A star of the Australian show horse scene, Greg Mickan’s passion for producing and showing beautiful horses is as strong as ever as he prepares for a belated start to the 2020 show season.

“There’s nothing better
than seeing a beautifully
turned-out show horse.”

“There’s nothing better than seeing a beautifully turned-out show horse trotting around the ring and putting on a show,” says Greg Mickan. “Getting back into the ring and showing off the horses that we work so hard with every day, to look and go their best, that’s what I’m most looking forward to,” enthuses Greg about the prospect of competing again soon. “We’re entertainers – we try to put on a show, and we want to get out there and do that again – also for the owners of the horses, who have been with us through the whole lockdown situation and haven’t been able to get to competitions and see their horses perform.”

In a normal year, Greg would be in the thick of competition season by December. After a break in late autumn, the show team would have developed condition, fitness and strength over winter and early spring and now be competing at agricultural shows most weekends in preparation for major shows in the new year.

2020 has been far from normal, with event cancellations par for the course; however, with Covid-19 restrictions now easing in all Australian states, shows are being rescheduled and plans are in full swing for a return to the show ring!

For Greg, who is based at the beautiful Romsey Park, a property he bought with Terry Van Heythuysen 11 years ago, lockdown has been particularly challenging due to the property’s location. Romsey is in regional Victoria, however, as Greg explains, around 90% of his clients live in metropolitan areas, meaning they were unable to travel to Romsey Park to ride their horses. As such, the past few months have been an extremely busy time for Greg and Terry despite the lack of shows to attend; there are up to 20 horses in work at Romsey Park at any time, and with the exception of three owned by Greg and Terry, the rest are clients’ horses!

“During lockdown, the horses were still worked during the week, still rugged and looked after as they always are, but we did back off their feed a little bit so they were not in full show condition with additional weight on their legs and that sort of thing,” says Greg. “So, their feed was the main thing that we cut back, particularly the amount of protein in their diet. Now we’ve got shows scheduled for the last month of the year, for the last six weeks we’ve been upping their feed and we’re building them up into their show condition.”

A Barastoc ambassador, Greg has fed Barastoc Breed N Grow and Barastoc Groom as staples for his show team for many years. Recently, he has been very excited to add Barastoc’s new product, Supreme, to their diets; as show season draws closer and the show team’s workload and nutritional requirements increase, the timing has been perfect.

“It is an amazing feed, and it’s really putting the finishing touches on our horses as we come closer to their first shows. It’s very high in amino acids and we’re seeing the impact on their condition, their topline and their coats,” Greg explains. “I’m very lucky to be a Barastoc ambassador. Barastoc managed to get me a pallet of Supreme before the product launched! So, we’ve been feeding it for a few weeks now and it’s very palatable, the horses absolutely love it. Here at Romsey Park we range from ponies to warmbloods to thoroughbreds, and we do have some thoroughbreds who can be picky eaters, but not one of the horses have turned their nose up at the feed.”

Barastoc Supreme has an optimised essential amino acid profile to support muscle development, protection and repair, plus added antioxidants, including vitamin E, in addition to all-natural, fermentation-based pre/probiotics to promote robust digestive health and immune system resilience and function. It’s clear that the Romsey Park horses – including stable star Total Fashionista who appears on the Barastoc Supreme bag – will be heading into the show season in peak condition!

 “She trots into the ring
and she has that ‘look
at me’ presence.”

As Greg explains, Georgie Kellock’s highly successful mare – who won the Large Hack Class at the 51st Barastoc Horse of the Year Show earlier this year – will do a small show towards the end of 2020 as part of the lead up to the Show Horse Council Horse of the Year scheduled for January, and the 52nd Barastoc Horse of the Year show which will take place on the second weekend of February 2021. “That’s where we’ll aim the horses for next. I think we’ll probably head more into New South Wales for some shows in the new year. We usually do Canberra Royal, Sydney Royal, the Grand Nationals, Southern Stars. For most of our shows in the new year we’ll be going up the highway!”

A warmblood by Furstenball, Total Fashionista is an exquisitely beautiful mare – the perfect choice to appear on the Barastoc Supreme bag – and according to Greg, a horse who is quite aware that she is stunning! However, beyond her good looks, it’s her presence in the ring that makes her stand out. “She is a beautiful mover across the ground. She’s always prick-eared, and she looks through the bridle really well. She trots into the ring and she has that ‘look at me’ presence. I think that’s the most important thing in the show horses. They’ve got to have presence and you’ve got to catch the judge’s eye as soon as you trot into the ring.”

For Greg, who started his riding career as a junior showjumper in South Australia before heading overseas aged 19 to work in a showing stable in England, it’s the breathtaking sight of a beautiful horse that attracted him to showing in the first instance, and keeps him excited about the future. However, he thoroughly enjoys finding a young horse and setting them up for a season of showing, and it’s this process he has missed in 2020.

“Our goals this year have stayed the same, they’ve just being pushed back,” says Greg. “I really like to plan out a year, and I like to set horses for events. I love finding a nice young horse, and I’ll do a run of about eight shows with it, then that gets them set for a Horse of the Year Show. So I like to do that with the horses, and even now I’m finding it really hard to set horses for events because I still feel a little bit like tomorrow we could be shut down again! That’s been the most challenging thing I’ve found this year, trying to set the horses for the right competitions because the planning has been tough, but we’re all in the same situation and it’s great that there are shows starting up soon.

“When we get to a show again, I’m really looking forward to seeing how my horses come out looking. I think I’ve got some nice horses, but are they going to measure up when you get them out in the ring? I’m also excited to see what other people’s new horses are like; I enjoy seeing new horses and what horses other people have in their team. I just love a beautiful horse, and seeing other people’s beautiful horses makes you keep working harder, to continue evolving and driving your standards higher.” EQ