. However, the decision was made to sell Dancer at Christmas 2010 as Alex had almost outgrown her. We were very pleased that the De Marco family have purchased her for their 4yo daughter to ride. She has gone to a wonderful home and is well and truly loved.
Mid 2011has seen Alex taking up harness racing driving. On the 15th May she was very excited to qualify Karlie (aka Pink Princess) for races. Pony Trots doesn't start again until the spring but watch out for Alex's efforts.
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