Off The Track - Call On Kevin

This article is from the February 2021 Horse Deals magazine.

Call On Kevin, Kevin, Kev, Big Kev, or sometimes known as Kevin Stanley, is a case in point to prove just how versatile and willing the Thoroughbred can be, even excelling at Cowboy Dressage. Bowen Basin Mines Qld, Diesel Fitter, Sally Wilmot was keen to get back into riding, and because earlier in life she had worked with racehorses and on studs she looked for an ex-racehorse. “I had moved from Toowoomba to Mackay and I just wanted a horse,” says Sally. “I have had a few ex-racehorses and I like them. They are affordable off the track and I thought I would get one and train it up. I looked for a while and then this beautiful big bay horse came up and he really caught my eye. I went to look at him and he was pretty impressive; 16.2hh and a big solid horse. He was a lovely horse to look at and a good mover, so I bought him at the beginning of 2016.”

Call On Kevin was foaled in 2008. He is by the Redoute’s Choice son, God’s Own out of the Stravinski (USA) mare, By Any Means that goes back to Sir Ivor on her dam line. Born at Eliza Park in Victoria, Kevin was trained by Alicia MacPherson at Kilmore. He had four wins with MacPherson, two at Kilmore and one each at Geelong and Echuca, before being sold to interests in Mackay, Queensland. He had a brief career under part-owner and trainer, Cassandra Marsh before being retired from the track. In all, he had 46 starts for $69,165 in earnings. “When Cassandra got him,” explains Sally, “he had a bit of age on him. He had a few starts and didn’t show a lot, and because he had an old suspensory ligament issue, she was a bit worried about that and decided that he was too nice a horse to risk hurting him again, so she retired him in October 2015.

“He’d been a racehorse for a long time and I actually had a bad accident on him a couple of months after I got him. He slipped on a bitumen road and I was knocked out. I lost confidence after that and he was injured as well, so I didn’t do anything with him for a while. But because I had lost my confidence, I went right back to the beginning and worked on the basics and treated him like a green horse and did a lot of groundwork with him. I got some help from Kym McDonald, a trainer up here and she said to me; Sally you need to teach him to stand still, he doesn’t know how. It was quite a long process, I basically just sat on him and taught him that it was OK to relax and stand still; it took about a month.

“The accident was the best thing that could have happened to me, because I have a fantastic horse now. Being able to control him on the ground made me much more confident that I could control him when I got on. He is so soft and responsive now, because he has had that solid groundwork. Kevin is a really good-natured horse and whenever I go anywhere people comment on that. He is called Kev, or Big Kev mostly at home. I would call him Kevin Stanley when he was naughty. Stanley, a bit of a moody old man, was his alter ego and he likes to do naughty stuff, but Stanley has not been seen for a long time.

“After I was back riding Kevin, I saw an advertisement for Mandy Probyns Equine Connection. Back then it was called a Lady’s Confidence Clinic. I needed to do more with him and I thought a clinic with Mandy was a good place to start. I knew nothing about cowboy dressage at that stage. I went to the clinic at Finch Hatton and Mandy taught me the beginnings of a one rein stop, and that is really where it all started. She told me what a good horse I had. At the time I thought he was a bit too goey, but she said, it was easier to teach a forward horse to come back than a lazy horse to go forward. At that clinic he, as a Thoroughbred, did not stand out, as it was a mixed clinic, but I have done a few cowboy dressage clinics with Mandy and there are not many Thoroughbreds off the track. There are a lot of Stock Horses and Quarter Horses, but a 16.2hh ex-racehorse does stand out.

“There are three courts of cowboy dressage competition; cowboy dressage court, the cowboy dressage challenge court and the partnership court. Challenge court is a product of cowboy dressage that is meant to provide obstacles as visual markers, enabling you to learn court geometry. The use of ground poles promotes strength, flexibility, cadence and softness in our horses. Cowboy dressage court is same size as the traditional dressage arena, but has the added benefit of having markers every five metres all the way around and we also have four extra letters, Q, Y, J and N. The atmosphere at the competitions is very relaxed and if you make a mistake you can just go back and start again where you made the mistake. It is all about getting out there and getting confident and you can use a stock saddle with a fender, or a western saddle. Kevin loves it. He is a bold fella and doesn’t mind anything and has a very good work ethic. The only time he gets upset is when he doesn’t understand what I am asking him to do. When he does understand, he is more than happy to try his heart out for you.

“I usually help Mandy with the show organisation and I have organised a lot of sponsorship this year, so I have not competed much myself. However, I was able to ride at our latest show, The North Queensland Cowboy Dressage Championships in Nebo last October and I won the Champion Amateur Buckle, as well as the Soft Feel Award. I didn’t go expecting to win anything, I just wanted to go and ride some relaxed tests and have a good time at our first official outing and Kevin just went so well. Cowboy dressage is quite popular up here. Mandy has a big following and it is getting bigger.

“I work seven days on and seven days off and Kevin is on agistment. When I am working my seven-day shift, my friend, Leah Smith, who has helped me a lot with Kevin, looks after him. When I am home, I am out with the horses a lot and it is good to have Leah to ride out with and also be a good pair of eyes on the ground. Every time I drive into the agistment place, Kevin sings out g’day and is always waiting at the gate, as if saying, what are we going to do today?

“We will keep going with our cowboy dressage and keep advancing because we are only at the lower levels at the moment. We need to work on our canter and then there are the freestyle tests to music, which sound a lot of fun, so there is a lot to look forward to. Cowboy dressage is a growing sport and it is nice to be a part of it as it grows, and there is really a good group of people up here competing. We are looking forward to having a really big show up here later in the year.

“Kevin will be on the journey with me, he is so trainable. Mandy calls him her big Quarter Horse. He is a beautiful horse too and could go out in the hack ring tomorrow. He is well known up here and well-loved and I am so grateful and thankful to everyone who has helped me so far, because I know without all the encouragement and guidance I have received, I wouldn’t be where I am and have the horse I do.”

Article: Anna Sharpley.

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