MOLLY & TADPOLE THRIVE IN THE BIG POND

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Molly Lines was just 13 and hadn’t competed beyond EvA80 level when she first began riding six-year-old off-the-track Thoroughbred Tadpole. Fast forward six years, and the pair have competed at some of the biggest events in the country and recently won their first start at four-star level.

Nineteen-year-old Molly Lines and eleven-year-old Thoroughbred Tadpole. Image by Jay Town for Racing Photos.

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Far from a star racehorse, Tadpole – who raced as Liquid Courage (Teofilo x Remy) – collected all of $1200 during his five-start career. Following the sudden passing of her previous horse, Molly Lines – then aged 13 – purchased Tadpole from show jumper Hayley Coman as a not long off-the-track (OTT) six-year-old. He’d had a super introduction to his post-racing career thanks to Hayley but was yet to set foot on a cross country course or compete in the dressage arena. Molly’s original plan was to train him up and move him on after a couple of years – yet their partnership went from strength to strength, and they are still together six years later.

Until Taddy came along, Molly had only competed to EvA80 level. Last year, they won the CCI2*J at Melbourne International Three-Day event (MI3DE) and have since enjoyed wins at three-star level and finished in the top 10 at Adelaide Equestrian Festival this year in the CCI3*L. Most recently, they won their first four-star start at Ballarat International Horse Trials.

We caught up with 19-year-old Molly following their latest win to find out more about her quirky yet lovable 11-year-old Thoroughbred…

EQ LIFE: Last year you won the CCI2*L-J at MI3DE – how have you and Taddy progressed since then?

MOLLY: Since Melbourne last year, Taddy and I have consolidated ourselves at three-star level, as we had only had a couple of starts at that level at the time. First up we competed at Friends of Werribee Horse Trials CCN3*S and then Spring Horse Trials in the CCI3*S, where he took home the win both weekends.

Together, we were selected as a part of the Australian Young Rider team to compete in the Oceania Championships in Hastings, New Zealand, in March this year. Due to the extreme weather events devastating such a large proportion of the country, the event was unfortunately cancelled. Aside from this, we had just one off day in the CCI3*S at the Summer Horse Trials at Werribee, where I chose to retire him from cross country. Other than that, he’s placed second at both Tonimbuk and Wandin in the CCI3*S; seventh overall, second in the Young Rider, and Best Performed OTT in the CCI3*L at Adelaide Equestrian Festival; and now first at Ballarat in our first CCI4*S.

EQ LIFE: Adelaide was always a goal for you – what was that experience like and how did you feel it went?

MOLLY: Adelaide was the most amazing experience. The event itself was absolutely incredible – shout-out to the team who put the event together. I couldn’t even imagine how much time and effort went into organising everything for that week.

Taddy was super all week. He was so very relaxed in our dressage in front of the grandstand that I thought he was going to fall asleep on me – he was so lazy! As for cross country, I don’t think I’ve ever had a round go so perfectly to plan. After completing the course in the fastest time of the day for the CCI3*L class, he recovered amazingly.

Taddy was awesome in the show jumping too. However, his jockey was definitely feeling the nerves as a result of a potential podium position. Therefore, I rode far too defensively, concentrating too much on the next jumps instead of the ones in front of us. I was still thrilled to finish seventh overall, with Taddy taking home his much-deserved Best Performed OTT rug.

Molly and Tadpole won their first four-star start at Ballarat International Horse Trials. Image by Jay Town for Racing Photos.

Taddy is a quick cross country horse. Image by Jay Town for Racing Photos.

EQ LIFE: Ballarat was your first CCI4*S start and you just about finished on your dressage score, how was it from your perspective?

MOLLY: It was definitely a confidence boost and a really good note to end the season on. I have taken away plenty of things to work on – particularly in the dressage – as well as making progress in areas I looked to improve after Adelaide, such as controlling my nerves. To have a clear show jumping round was definitely my highlight of the weekend. Jumping clear around the cross country with just 0.4 of a time penalty was a bonus, especially considering the weather wasn’t being super kind.

EQ LIFE: What’s next, do you think you’ll aim for Melbourne again?

MOLLY: I considered trying to qualify for the CCI4*S, but at this stage I’m unfortunately planning on giving Melbourne a miss this year. I would rather establish more confidence at four-star level before I put us in high pressure events like Melbourne. I also feel like he’s had a big enough season and I would rather be safe than sorry in terms of his soundness and mental health.

Taddy will now most likely go on a quick break before I start preparing him for the spring events. From there, he will hopefully just have one more three-star run before stepping back up to four-star until Sydney International Three-Day Event in November, where I am thinking of doing one more CCI3*L for our confidence.

EQ LIFE: You’ve mentioned previously that Taddy wasn’t a big fan of water early on – how did you overcome this in training?

MOLLY: A LOT of patience! I was eliminated from the water at his first few events – being a 13-year-old Pony Club rider I didn’t understand that I could actually “paddle” and school the water within the competition. Once I started EA, I joined the Eventing Squad and began properly learning how to develop confidence in spooky young horses in comparison to kicking around cheeky young ponies. From then on, every event he competed in I “paddled” him through each water jump until I felt he trusted I wasn’t pointing him at a big, dark hole. This took from mid-2018 until Geelong Horse Trials in 2021, our third two-star start (including Covid delays) – where I finally gave jumping straight in a go, and away we went.

“I finally gave jumping straight
in a go, and away we went.”

EQ LIFE: Do you have any other OTTs in your stable currently?

MOLLY: I do! There are three other OTTs at home; I have Henry – who raced as Canny Roll – who’s competing at EvA95 level, ready to step up to one-star, and another gelding who has just recently arrived. I will properly begin his retraining in August, where we will be full steam ahead in terms of getting them both out and about. The third is our little broodmare who we have recently brought home – she is currently in foal to Tulara Dawson, due in December. We are so excited to have her aboard the team.

EQ LIFE: What tips do you have for other young riders looking to take an OTT horse up the grades?

MOLLY: Persistence, consistency, and patience. I am definitely no expert and have much, much more to learn myself, but from the many things I’ve learnt so far, you need to persist with the correct training, surround yourself with people who can help, and be patient and soft with them.

I’ve learnt that they only want to please – some just take a little longer to reset their brains from racing than others, but they will get there! The more you do and the more you expose them to different things over time, the better they get. Every single horse has a cheeky day or two, don’t give up on them! They are so worth it in the long run.

This article was written in conjunction with Racing Victoria. To find out more about their Off The Track program, please visit OTT Community. EQ

The pair jumped clear in the show jumping at Ballarat. Image by Jay Town for Racing Photos.