An OTTB and a horse mad girl

My name is Adrienne. I live in Australia and recently graduated high school. I also became the owner of my very first horse.

Like many before me I became enthralled by the sport of kings. From my primary school years I remember avidly following my ill-fated hero Mummify, cutting out newspaper clippings of him and many other thoroughbreds and plastering my walls with them. Other girls followed bands and the latest teen sensation movie star (who were the big names of that decade?) but the champions of racing proved my idols. I watched from my lounge room as Makybe Diva won her legendary three Melbourne Cups and became infatuated with the baldy-faced Apache Cat who will always be my favourite racehorse. So it came as no surprise to my parents that I made friends with stablehands and late in 2008 got a Sunday morning volunteer position with a leading Victorian racing stable. Fast forward to 2012 and I've worked in three stables with some of the top Australian racers of the past few years. For me, it became about the horses as I'd never been able to be so hands on with them so often before. I learnt to handle horses in these stables and learnt toughness, firmness, patience and understanding. I also made some great friends, human and equine.

So when I quit my job in May this year I quickly found that something was missing. And that something was an equine connection. As a consequence I resolved to find a horse to call my own for when school finished. I decided that this horse would be an ex-racehorse or off track thoroughbred (OTTB) as I felt most experienced with thoroughbreds as a breed. Through friends that I had made in racing I found Mr Riggs. I'd seen this horse racing and he was a tough old campaigner, frequently seen on metro tracks. The trainer and his wife had not yet decided whether to keep Riggs or let him find a new home, but after much thought they decided to let him go home with me. It was heartening to see a trainer care so much for his horse and I feel very privileged to be Riggs' new owner.

Everyone who has worked with him describes him as a loveable charmer with bucketloads of personality. He was also described as quiet having helped trained an apprentice jockey and gone on trail rides as part of his race training. Since his arrival I have found him to be a complete gentleman - gentle, polite and very easy to handle. He's also very funny with his facepulling and tendency to blow raspberries. His only 'baggage', so far as I can tell, is his bowed tendon. However, the injury is now seven months old and has given him zero trouble since his arrival.

I know that this journey will be challenging and a steep learning curve, but I am ready for it. And Riggs is too.