Equine Transformation - Archibald’s Prize with Lisa Thevenet

This article is from the September 2020 Horse Deals magazine.

Tell us about Archie. Archie, also known as Arch, is a 16hh Clydie x who competes as Archibald’s Prize, with his current owner Tayla Deacon.

How and when did he come into your life? Archie came into our lives in January 2015. I was looking through the horses at an upcoming sale and came across his beautiful, but very sad face. He had a lovely soft eye, and I knew at that moment we had to do something to help him. I placed a phone bid, with instructions to only place my bid if he wasn’t “safe”.

I cried when I received the phone call telling me that I now owned a very thin, unhandled yearling. My tears were for sadness and relief.

Sadness at the thought that if I hadn’t come across his beautiful face, his fate would have been a very different story.

What potential did you see in him? I knew that if we could get Archie to trust us, his potential would be unlimited. I could see past the ugly duckling stage, and I knew that all he needed was time to turn into the stunning boy he is today.

What was Archie’s condition, temperament and training like on arrival? On arriving home, his condition was extremely poor. You could see every bone in his body. His coat and face were sunburnt, and he had a belly full of worms. He was petrified of humans, and it was pretty clear right from the start that he hadn’t had any handling.

What did you do with him in the first few months? For the first few months, we worked on getting Archie healthy. He was fed three small feeds a day, and was given unlimited hay. We would give him his feed and walk away, not asking anything of him.

Once he realised that we weren’t going to hurt him, he would allow us to scratch him, then slowly building his trust, we could brush him. Every day was just small steps, running our hands over his body and legs, so that he knew it wasn’t such a big deal. Nowadays he chases you in the paddock for a good scratch! In November 2017, we sent Archie off to the trainers.

When choosing a trainer for him, we wanted to make sure that there wasn’t a time frame for his learning. He was the sort of horse that needed to do things in his own time, giving him time to process everything, especially if he didn’t know you.

What was your first ride like? My daughter Charlize was the first one to ride him. She said he was soft, responsive, and so very, very quiet!

What is he up to today? Archie is eventing with his owner Tayla.

What advice would you give to someone about to embark on a transformation journey with their horse? Take things slowly. Don’t expect results straight away. Archie’s journey took three years before we knew he was ready for the next step, and a new family. My daughter already had two horses in work, and we needed to find Archie someone to love him as much as we did.

What are the future goals with Archie? To take him out and start to do some preliminary eventing.

How would you best describe Archie’s personality? Archie’s personality is like an overgrown dog. Always pleased to see you, and will follow you anywhere. Tayla tells me he would follow you into the house and lay on the couch if you let him.

What are his greatest achievements to date? Together Tayla and Archie have had many successes out eventing. Their greatest achievement to date was being part of the winning team at Yeringberg Horse Trials, winning off his best dressage test!

What was the key to Archie’s transformation? The key to Archie’s success and transformation was love, patience, kindness and good quality feed.
We were extremely fortunate that Tayla Deacon came into our lives through a close friend of mine who teaches in the Yarra Valley.

Would you do it all again? Seeing how Archie has come along over the past five years has been an absolute joy, and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Seeing how happy and loved he is today makes the journey worthwhile.

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