Sound Start Graduate’s
Program Graduates
Over the years I have been extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to raise and educate some amazing horses. Below I’d like to highlight some of those horses and give appreciation to their incredible new owners who carried on with what I began. So much hard work and dedication is put into these horses and without the solid foundation and humble beginnings, they may just not have had the opportunities they were given. I am extremely grateful to have been part of each and every one of these horses stories, and I enjoy the friendships and updates that have come and continue to flow on through. Today I breed my own youngstock for my program, with a very strong focus on producing high quality stock that have trainable minds, good action and quiet natures that will see them succeed well into the future in life long homes. If you build it … they will come…
I am also incredibly proud to have been a part of many clients horses journey’s and I would like to also highlight some of those below. These are horses who came here for starting and have then gone on to achieve wonderful things. A huge amount of credit goes to their owners who went on with my initial foundation work and put the time and energy into their precious equines to achieve fantastic results. I am so proud of each and every one of you x
HERSHEY
Dunup In Kisses
SIRE: Radical Signs R Good DAM: Dunuplikadiva
Hershey was purchased from her breeder, and very good friend as a yearling, with the intension of being my prospective demonstration and show horse. She was brought along slowly using my program, evolving to be the perfect fit.
She assisted me with clinics and made her show debut as a yearling in her in hand performance classes, really shining in her lungeline. We later went on to compete under saddle in Performance and Ranch classes.
Hershey was leased to a beautiful home in NSW for 12 months, I was injured and didn’t want to see Hershey miss important show opportunities. Hershey attended her first National show with her new rider and came home with a Reserve National title. It was at this point a discussion was had and it was decided that Hershey would become a permanent member of the Egan’s farm. With Victoria at the helm, Hershey has gone on to win a National titles and is now a very much-loved member of her family. Hershey is a half-sister to our stud horse MPH Radical Love, both being by the Quarter Horse stallion Radical Signs R Good.
BETTY
You Bet Im Affirmative
SIRE: Affirmative (IIU) DAM: Traditional Girl
Betty came to me a little later in life than where I usually like to get started, however I liked her pedigree and decided she was worth the time. At 3yo and minimally handled she was a bit more challenging in the beginning, however she soon came around and it wasn’t long before we were working as a team.
I grew fond of Betty very quickly. She wasn’t in my program long, maybe 8 months before the perfect home presented itself. Betty has gone on to succeed with an intermediate rider, she has been taken out to clinics, shows and also now carries around her owner’s precious children around.
Although Betty hasn’t had the show opportunities, she is proof that success begins with a solid foundation and I am very proud to say her education started here.
BLUE
COWBOYS BLUE VALENTINE
SIRE: Blue Fox Valentine DAM: Black Magic Woman
Blue came to me as a yearling and very quickly wormed her way into my program. She was agile, smart and so very naturally quiet. She was also very easy on the eye!
All my youngsters have the ground fundamentals put on them and are then left until old enough to be started, OR they are shown in hand in performance events. Blue was carried over until old enough to start and then exposed to the world via clinics and Ranch shows, she took everything in her stride, always being reliable and levelheaded.
As my workload increased, my time for showing decreased and so the search for a new home begun. It didn’t take long to find the most amazing new mum for our Blue girl, and off she trundled to NSW where in just a short 7 months Blue has been exposed to cattle, barrels, ranch showing, trail rides, sponsorship and is about to embark on a super journey accompanying Anthony from Riata Ranch on his 5 week Working Cow Horse clinic tour of the top end.
Blues future is amazingly bright, and I feel so privileged to have been a part of her story! I cannot wait to see what the future holds for Blue and her mum!
Client’s Horses
Whinny
Reg QH filly
This little lady shares a lot of her early history with me. Beck bred her and then employed me to do all of her initial handling at weaning. Whinny showed her aptitude for learning early on, so I was delighted to have the opportunity to later start her under saddle.
She was a little tricky in the beginning, lacking in self confidence, but I took her along slowly and she soon enough started to understand her role. It didn’t take much from that point forward.
Whinny was initially pegged for Becks daughter, but it wasn’t long before Beck (an EWD rider) found herself putting her trust in this beautiful natured young filly!
I have enjoyed watching this amazing team give anything and everything a go and being very successful!
They have now amassed an array of awards including but not limited to; Reserve National Champion and Reserve State Champion EWD Ranch Horse and top 10 QH’s;
this duo are out and about chasing cows, doing pub crawls, clinics, cowboy racing, performance western shows, ranching, the sky is the limit!
I love seeing your updates and am so grateful to have been part of your story!
HAILEE
Kerrinna Katchin A Storm
Hailee was always a little bit of a tricky red head. She broke in well, but had a tendency to question everything and was not the kind of filly to tell … it had to be a joint idea!
Making this process a little trickier for me was Hailee’s future jockey, a youth rider who had done a beautiful job campaigning Hailee in hand but had some nerves and reservations about climbing aboard. It wasn’t an obvious partnership made in heaven.
However, sassy red head mares and determined teenagers can work, and Hailee and Ella have become a formidable team. Hailee has taught Ella so much more than a quiet, yes ma’am no ma’am obliging horse ever would have. Ella has stuck with Hailee, continued to educate herself and Hailee, and Ella has grown so much as a horse woman. Together, this little team have tckled many hurdles and had some fantastic accomplishments. I am so, so proud of you Ella for sticking with this tricky little horse, it’s been a very inspiring journey!
WINSTON
TMD Smith N Winston
Winston was for me, something I wouldn’t normally take on, his owner had had a few rides on him in the round pen and needed him finished. Usually I would pass, but as I knew Ella and how she worked with horses, I was more than happy to help her with her new future show mount. As expected, she had done a great job setting Winston up, I made a few adjustments, made sure he was with my program and there were no holes and got to business finishing him off.
Now this big horse was the opposite to Ella’s little red head above, he was lazy and lacked forward. Once we installed an accelerator pedal, we got some lightness, and this talented young horse just started coming into his own.
He’s a very likeable young man and Ella has really been able to shine when competing on him. Ella has worked so very hard to get him where he is now, and their journey is really only just beginning. thank you for trusting me with another one of your precious horses Ella, I’m one of your biggest fans … keep up the hard work!
WHISKEY
HMF Devilution
A beautiful big 16.1hh Paint horse, Whiskey was found by myself for a family member who was coming back into horses after having children. Initially she was looking for something up and going, but after a discussion about buying other peoples problems, it was decided to find something young and ready to start. Whiskey fitted the bill and even though he was western bred, I felt he would be more than capable of filling her need for Dressage.
She was there through every step of Whiskey’s starting, with me encouraging her to participate as much as possible. the pair were off and running in no time, unfortunately covid hit and ceased any plans to get out to events in person, so online entries were the next best option, and in no time the ribbons came rolling in. Whiskey was rock solid in temperament and with his solid foundation training he was quiet enough to carefully carry the kids around!
Sadly, his owner succumb to cancer and I stepped up to find Whiskey a new home. He came back to Victoria, where he was put back to his roots as a western horse. I have since sadly lost track of this special horse, if you know his where abouts, I’d love to receive an update on him.
Who’s up next?
Our program horses don’t happen overnight, they are usually conseptualised, born and raised here, making sure sire and dam’s lines fit our projections. We nurture the mares through pregnancy, birth, weaning and then set about laying a steadfast foundation that is slowly grown through to breaking and beyond. Below are some youngsters who are in various stages and will in time be looking for their new amazing families.
Murphy
Sacred Love PHAA #18874
Murphy is sired by our beautiful stallion Radical Love and out of a big tobiano mare who’s sire is the incredibly successful Sacred Assests (USA).
This 2yo filly missed out on the colour and height but she has so much natural ability, she’s super pretty and has a temperament to die for. She loves to be with her people, in the stables being pampered and being fussed over.
Murphy has had 2 seasons showing in hand in all her performance events including 2 Victorian State Shows. She will be started under saddle late Autum 2025.
Murphy will continue to be campaigned into the 2025/6 show season under saddle before she will be offered for sale.
I invite expressions of interest for this beautiful filly as ideally her prospective home comes along on this last leg of her journey to ensure a easy hand over.
Billie
Her Assets R Good PHAA#19542
A full sister to Murphy, Billie is the opposite of her older sister in almost every way! She’s bold, BIG and loudly coloured, but just like her sister, she has a beautiful temperament, just a little more sass. It’s amazing to see how two full blood sisters, under the same environmental exposure and parental DNA, can be so very different!
Billie is only a yearling and didn’t have the mental maturity to cope with being exposed to show life early on. It is planned she makes her show debut over the 2025/26 show season as a 2yo in all her in hand performance classes before being started under saddle.
Billie looks to be set to mature over 15.1hh, so at this stage will be set for Hunt Seat classes as well as equitation and possibly some Ranch. She is growing into a super type and we will endeavor to get some updated photo’s of her shortly.
Freddie
Mercury Rising AAA (Pending)
Freddie is a registered Appaloosa, yearling gelding. He is sired by champagne quarter horse stallion Silver Park Cajun Trail and out of a few spot Appaloosa mare.
Freddie was purchased specifically for my program, his sire is incredibly quiet and reliably carries his owner’s young children on trail rides and around the farm. So far, I have put all of Freddies initial ground foundations on him, he has been put over poles, over the bridge and I have started preparing him for lungeline classes. He is taking everything in his stride and is proving to be levelheaded and incredibly smart.
Freddie is shaping up to look as though he will have some height to him, I wouldn’t be surprised if he made 15.2hh at maturity.
Hopefully we will have Freddie out alongside Billie in the 2025/26 show season, although, offers are invited now on this boy, he has a lot to offer any person who has a dream of bringing on their own youngster. I am also happy to discuss with any perspective buyer, carrying on as his trainer. Please contact me for further discussion.
