Tribute to a Champion - DP Envy

As seen in the August 2017 edition of Horse Deals Magazine

No, this is not another tribute to a show horse from the successful Dale Plumb stable, but you would be right in thinking that Dale was involved with the horse; in fact he owned the very successful jumper. Dale is a good judge of a horse and when he saw that Envy was a talented jumper, he sought to have that talent moulded in to success. And success he had, as Envy, with Robert Agnew in the saddle claimed the 2004 Australian Showjumping Championships and this is his tribute.

Envy was a Thoroughbred, foaled in 1989 by Consolidate (by Better Boy) out of the Century (by Better Boy) mare Mignon. The double cross to Better Boy suggests a short coupled, not very tall, attractive horse and that was 16hh Envy, that was trained briefly as Samarkhand by Mick Kent at Cranbourne. It was said of Better Boy, Champion Australian Sire three times in the 1970s that his progeny, “take a bit of time to get going.”

Dale Plumb begins the story. “I bought him from Mick Kent as a potential hack. Billy Warke sent a friend up to see the horse and I rode him. The fellow wanted him and wanted to leave him with me for 12 months to produce. In that time I free jumped him and discovered that Envy could really jump and tried to buy him back. That did not happen for a few years and Envy was very lightly shown, before I got him back. To give the horse the best chance, I sent him to George Sanna to produce and sell on. That did not progress as we had all hoped and he came back to me. I sent him to Raymond Thomas who suggested Robert Agnew ride him and he was with him for the rest of his life.”

“Envy came up to us to sell,” remembers George. “We liked the horse, but he was a bit uneven behind. It did not seem to affect the horse or his jump, but when vetted by a prospective purchaser, including interest from the USA, it became an issue. Although he was a nice, talented horse, he was with us to sell. I was not looking for another horse to ride, so in the end he returned to Dale in Victoria where he went on to have a wonderful career with Robert Agnew.”

Farrier, one time racehorse trainer and successful jumping rider, Robert Agnew takes up Envy’s story. “Envy went to Raymond Thomas who was giving up jumping riding at the time. He really liked Envy and suggested I take him on and that was in about 2001 when Envy was eleven. He was a bit hocky and even Mick Kent said that about him when he was training him. Nothing like stringhalt and it never got any better or any worse and did not worry him at all. He had flat Thoroughbred feet too and I worked on them and put eggbar shoes on him and in all the time I had him he was never lame.

“He had just turned B Grade when I got him and had been well educated. To begin with we just did the local shows until he really got going. He won the A and B Championship at the Bega World Cup Show and won in Part 1 at Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane Royals. He never won at Sydney, but he was always in the placings. He had a really successful four to five years and won the Australian Championships in 2004 at Mt Gambier which was a huge thrill. I did not show him a lot and only did about 15-20 shows a year and in that time he won about 20-25 Grand Prix. He toured New Zealand for a month in 2004 with the Australian Team and he was second in the NZ Horse of the Year Grand Prix, third in the Isola Grand Prix and was the only clear round in the first round of the Teams competition at Gisborne. I rode him for enjoyment and did not chase World Cup points, although he was third on the Pacific League in 2005/2006. I did all the big shows here, but I did not think he was good enough to be an international horse and go to the World Cup Final etc. I’m not sure he would have coped with all the travelling and he was a really spooky horse. He had his own style and I just went along with him and did not try to change anything. He had a good conscience and always wanted to jump clear; he was a genuine, honest horse.

“His last season was 2008 and he won the A and B at Shepparton in November and the heat knocked him around a little. He was 19 and I thought it best to retire him whilst he was still OK. He spent his days out in the paddock and was boxed every night for the rest of his life. I kept him shod and he had three feeds of Mitavite a day. He did so much for me, so we looked after him pretty well in his retirement. As I said, he was always a bit hocky and towards the end, I observed that he was having a little trouble getting up in the paddock. I thought if it got slippery, I would hate him to fracture a hock or a leg getting up. He looked well, but he was showing his age. My wife Jenny and I talked about it and we thought it was better to euthanise him before he deteriorated and possibly hurt himself and forced our hand. I’ll never get another horse like him. I have always had racehorses and Thoroughbreds, so I just ignored his spookiness and so on and let him do his thing and he went very well like that.

“On the 30th March this year, our vet, Rohan Luxmore came and put him to sleep and we buried him beside his best mate and long time travelling companion, Hero Quest. Envy was 28 years old.”

Story by Anna Sharpley

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