The Scoop with Shane Sainsbury

This article is from the November 2019 Horse Deals magazine.

Age: 46

Lives: Albion Park, Wollongong, NSW

Occupation: Maintenance Team Leader at BlueScope Steel

How would you best describe yourself? Painful, focused on improving, committed.

What is your family history with horses? My dad has had horses since he was little and basically been around them all his life. My pop on my dad’s side ran away from home when he was 14 and joined up for the First World War, and was involved in the Light Horse 8th and then 12th Battalion in the Middle East First World War. Then he broke horses for the army until the Second World War. I can’t really explain it but horses are something I am close to. It just feels like a natural thing.

What age did you start riding? The odd trail riding in the early years but got my own horse about 12 I think (it was a late start, really).

Tell us about your first horse. Dad bought me an old chestnut bitsa trail riding horse called Buddy. He taught me to ride and went from there.

When and how did you discover reining? My stepfather Bob Pitt had been into reining for a few years and after going along to a couple of shows, it sparked some interest. After playing with other disciplines it wasn’t till years later that I decided reining was where I wanted to be; it was western and just looked like a heap of fun. That moment when you sit on a trained reiner, there’s nothing like it, you’re hooked. The responsiveness, that first stop or turn is like nothing else. If you haven’t tried it it’s something you just have to do. It not about the fancy saddle or the $1,000 jacket or does this judge like me or is the judge friends with the other competitor, it’s on the day how you compare to a standard pattern, it’s you against the pattern. This is what reining is all about, it sounds easy but doing it is something else: To rein a horse is not only to guide him, but also to control his every movement.

What do you enjoy most about the sport? I love the adrenaline rush, how the reining judging system is so consistent and transparent, the people who in general are so willing to help. And I also train with a great bunch of people you can really count on.

We all start at the bottom and working your way up in reining is funny, you can be great one day and average the next. It’s just hard work that improves your consistency. So for all the beginners out there, we - including our trainers - were all at the same level once so just keep going.

What are the highlights of your riding career? For me, training my own horses in general. Yep, plenty of lessons, the more the better and a heap of clinics. But I think the satisfaction for me, is knowing if we get the win it’s from the hard work we have put in, not just jumping on one that has been trained. If I get stuck I am lucky to have weekly lessons, and many a time I have made phone calls after advice. That’s the great thing about reining, our trainers are so willing to see everyone improve.

Competition highlights include competing at Equitana 2013 (that event was unbelievable on a great little horse Whizkey on the Rocks), Numerous State Title wins and recently at the 2019 Nationals; Equal first in the Open Level 4 Futurity before a run off left me Reserve Champion Open Level 4, 2019 Futurity Champion Open Level 3, and 2019 Futurity Champion Non Pro level 4.

You’ve had a fantastic time at Nationals, especially with your mare Reddy Set Gunner, can you tell us a bit about her and her achievements? My wife Margo, and I purchased Porsche from Tony Mitchell at Ravenswood Reiners. Tony had a couple of foals due from an amazing mare Revolution Reddy IMP, a bay dun mare that was campaigned by Rob Lawson and recently Lisa Lawson (2013 SWRHA Open Futurity Finalist and 2013 NRHA Open Futurity Finalist in the States). So I get a pic sent to me of this little bay dun filly with a big white face. It is well-known anything with a bit of colour is always going to be a hit with us. I hinted to Margo wouldn’t it be nice to own such a well-bred little baby and she was basically in the car ready to check it out, 100% on board. And I wasn’t missing that opportunity.

We picked her up as a little bub and I thought ‘what have I done?’ She went through a bit of an ugly stage then boom, just turned into a stunning little filly.

Porsche was sent to Joe Lawrence to be started and reports back in first few weeks were ‘wow,’ this filly was the best thing he had sat on. We got her home and she was still a little small so Margo had the first ride and then we turned her out for a rest. Straight away you could see this filly was just a natural.

By January 2019, she had everything happening, all manoeuvres. Basically, my coach Rodney (Peachy) said just take it easy, stay out of her way and don’t stuff it up, and as normal his advice worked.

Just some of Porsche’s successes include; Reining Australia Open Level 4 Co-Champion - Reserve Champion after a Run Off, Reining Australia Open Level 3 Champion, Reining Australia Non Pro Level 4 Champion and Highest Earning 3yo for 2019 Australia wide in excess of $11,800.

The Goldbuckle Futurity was so close between you and Warren Backhouse, how did the competition unfold? We had a plan going into the first run and I stuck to that as best I could, and it paid off with the 142.5. That score put me level with Warren in equal first.

I was rapt but still had a few good horse and rider combinations to go to see where we finished up. I came out of the pen and spoke to Rodney, I knew it wasn’t my best but the belief he showed in me, well I felt no matter what happened next, I had already won. It would have been easy for him to say “you have just tied with Warren in the OPEN Futurity, be happy with that” but in the end, it’s the Nationals. He believed in both Porsche and I and due to that so did I.

Looking back the decision to run off, was it right or was it wrong? I just knew no matter what Warren did in the second run I wanted to better my first run and if that was good enough, awesome... It was a decision I made and am happy with.

Warren is a good mate and yep, it would have been an honour to stand together in first place and this filly sure deserved that but it’s Nationals as I said we are all mates, but we all want to win the big one. The crowd had started to leave and once they heard it was a run off I could see people running back to the arena to grab a seat.

I ran into the arena and it felt great, first stop was side by side to Warren’s and it was on. After the last lead change and turning into my first of three stops, I took a big breath and I knew she could do this and she didn’t disappoint once. I came out and scores were held to the presentation and we finished the second run on a 143.5, just ½ point behind Warren on a 144. It wasn’t meant to be but we sure gave it our best.

The support from people calling and messaging after it went well into the night and I thank everyone so much for that. But then with a couple of hours sleep, we were up again at 4am back in the arena getting ready for the Non Pro Futurity the next morning. We managed to win the level 4 Non Pro Futurity with another 142.5. Can’t ask for much better consistency from our girl.

What’s next for you and Reddy Set Gunner? Porsche is having a well-earned rest and we are looking at doing a few embryo transfers from the filly. We have had interest in people looking for embryos from her. Then Porsche will have a few months off to recover, ready for the next chapter; her Derby years where we intend to build on this year. No, Margo isn’t getting this one just yet!

Who has had the biggest influence on your riding career? Michael Bingham, a local NSW trainer I started reining with. Warren Backhouse has been a massive influence and I know I can call him or Carol anytime for anything. Rodney Peachy, I am lucky to be able to have been training with him since 2013 and the results speak for themselves, not only for me but our entire team. I am very thankful to Rod and Kelly for everything they do for us. And lastly, I’m lucky enough to ride with some good mates with a lot of experience in Pete Bartolo, and occasionally Greg Peters, Graham Cooper and the girls at Gargamels training stables. When you ride with people they pick stuff up you don’t see, we all bounce things off each other. That helps a heap.

How many horses do you have in work? Normally only a couple at a time as I work as well.

Do you have any young horses who we should keep our eye on? We will have two cool Derby horses for next year in Reddy Set Gunner and JA Katies Gotta Gun. No futurity horses for next year unless someone has one put away that I should be on?

Your wife also competes, what is the story of you and Margo? Margo and I have been together for 14 years. When we got together, I had enough of horses and was busy with football. Margo had always wanted a horse and with the help of my dad, Margo started riding and it took off from there. Margo got into hacks and a few dressage lessons. Then I bought another horse, Touchstone, a two year old Paint and that is where we started reining. I convinced Margo to come reining instead and we have never looked back. I love that it’s something we can do together as a family. Margo shows my last year’s futurity horse JA Katies Gotta Gun and really enjoys chatting in the warm-up pen and having fun, she’s definitely in it for the social side. We also have four boys Josh (23), Jarod (22), Blake (19), and Nate (7).

And your kids, do they ride or come along to support you? Josh, the eldest, showed for a little while when he was little but then found footy and girls. Jarod and Blake are more footy and motorbikes. Nate doesn’t have a choice but he loves going to shows and playing with the kids. It’s awesome he can go off and play and you know if he is doing something wrong, someone will be keeping him in line either that or he will be getting fed by someone else. The reining community is unbelievable, it’s like a big family.

Share a typical day in your life. Rugs and feed in the morning. Work till three-ish. Home to ride what I can fit in. Home for dinner.

What are two qualities that you look for in a horse? The stop cause that’s one of the biggest things in a reining horse. If it’s natural or bred into it, normally they won’t let you down when it counts.

Temperament – 100%. Oh and its gotta look good. I figure you look at it every day, you gotta like the look of it.

Mares or geldings? We only have mares, people say they are temperamental and hard... yep, they can be but I seem to be getting along with them.

Horses provide plenty of highs and lows, how do you manage the lows? Horses, in general, are like a roller coaster and futurity horses are even more so. You can be a legend one day and leave the arena thinking ‘why am I doing this?’ the next. But being calm and consistent, day in day out, is something I have learnt gets results.

It’s hard to stay motivated all the time especially when it’s wet and cold and windy. But that’s when discipline comes in, knowing others will be out riding and improving and if you want to be at the top end it’s what you need to do. Some people are happy to be in it for the social side, I just want to do what I need to do to be on top.

In saying that, the wellbeing of my horse comes first. Reining people tend to look after these horses better than they do themselves, cause we all know if the horses are right that’s when we get the consistent results.

What is the first thing you have to pack to take away to a competition? Margo and pain killers.

What do you like to do outside of horses? Ride more horses, family stuff and watch my boys play football, the real football, rugby league.

What are your long term goals? Win $100K+. We have a lot of great Open and Non Pro riders and the aim is to be at the top. One day down the track I would love to have enough knowledge to help others. Watch Nate show if that’s what he chooses to do.

3 things we don’t know about Shane Sainsbury?
1. Loyalty and trust is everything to me.
2. I don’t like meat with bones in it.
3. I hate seafood.

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