Oakley was born at the charity after his mother was taken into Bransby Horses’ care in 2011. Poppy, his mother, struggled with him as a foal and he was consequently bottle fed for a while.
His fosterer Alicia however, fell in love with Oakley even before she had met him. Once she had ridden him and made the decision to rehome him, he then made the four hour journey to his new home in the Peak District.
A year or so on, Oakley is enjoying his new life and Alicia tells us he has settled in to the family perfectly. The pair began by going to local pleasure rides for Oakley to get used to the environment where he acted like a professional. He made a great start to his endurance career when he completed a 32km Novice ride with ease and finished with a pulse of 38 and a grade 1! In June, Alicia and a friend attended Wirral Endurance ride to complete the 40km, which was a big ask for Oakley as he had never met the other horses before and it was partially on the beach where he would have ample opportunity to spook, but Alicia had faith in his endurance ability. He yet again cruised around and finished with a pulse of 38 and another grade 1!
Following this success, Alicia wanted to test his fitness and entered into the Foremark in Derbyshire for another 40km. He returned to the vet with a pulse of 41 and grade 1 to complete all his novice rides at a grade 1. What a professional!
Alicia says she is so proud of Oakley and their achievements and they are aiming to qualify and compete in a FEI* and hopefully to work up the levels. Another aspiration for 2018 is the Endurance European Championships for Young Riders 2019/2020.
It’s great to hear how Oakley is excelling in something he enjoys. Good luck for the future Alicia and Oakley and we look forward to hearing how you get on!
