Equestrian Life May 2018 Issue

eader profiles
INTERVIEW
Kimberley
McCombie
To most horse-owners,
anyone who has taken
on the ownership of a
thoroughbred and, in
particular, an ex-racehorse will
know that it can be incredibly
rewarding, if not always the
easiest route. This month, we
talk to Kimberley McCombie
about her ownership of the
fabulously named Laughing
Rock
How long have you owned
Laughing Rock
I first got Laughing Rock (Holly)
on the 17th November 2016
What encouraged you to buy
an Ex Racer
I work for the World Horse
Welfare so with backing horses
from scratch and looking after
unhandled and many different
cases of horses/ponies made
me want to try and bring on
something of my own, I had seen
Holly and she was advertised as
a project so went to see her and
fell in love with her and wanted
something to bring on myself.
What were your initial goals
with Laughing Rock
When I first got Holly she didn’t
really understand getting on
from a mounting block, she used
to take off when I got on and
wouldn’t stand, so I took her
back to the start and basically
re backed her, making her
understand she had to stand
at a block to let me get on and
then walk away rather than
thinking speed. This took quite
a few months to understand but
eventually she learnt to walk off
on a long rein nice and relaxed.
Also when I got Holly she
didn’t understand walk, she just
wanted to jog and canter it took
a lot of training and patience,
but with practice she learnt to
walk.
I did loads of ground work with
Holly when I first got her as she
didn’t have much muscle and
wasn’t fit in the right places, I
did loads of lunging, and In hand
work with her to help strengthen
her and also get the manners
to where they needed to be,
she’s quite mareish and can be
opinionated but it’s knowing
how to deal with it. I also did
various pole exercises to help
strengthen and give her variety
as she gets bored very easily.
Then I went on to long reining
to get her out and about for
hacks, including hill work.
What schooling and/or
training methods have you
found most beneficial?
Last year we started going to
the local in hand shows to get
her out and see different things,
getting to the rings was the
confusing bit for her. Once she
knew where she was going and
what she had to do she was ok,
she won several in hand classes
and also did the RoR classes.
The more shows she went to the
better she got. We have tried
various different bits with Holly
but have found that she prefers
a hackamore and she goes really
well in it, so we’re just going to
work away with it since she’s
happy with it.
Holly found it hard to get the
correct canter leads and got
disunited most of the time,
with trying to get her to get the
correct leads on the lunge this
seemed to work
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