Jade's journey to victory

By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk 

Until "Jade" came along, standardbreds were not a topic Bridget Woodward was an authority on - far from it.  

"I knew stuff all about them to be honest," she laughs, "I was more into Quarter Horses and Appaloosas."

But three years ago she was looking for a new trekking horse and saw a standardbred being advertised in Tauranga.

"She'd had a bit of groundwork done but no trekking or anything like that."

Since then the Te Puke-based pair have come a long way. Last month they won the Best Performed Standardbred at the Prodosa ESNZ (Equestrian Sport New Zealand) Endurance National Championships.

The event was held at Whakatane, with Woodward and Jade competing in the CTR (Competitive Trail Riding) for the first time.

"It's just so close to us, Whakatane is about three quarters of an hour down the road so we decided to give it a go," she says.

The CTR is based on timing rather than speed, with time faults given for being too fast or too slow. These time faults are added to horse's heart rate scores - with the lowest total winning.

Bridget and Jade competed in a 20 kilometre event.

"It was nice farmland, rolling flat paddocks with nothing too challenging," she says, "it's all about strategy really."

"We took around two and a half hours and were over time by 10 minutes incurring 10 time penalties."

Jade aka Huchi Baby was bred by Woodlands Stud. She was by "The King" Bettor's Delight by seven-race winning mare Huchi Mama.

But she never made it to the racetrack.

"She's a sweet little girl," says Bridget, "she's only about 14-3 (hands) and is very petite, not a boxy standardbred like some."

While she's "the boss" in her paddock Jade is more a follower than a leader when it comes to trekking.

"She can be a bit spooky and she's dumped me a couple of times."

"But she's much better now than she was," she adds quickly.

They have learnt a lot together, with both becoming progressively more confident.

"I only had western saddles which didn't fit as they were made for my wide fitting Quarter Horse so finally found a stock saddle that did fit her little frame."

"It took about eight months to get her canter established and now she canters really nicely on the trails."

"She's also a very good jumper."

The pair have racked up nearly 500 kilometres over the past two endurance seasons.

When not competing they cover plenty of territory closer to home.

"I would ride her two or three times a week and we walk down the road and there's a nice Kiwifruit orchard and a dairy farm nearby where we can ride so we are very lucky."

As for the future?

"We'll just keep pottering along," says Woodward, "she's a healthy and happy horse."