Winter with Crafty

Over the winter i have been working with ESB Irish Craft (aka Crafty). Although he has not been an easy horse to produce i think he will be well worth the wait as he has some serious talent over a fence!
Therefore we have not rushed him, instead have taken it slowly consolidating things at home and attending a few little SJ days. He has really come along in the last month and is getting the hang of the lateral work and is jumping  with more balance. Crafty has such a powerful backend we needed to learn how to land with control.

(Photo from beginning of the year)

Now that it is Spring and the weather is better we have entered in an ODE for a couple of weeks time. Between now and then we will do some more xc schooling and SJ events. I have a feeling the spectators and jump judges will be the most scary bit about eventing!

Below is a link to some xc schooling from a couple of weeks ago, poor video quality (not sure how to fix that as it looked good on my computer before i uploaded it???) Anyhow we are just doing a few small fences and in the next few sessions i will add in a few bigger fences.

Beginning of 2011

After working with the two lovely ESB horses at the beginning of the season, ESB Irish Leprechaun has now found a new home with a super young rider in Western Australia. Katlyn Prendiville member of the W.A.Y.E.R squad (WA Young Event Riders) has selected Leprechaun as a future prospect to take her through to International Level. At their first event they came home with a blue ribbon and i am sure there will be many more of them to come! We wish Katlyn the best of luck in producing this talented young horse.

New ESB Arrivals

We welcome ESB Irish Craft and ESB Irish Leprechaun into the stables!

These two lovely horses have recently returned from getting broken in over the summer. They will now start basic flat work and education at home. I look forward to working with them both as they are super scopey looking horse with great paces.    

TEAM ESB

I am proud to represent Team ESB and look forward to producing the lovely young horses that have been carefully selected by Vanessa Hawkins. 

At the end of 2009 we Purchased ESB Irish Ritual as an unbroken 4year old and took on ESB Irish Operation a 6year old to produce. I have very much enjoyed working with Vanessa, I have never met such a motivated and passionate person in my life and I love her positive attitude and dedication to her horses and breeding program.

ESB Irish Ritual is a spunky grey gelding that has taken everything in his stride. He finished the eventing season winning his first Prelim event, and has the brain and heart to take him through the grades!

ESB Irish Operation is now a member of the WA Police force, they are thrilled with his temperament and ability to pick up tasks so easily. He has started street patrols and is a delight in the stables. The Police force hope to liaise with Vanessa in the future as Irish horses are very suitable for the job!        

Career Path So Far

I am currently working full time as a Registered Nurse and my sisters and I run Perth Performance Horses a family run business www.perthperformancehorses.com.

I am a member of the WA State Eventing squad, having previously been a member of the National Youth Development Squad. I have received fantastic training from our National Coach and Olympic riders themselves.



One thing about Evening is you will never stop learning! The ultimate aim is to represent Australia on the International Stage. Over the years i have trained and competed a variety of event horses with numerous wins and Placings. I now look forward to sourcing a special horse that will take me all the way.

Justamint is my current 3* horse who has been in the family for 6 years, producing excellent results. In 2011 I plan to qualify and compete at Adelaide CCI4*. 'Minty' has taught me the ropes of eventing and allowed me to develop my riding. Although he has his quirks he is a very special horse with a big heart.

My long term plan is to relocate to the UK to gain further experience on the International eventing scene. If the time is right and i'm presented with an opportunity that will allow me to further my riding skills, heading overseas will be a challenging but exciting prospect!

But for now, we look forward to the 2011 season in Australia with Justamint and the Young horses.

My Schooling

I spent my younger years at Moora Primary school, which was located 10mins from our farm. Then in year  2000 my parents made the decision to send me to Boarding school as the local Moora high school was very limited with its opportunities. I spent the next 5 years at Perth College which is located in Mt Lawley in Perth. Mum use to keep my ponies in work and would drive to Perth so I could ride them on the weekend. In 2002 we purchased a small property in the Swan Valley, it appeared to be the next logical step as we were all very keen to continue our riding careers and needed a place to base ourselves. I graduated from Perth college in 2004 and had a gap year.I worked and rode horses for half of the year in Perth and then moved to Adelaide for a few months to work for Gill Rolton. In 2006 I began my Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Curtin University, after 3.5 years I graduated and began applying for Jobs. I got an interview at Princess Margaret Hospital (Pediatric) and was offered a Job starting in August 2009. So to fill the time I went travelling to Mexico and Europe! I am now partway through my Post Graduate program as a Registered Nurse and loving it :)

My Family

I am a member of the Isbister family. Julie and Ian my parents own a grain farm in Moora, two hours north of Perth WA. Loving the outdoors I spent most of my time riding with my sister and helping dad round up the sheep with our ponies. The farm was a great place to grow up, allowing me to appreciate the simple things in life! 

Julie our mother was a avid event rider competing up to Advanced level with 'Yoda Lady', whilst training several other horses to a top level in Dressage and eventing. Therefore we were on a pony as soon as we could walk and were soon obsessed.  

Emma & Cisco 

I have two sisters, Sarah and Emma, who are both passionate about horses. Together we manage Perth Performance Horses. As a family we train a handful of carefully selected or homebred horses to event or show jump. We aim to produce a competition horse that is well educated and believe that allowing young horses to develop at their own pace is the key to success. 

Learning to ride! Sarah & Belinda

Ian my father has supported our riding without question, we will owe him for the rest of our lives! Without him it would have made it very difficult to peruse our riding career as after all it is an expensive sport.  

Julie

Ian