The partnership between Melbourne International Three-Day Event CCI4*L winners Shenae Lowings and Bold Venture may have started out a little rocky, but the pair are now capable of scores setting them on a path to possible World Championship team selection.

When Shenae Lowings saw a Facebook advertisement pop up for six-year-old off-the-track horse Hell On Wheels, she thought he was a nice type, and being by the Sir Tristram stallion Devaraja and out of a mare by Zamoff, she was impressed by his breeding. She quickly contacted Gino and Bethany Poletti of Woodleigh Estate and purchased him sight unseen for $1,000.

Hell On Wheels had been less than impressive on the track, finishing second last in a trial as a three-year-old and then not stepping out again for two years. When he did, it was for a few more ordinary trials and three maiden race starts where his best result was once again second last.

“He was a beautiful looking horse, but a very, very, quirky horse,” recalls Shenae of when the horse first arrived at her then-base in Perth in 2016. “I just went to saddle him up one day and he pretty much bucked the saddle off because he was so incredibly girthy. I spent two weeks in the round yard trying to get on and off him without him running off bucking or doing something that he shouldn’t have been doing!”

Hell On Wheels certainly lived up to his racing name at times, and no doubt was a ‘Bold Venture’ for Shenae in the early days; fortunately, her courage to continue with the quirky gelding paid off. “It was a bit of a worry at the start. I wasn’t sure what I had just purchased, but he had all the natural movement. When I did work with him, he seemed to switch on and it just seemed like he could be a really trainable horse,” she recalls.

“Over the next few years, he definitely became less and less quirky the more of a partnership we built. He definitely still has his moments, but I just know him so well now and he trusts me, so he is a lot better.”

Shenae says that she and ‘Bentley’ had a few slow years poking around 95cm and one-star classes, where – true to his Sir Tristram bloodlines – he showed jumping talent from the get-go. “He’s always been very bold and he’s always been an amazing jumper; very scopey but careful, and being so bold he jumped everything from a rhythm, which made the cross country easy.”

What took a little longer to consolidate was the dressage: “It wasn’t until I got to two-star or early three-star level that it started to get a bit more consistent. I knew he was going to move well but he seems to now be hitting new gears every year. He’s surprised me with the dressage; once he understands something, he’s just so willing to do it.”

THE ROAD TO MELBOURNE

As most seasoned riders know, even the best-laid plans are likely to need tweaking – or complete rerouting – during an eventing season, and this year has been no different for 25-year-old Shenae and 11-year-old Bold Venture.

“The plan was to do Tamworth CCI4*S, which was very wet, so I did have some time penalties; I just cruised around and we had our first four-star win there,” says Shenae of the beginning of their 2022 season. “And then Quirindi CCI4*S, that was meant to be Willinga Park that weekend (the event was cancelled due to rain). So I took him to Quirindi, which was only two weeks out from Sydney CCI4*L. He did a great dressage test and show jumped clear, but we decided not to run cross country and risk Sydney,” she explains. It was then on to Sydney, where Shenae hoped to achieve a World Championship and five-star qualifying score.

Unfortunately, Sydney CCI4*L didn’t quite go to plan: “Again, he was great in the dressage. He was perfect the whole weekend… I just lost my line slightly in the main arena on cross country and jumped on the other side of a flag.” The mishap resulted in Shenae having to re-present to the fence, costing them 20 jump penalties and inevitably time penalties. “I thought I’d keep going around the whole course, and he was amazing for the rest of it. I just didn’t quite give him the best ride and couldn’t get back on my line quick enough.

“We then rerouted to Melbourne CCI4*L and I was definitely not going to make that mistake again. He felt even better from doing Sydney and I had a much stronger horse at Melbourne,” continues Shenae, a sentiment that was demonstrated by their PB dressage score, clear and under time cross country round, and clear showjumping round with just 0.4 of a time penalty to their name.

“I did say on dressage day that I would love to get a PB. I then saw some scores coming through and I wasn’t sure I’d get it as I expected some people before me to get better marks than they did. So I thought it might not happen, but Bentley then did the test of his life and I’m glad he got rewarded for it.”

Their dressage score of 24.9 was the third best CCI4*L dressage score in the world to date this year, behind Laura Collett’s 24.3 at Millstreet and Izzy Taylor’s 24 at Bramham. Interestingly, Shenae and Bold Venture’s finishing score of 25.3 ultimately topped both those achieved by the British stars.

“I think he’s so strong in the dressage because he is so mentally relaxed and he doesn’t get any tension. He doesn’t go into atmosphere and get hot. He’s actually quite a naturally lazy horse, a bit of a Warmblood, so I can get in the test and I have to create energy rather than just try to contain it. He stays with you the whole time, so I can always ask for more and more each time as his training improves.

“Being a Thoroughbred, cross country is easy for him,” says Shenae, explaining that the course went smoothly and they had no trouble going under time. “On cross country, he doesn’t drag me out of the start box and around the course. I do have to kick him along, but at the same time he just feels like he could go for days.”

Heading into the show jumping on the final day with a rail in hand, Shenae kept her cool to claim victory. “I obviously had some nerves, that’s normal. You want to do well and you want to win. But I knew I was on one of the best jumpers in the field. I don’t think he’s had a rail all year; he’s very, very consistent in that phase. I just gave him the ride I always would, and he jumped his usual clean round. He was great.”

Bentley wasn’t Shenae’s only ride at Melbourne; she had SS Graphite in the CCI2*L. “He’s a horse I got off the track at Shane Rose’s last year, just under 12 months ago. I was looking for a horse to turn over and he’s a lovely grey horse… beautiful to look at. I thought he’d be a great turnover horse because everyone loves a grey, but I ended up falling in love with him and got him vetted for myself the other day. I’m really excited about this one, he’s a pretty special jumping horse.

“Melbourne was a big atmosphere for him. He hasn’t been eventing very long at all. He did have 20 penalties on cross country, but it was just a green runoff at a skinny… he didn’t even realise that he had to jump it. He will have benefited from going there and experiencing all that atmosphere.” Shenae then has a five-year-old homebred named Bold Cointreau by Contendro 1, who she says is turning out to be a really exciting horse as well.

DETERMINATION & GOOD SUPPORT

Shenae began riding at seven years of age when her family was living in suburban Perth. Her parents were horsey when they were young – her mother had show jumpers, her grandad was a bookie and her father once trained trotters with his brother – however, at the time of Shenae’s sudden desire to ride, they were not a current part of the family’s life.

“One day I just said to Mum and Dad, ‘I want to go horse riding’. And so they took me to a local horse riding centre. Since that day, I don’t think I’ve ever stopped. I got my first pony at 11 or 12, a hacking pony that I was determined to turn into an eventer. From the get-go I always wanted to jump and go fast, and after watching all the Badminton Horse Trials DVDs I thought eventing looked pretty fun.”

Her parents have been huge supporters ever since and even part-own Bold Venture in conjunction with Shenae. “When I told them I had a change of plans and asked if they were coming to Melbourne this year, they told me that they couldn’t because they were in Bali. I thought, ‘Oh, that’s fair enough. You booked Bali before you knew’. And then I rode my dressage test and here’s Mum and Dad surprising me. They changed their flights and came over to watch the event, so that was really exciting.” Switching Bali for Werribee in June is surely the definition of dedicated parents.

Shenae says she’s been lucky to have had terrific coaches throughout her career thus far, starting with Sonja Johnson in Perth whom she trained with for many years. Moving over to New South Wales in 2016 – and with Bold Venture in tow at that point – she based herself with Prue and Craig Barrett for four years, before heading to Bimbadeen Park to train with Shane and Niki Rose in 2020. Just recently, she’s moved to Milton on the NSW South Coast with her partner, not far from Willinga Park – however, she’s still very much in touch with those who’ve coached her in recent times.

“I still work very closely with Prue Barrett, I’ve been working with her for six or seven years now. And then working with Shane, I definitely have some guidance from him daily, he’s been such an amazing support for me. I’ve had pretty good tuition over the last few years,” she explains. At Melbourne, Shenae just pipped Shane, with the triple Olympic medallist finishing a close second in the CCI4*L on Easy Turn with a score of 29.1.

Being part of Equestrian Australia High Performance’s NEXT Generation squad has also afforded Shenae access to excellent coaching. “Rod Brown is my show jumping coach. I actually came across Rod through the High Performance team many years ago. I work with him close to twice a month at the squad schools they put on for us. He was there at Melbourne as well to warm me up for the show jumping, so that was great.”

Shenae has also enjoyed her dressage work with Bettina Hoy as part of the NEXT squad. “I had nearly 10 sessions with her. The first day I worked with her she was quite intense, but I really like that style. And then the more and more I worked with her, everything seemed to flow and I just understood what she was saying. She’s pretty amazing… her technicality with certain things is incredible. At Melbourne, we also did a team cross country course walk with her, and even just the input with the cross country side of things, she was really good as well.”

And of course, at elite level riders are often supported by not only family and great coaches, but also dedicated sponsors: “I would like to thank Bates Saddles and Penelope Store Australia, who have both been with me for some time,” says Shenae.

FROM MELBOURNE TO THE WORLD

With a CCI4*L score that would have seen them top any event in the world this year, Shenae and Bold Venture are no doubt well and truly on the selectors’ radar for the World Championships in mid-September. The nominated short list is due to be announced on 10 August, with the qualification period ending on 15 August and the team of five (plus three unranked reserves) to be announced two days later. The decision of who rides on the four-combination team and as the single individual is then announced at or before the first horse inspection on 14 September. So, from a World Championship team perspective, there is still plenty of water to go under the bridge – and plans will no doubt be made and changed accordingly.

Shenae explains that originally she had hoped to get her qualifying score at Sydney CCI4*L, allowing her to then head overseas and compete at Luhmühlen CCI4*S on the road to possible World Championships selection. That plan had to be set aside, but with that box well and truly ticked at Melbourne, Shenae is now working through the next steps now that Bentley has had a couple of weeks off. Whether that will be a fairly immediate move to Europe or a few more events on home soil remains to be seen. “Fingers crossed I go to the World Championships, but if not, I’d love to do Pau CCI5*L,” she says.

For Shenae and Bentley, taking on the world is no longer a bold venture – they are right in the mix and will no doubt give it one hell of a shot. EQ

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‘A Grand New Career’ (Equestrian Life, February, 2022)

‘A Thorough Belief in Thoroughbreds’ (Equestrian Life, September, 2021)

‘General Ready To Conquer Again’ (Equestrian Life, June, 2021)

‘Percy Makes His Presence Felt’ (Equestrian Life, March, 2021)

‘Maizy Lands On Her Feet In New Role’ (Equestrian Life, January, 2021)

‘Off The Track & On The Right Path’ (Equestrian Life, December 2020)

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