Equine Transformation: Wyann Margarita with Belinda Keenan

This article is from the August 2020 Horse Deals magazine.

Tell us about Margi. Wyann Margarita is a registered Welsh B. She is four, rising five and is 12.2-12.3hh. She was sold by the breeder as a two to three-year-old to another owner before she ended up at the sales. It was quite a process to have her changed into my name as I wasn’t given her papers. The Welsh Society helped me out and she is now registered to me.

How and when did she come into your life? Margi was sent to the sales in 2019. I registered an absentee bid and won. I drove and picked her up the next day.

What potential did you see in Margi? She looked very sweet and needed some love. I hoped I could turn her into a great pony for my children.

What was her condition, temperament and training like on arrival? Her condition was terrible, I got quite a shock. You should never be able to see a horse’s skeleton under its skin. She was emaciated, her coat was dull and shaggy and she was smothered in lice. Margi was sold unbroken, but she was good to handle. She showed a kind but anxious temperament.

What did you do with her in the first few months? As soon as Margi arrived home I started her rehabilitation. She was washed and treated for lice and worms, rugged and fed small amounts multiple times per day.

As she had been starved and been through a stressful time she wasn’t overly interested in food. She’d only eat a very small amount per day by choice. She also seemed to suffer from separation anxiety so did run around a bit. As she settled in, she started enjoying her meals a lot more. She was given 24-hour access to pasture and grass hay. Her hard feeds contained Speedi-Beet, Gumnuts, oaten chaff, lucerne chaff and rice bran oil. The amounts gradually increased over the weeks. I had her teeth done before she commenced training.

I started her training within the first few weeks, groundwork to start with, and just letting her get comfortable with me and her new life. I had mouthed and started long-reining her by the end of October and had my first ride mid-November once she had put on a comfortable amount of weight. She took the breaking in process very well.

What was your first ride like? The first ride was great. She is very trusting and did everything she was asked. Felt like such an achievement to see such a huge difference in two months.

How would you best describe her personality? Margi has a beautiful personality, she is cheeky and playful and just loves to be with you. She will always catch you in the paddock and follow you around until you leave.

What are your greatest achievements to date? The greatest achievement to date is that my seven-year-old daughter has been able to have a few rides on her independently. She absolutely loves kids.

What’s been the biggest challenge with Margi and how did you overcome this? Her separation anxiety from other horses. She is fine to take away from her friends to work, but she doesn’t like to be left behind. I generally try to keep her close to another horse or we feed her some lucerne hay and she settles.

What is she up to today? She is living her best life. She’s paddocked with her best friend, gets fed twice per day and loves to come out for a ride and some interaction.

What was the key to Margi’s transformation? Love, care, a gentle approach and time. She has never been rushed and has just taken everything in her stride. She improves daily.

What advice would you give to someone about to embark on a transformation journey with their horse? Don’t expect too much too soon. Go slow and steady and everything will come together.

What are your future goals with Margi? To continue her training path and have my daughters take her on to be their next competition horse. She’s already proving to be quite a bold jumper.

Would you do it all again? Yes, definitely. It was very rewarding and Margi has all the trust in the world with me and the family.

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