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THOROUGHBRED mare AL Shiraz tried valiantly to be a racehorse but despite a number of solid performances and encouragement from Tasmanian Racing Hall of Fame trainer Barry Campbell she couldn’t quite measure up.
Al Shiraz was bred by prominent thoroughbred owner-breeders Terry Clayton and Peter Thomas but when Campbell delivered the news in 2005 that she wasn’t up to advancing her career in racing they sold her as a potential pony club hack.
Al Shiraz (Aliocha-Maglieri) ended her racing career with one win and three minor placings from 14 starts.
“The mare tried hard but she just wasn’t quick enough to go any further as a racehorse,” Campbell said.
The mare ended up at Sheffield but she proved to be a bit too frisky for her young owner and that’s when experienced equestrian rider Tania Hay took a chance and invested all of her savings to buy the mare.
Hay parted with $9000 for the mare and that was located in a number of shoe boxes and other storage containers that had been stashed away for a rainy day at her and her partner Laurie Smith’s property at Orielton.
“There’s no doubt we took a big risk,” Hay said.
“But somehow I knew deep down that this mare had that something special,” she said.
Our Shiraz had her name changed to Consequence which, as Hay explained, had some significance.
“When he handed over the $9000 we were flat broke and that was the consequence of buying the mare,” she said.
Hay, who has been involved in showing horses for over two decades and she had longed to own one that could deliver the goods at the highest level.
Consequence has delivered that outcome and has proven to be the best $9000 Hay has ever spent.
Consequence responded well to Hay’s education process and before she knew it the mare was collecting ribbons at major shows around Tasmania with a Reserve Champion title at the 2006 Royal Hobart Show at her first attempt was a sign of things to come.
Hay said she knew for sure that she had something special in the mare’s first year in the show ring (2006).
As well as winning Reserve Champion at Royal Hobart, Consequence also won Equestrian Australia Newcomer Hack of the Year and overall EA Newcomer Exhibit of the Year as well as the Pritchard Spalding best lightweight hack exhibit for thoroughbreds at the Royal Hobart Show.
If that wasn’t enough to convince all and sundry that a new star had emerged in the show ring, Consequence also won Show Horse Council of Tasmania Newcomer Hack of the Year; SCT overall Newcomer Horse of the Year and Open Hack of the Year.
In only her second year (2007) in the ring Hay took Consequence to Victoria for the Barastoc Horse of the Year which, according to Hay, is “the biggest show in Australasia.”
“I took a huge punt on taking her to Barastoc because she was only a newcomer horse in only her first season of showing but much to my surprise she was named Runner-Up hack of the Year,” she said.
The mare went from strength to strength and has taken Hay on the ride of her life.
“This mare has taken me to places I only ever dreamed of so she is definitely cherished in more ways that one,” she said.
Consequence and Hay are almost inseparable and while the mare can still do things that wind her owner-trainer up, Hay also can irritate Consequence by changing her training regime.
“I knew the mare would be competitive from the outset because she was a very quick learner and she just thrived on the work that we put into getting her ready for equestrian life,” Hay said.
“She is a very clever horse and she sometimes has her own way of thinking things through and maybe not always the way that I want her to do things but eventually we get the desired results.”
Just recently Hay was offered a substantial amount of money for Consequence but she says no amount of money could wrest the mare away from her.
“I have told all the people who have wanted to buy her that she is not for sale at any price,” she said.
“This horse is more like a child to me and that’s probably one of the reasons why she has done so well.”
Hay works full-time with Tasmania Police, often working late shifts and that’s when her partner takes responsibility for the mare’s welfare.
“If I’m working late and I see the weather report says there are high winds in our area I ring Laurie and tell him to put the mare inside because she just hates the wind.”
“There’s no doubt the mare rules our lives but I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she said.
Consequence is in her eighth season of equestrian competition and while the mare has endured a slight tendon issue she is expected to again make her presence felt in all the major shows in Tasmania in 2013-14.