NORTH  ISLAND  STANDARDBRED  CLUB

..... where there is life and alot of fun after racing for our versatile friends .....

Member 1 Profile

Sharon Limmer and her lovely boy Gus .........

Hi all. My turn for a profile it seems!

My name is Sharon Limmer and I am from Raglan, in the Waikato.

My background with horses was pretty much the traditional pony club one.  I didn’t have standardbreds or even really see a lot of them ridden till I was married and we were moving around the island shepherding on stations.  They were often the spare shepherds hack etc and this was when I came to enjoy their steady sensible natures.

As for my lovely boy Gus, gosh where to start.  The horse I nearly didn’t get because I told my husband I didn’t want another horse!  I thought I already had enough to ride as we had 2 youngsters (1 partbred arab and 1 young TB we plan to race) that were needing work to get them going.

How many others are as lucky as me to have a man that said “go and look at him. You NEED another horse”.

My older standardbred, Cruize had been given away to a retirement home and we missed having him around to lead the youngsters off etc so with all that in mind I went horse shopping.

After viewing Gus I actually turned him down…………unbelievable aye, as I thought he was just a bit too quiet as I was more used to forward moving horses and he borders on being pretty lazy.  Then I decided that I couldn’t be bothered looking at any more and he would just have to do.  Gee was I in a funny head space at the time.

Gus at home	Gus collecting on Daffodil Day

(Daffodil photo’s by  Chris Hillock, Photographer) www.chrishillock.co.nz

Well Gus arrived and he has changed my life.  He is so safe, honest and reliable, everything I needed in a horse and as a plus he is pretty good on the road.  Road riding since a particularly bad fright has been something that sets me on edge but Gus just trundles along without a care in the world and I am now feeling brave enough to do what was once unthinkable.

Not only did I gain a fantastic horse but I also made a great friend in the person whom I bought him from.  Gilleen was giving up riding as her life was leading her down a different path and was being pretty fussy about who Gus would be sold too.

She bought a friend out to inspect where we lived before agreeing to me having him.

A few weeks after we had Gus home I had an email from Gilleen who had been to a family dinner and Gus was being discussed.

My uncle was at this dinner, and as it turns out, Gilleens brother is actually married to one of my cousin’s, so not only did I gain a horse, a friend, I also have a relative I never knew I had!

Gus had a bit of a head tossing habit, which I wasn’t to sure how to deal with at first.  Did I just ignore it or did I go down the gadget path to try to stop it?  I did what made sense to me at the time and got rid of the bridle all together.  I have never had a Parelli lesson in my lifetime but I do like the gear they have and as I am really just out trekking I like my horse to be as comfortable as possible so I tried him with the rope halter hackamore and he has never looked back.  He did chew an imaginary bit a few times, which was pretty funny, but now he is really good.

My involvement with Daffodil Day was through my good friend Jan.  She has been fund raising for the cancer society for 15 years and this year she decided that using horses to get around an area that people generally don’t collect from was the way to go.  I was really excited that she asked me as it’s a big call safety wise etc and her name as well as the goodwill of the cancer society riding on our horses backs with us.

So we had a couple of practice runs and the boys coped well with the traffic.  On Daffodil day we dressed them up and headed out onto Te Rapa Rd.  For those that don’t know Hamilton that’s the main road heading north from the city and the heart of the industrial area.  

We had an amazing response from people who wanted to pat the horses as well as tell us their cancer stories.  After 6 hours in the saddle we had $750. 30 so were feeling pretty good about the day really.  

Gus consumed a few apples (his favourites) and some bread as well as a muesli bar during the day.  We found some workman with a hose that was prepared to put it up to the horses mouths for them to drink, and didn’t mind the slight shower he received at the same time.

A good time was had by all I think and now we are already planning next year.

For anyone wondering about having horses in town like we did, it involved seeking permission from the council and we carried plastic bags and a plastic scoop to clean up any mess made by the boys.  Also permission had to be gained by the Cancer society. 

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Last updated: October 20, 2008.