Tiz Amazin’: An OTT Horse’s Journey with Susanna Magee

The UK wartime prime minister, Winston Churchill, is alleged to have said that ‘there is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.’ Susanna Magee agrees. “I was not in a good place, and my dear friend Pernille Hogg said, ‘Horses fix everything.’ Pernille was getting some help with her young horses from Cranbourne trainer and former Champion young jumping rider, Gary Mallinson. She asked if he knew of any horses that might make a dressage horse, and he said yes. She went and checked him out, and I think the connections were happy to see him go. I went to see him; he was four years old and tall and brown and sound. I was not really sure what I was looking at, but I said yes and picked him up from Trevor Mills in Kilmore towards the end of 2016. Pernille lent me her float to go and pick him up. She knew the vibe was good, and she was spot on. I took a punt and it has just worked out beautifully.

Bred by Patinack Farm in NSW and foaled in 2012, Tiz Amazin’ (Aus) is by Tiznow (USA), the dam sire of the successful Tiz The Law. He is out of the Chilean mare Laguna Plateada by Sir Cat (USA), which goes back via the very successful Storm Cat (USA) to Northern Dancer. In fact, Northern Dancer is very much in evidence on both sides of Tiz Amazin’s pedigree, with the great Secretariat in evidence on both sides of his dam line. He is very much a product of North and South American breeding. The connections gave the big youngster as much time as they could, and he did not race until his four-year-old year, but he failed quite miserably in the one trial, and two race starts he had but somehow managed to earn $500.

“I grew up with horses,” continues Susanna, “and went to Upper Beaconsfield Pony Club and felt that I had enough experienced horse people around me to produce Tonka, as I call him, after the brown Tonka bean, and also, I invested in coaching very early on. I had lost my riding form, but it came back fairly quickly, and Tonka was very kind. He was also spicy enough to keep it really interesting, and I landed on my butt a few times, but he was really trainable. Also, it was a plus, as is the case with most off-the-track horses; he knew how to float and tie up, etc.

“I started training with Clare Porz and she has helped us so much. She thought he was a bit challenging and that it wasn’t easy for him to be a dressage horse, especially as a young horse as he is built a little downhill and grew a lot, he is now a little over 17hh but we liked surprising her, and she continues to be our biggest supporter. I look at him now, and all I see is perfection.”

“I didn’t think that I wanted to go back out and compete, but I was a little curious and went to some easy unofficial competitions. I was so bad at it, I thought, ‘I have to do better!’ I found the Off The Track competitions, and they made it really appealing and a lot less humiliating than being trumped by all the Warmbloods in the Open competition. I love the camaraderie of all the people in the OTT competition; it is a nice little community, and everyone has that common story. I have met some really nice people in the OTT Series, and that has made it more attractive. I thought Tonka, whose official show name is Mister Fahrenheit, after the Queen song, Don’t Stop Me Now, was the most magnificent horse in the world, and I was shocked that I didn’t walk away with all the blue ribbons. He has a lovely walk and canter, and we have done a lot of work on his trot. Like most horses, he needs to be more uphill, and his rider could help him a lot more. But he is always very kind and always tries so hard. The OTT Series has been super for us.

“He did a deep digital flexor tendon at the beginning of 2021, I think, from mucking around in the paddock, and he had a couple of years off. Before that, we had done a few little freshman jumping events, and he seemed to like jumping. He rested at Cloverdale Agistment with Kaz Morphett and her wonderful team. Then we embarked on a long period of rehabilitation at Lachaby Farm near Pakenham, where I kept him with Marli Plant. I thought it might have been a career-ending injury, and for the first year he was back in action, I was afraid I was going to break him, but touch wood, he has been fantastic. It has given me a ‘seize the day’ approach to go out and do what I can, when I can, because I don’t know how long it will last.

In summer I ride Tonka about five times a week, but in winter, with work, it is a lot harder and I usually manage three times a week. I am lucky, as eventing rider, Abby Plant puts him on the lunge for me once a week, to keep the crazies at a manageable level. I think it is important to keep him in work, and certainly he seems to love it.

“We started at Novice and have always been fairly consistent. Last season, we stepped up to Elementary, and I felt he really liked the challenge of doing that. We’ve had some good scores, and we are now starting to train Medium. I like to support the OTT Dressage Series and I do about six competitions a year. Many of the OTT comps are incorporated within the Open, and we have, on occasion, been placed in both. We have had some top-level judges, like Susie Hoevenaars and Adam Reiss, etc, and they have had lovely things to say about the Thoroughbreds.

“Tonka is a lovely age now, and I think we have really bonded with everything we have gone through. He is amazing; he really is a pet horse and thinks being taken for a hand pic of grass is the best thing, as he knows the grass is greener on the other side. In the OTT world, we are all bonded by our love of horses.

I just think Tonka is Magnificent; I don’t know how I got so lucky.”

Article: Anna Sharpley.

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