The Agony And The EcstasyOaks Unchained Melody

ARTICLE: MARYANNE LEIGHTON ~ PHOTOGRAPHY: LIZ SPEED

Owning a cutting horse is enough to put the sanest person on an emotional rollercoaster ride.

Eye to Eye ~ 2009 NCHA CUTTING HORSE YEARBOOK6.

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Allan Hunter and Oaks Unchained Melody share a private moment before

her run in the 2009 NCHA Classic Challenge

2009 NCHA CUTTING HORSE YEARBOOK ~ Eye to Eye 7.

An owner is faced with the agony of deciding which horse to buy, which trainer to send her to and which futurities to nominate

her for. Then he has to endure the anguish that comes with having a horse in training. The ups and downs of injury and colic, the highs and lows of a good run one week and a bad run the next. Does she really have the talent? Can this particular trainer get the best out of her? The anxious owner swings from elation to despair as he wonders if he has done his money yet again. Then, if he is one of truly lucky few, there is the euphoria – the absolute joy – when she wins. And wins. And wins again.

Allan Hunter has seen cutting from both ends – from owning and riding dud horses to owning one of the best in the country. He’s hooked. But he could so easily have walked away from the whole cutting game when he got tired of being at the bottom of the pile, wanted to join the big boys at the top end of the game and no one took him seriously.

Allan describes himself as a country boy. He grew up on the land in northern NSW, married Helen, a girl he knew in primary school, and in 1977 they bought their first retail business. They expanded, traded through flood, fire and recession then gleefully sold out to a big chain. A farm replaced the store, they purchased another farm, then leased another on which to run cattle and before long they’d made the back page of The Land newspaper for the best pen of steers at the annual Casino weaner sale.

Helen knows one end of a horse from the other but that knowledge hardly constitutes a consuming passion for them; she barely has a passing interest. Horses were a tool on the family farm when Allan was a boy and he says he has never ridden for pleasure, only to get the job done or to win a ribbon or two at local shows. By 2004 he had tired of the same-old, same-old show circuit and was looking for something a bit more interesting and considerably more challenging. He dragged Helen to the 2004 NCHA Finals – this was the year extremely high temperatures forced classes to start at five in the morning. He says, ‘I wondered who would be silly enough to do this, then realised it would be me.’ Home he went, built an arena, joined the NCHA and the local cutting club and bred his Paint mares to cutting stallions. Cutting became a family affair and his son-in-law, Iain Roberts, also began competing. However, Allan says, ‘By starting at the bottom, I had difficulty breaking into the sport and ended up doing it the expensive way.’ At the end of 2006, Allan, Helen, their daughter Ainslie and son-in-law Iain went to Fort Worth for the American NCHA Futurity which ‘opened our eyes to the bigger picture and the possibility of playing with the big boys.’

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Jason Leitch and Oaks Unchained Melody at

Chinchilla in 2008

Allan and Helen Hunter with Jason Leitch after Oaks

Unchained Melody placed equal third in the 2009

NCHA Classic Challenge

Eye to Eye ~ 2009 NCHA CUTTING HORSE YEARBOOK8.

On their return to Australia, a glossy ad for a cutting gelding caught Allan’s eye. ‘He was a fully-imported son of a brother of a champion, etcetera etcetera. I now had my fully-fledged cutting prospect.’ Allan and Helen put the gelding with a trainer and off to the 2007 NCHA Futurity they went. ‘Needless to say, we again bought some experience.’ Allan was tormented by this taste of failure and was at a crossroads – stay in cutting and do it properly or cut his losses and get out. Helen suggested they should sell the gelding and buy the second-best horse they could find – the second-best because obviously the best wouldn’t be for sale.

Dressed in his usual country attire and struggling to overcome his crippling shyness, Allan introduced himself to every trainer he could find at the 2007 Futurity. He gave his homemade business card to each, told them he wanted to play in the big end of town and that whoever found the right horse for him would get to train it. He was stung by the response and says, ‘Some of those people dismissed me, some looked at me as though I had two heads. I felt like a fish out of water because I had turned up in an Akubra and an oilskin. I obviously didn’t fit in and couldn’t find anyone to take me seriously.’

A chance meeting with Jason Leitch lifted Allan’s spirits. Jason did take him seriously and says, ‘Allan had a totally different approach and I instantly respected him. I thought, “This man’s no mug” and I was right. He was as good as his word and over the past couple of years since we met he has done exactly what he said he would do.’

Timing, as they say, is everything. Jason and his mate John Mitchell from the USA were watching the 2007 Futurity when Ian Francis rode into the arena. Jason says, ‘When Ian rides in, you always watch to see what he’s on. He’s one of the greats and is a horseman that I truly respect.’ This time Ian was on Raelene Higgins’ Oaks Unchained Melody. Jason was blown away by the mare’s natural brilliance and her ability to read a cow. ‘I said to John, “Holy dooley, look at that one!”’ Everything came together seamlessly; Allan approached the right trainer, the right mare was there on the right day and they were able to persuade a reluctant Raelene Higgins to name her price.

Raelene bred Oaks Unchained Melody, the mare everyone calls Chubby. She’s by Tassa Lena out of the Docs Freckles Oak mare, Oaks Melody, who was Raelene’s co-reserve champion of the 1999 NCHA Futurity and who had lifetime earnings of $24,267. Chubby was so named because as a foal, with her woolly coat and big hair, she looked like a Thelwell pony. Coincidentally, Chubby Turner, the Vice President of the American NCHA, was in town that spring and his name fit Raelene’s tough little filly.

However, the equine Chubby’s svelte good looks and athletic ability belie that name. She has a natural keenness and good mind and, like all Raelene’s horses, is exceptionally well mannered. Raelene is renowned for her astute breeding program. She breeds a few good mares, sells a few foals only to the right homes, starts the most promising youngsters herself and sends the best

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Jason Leitch and Oaks Unchained Melody, second place at Paradise

Lagoons in 2008

2009 NCHA CUTTING HORSE YEARBOOK ~ Eye to Eye 9.

of them to Ian Francis to prepare for the futurities. She trusts Ian who has a similar way of working and who, as she says, ‘Makes horses into cow horses. He trains their minds, keeps them fresh and doesn’t terrorise them. He doesn’t lope them for hours and wear them out, so they’re keen to work for him and they can be themselves in the cutting pen.’ Working together, Raelene and Ian have produced brilliant horses like One Hellofa Spin and they had similar high hopes for young Chubby in her futurity year.

However, Oaks Unchained Melody failed to make the 2007 NCHA Futurity final by a single point. A disappointed Ian says, ‘I felt pretty strong about that little mare. She was real good and showed real good in the pre-works but just didn’t show her best at the futurity shows.’ Allan Hunter agrees with Ian, saying he thought she was a good horse that had bad luck. Allan and Helen followed Chubby to Toowoomba where she placed fifth with Ian in the futurity and sixth with Raelene in the non pro. At Goondiwindi bad luck again came her way and she and Raelene again placed sixth in the non pro. As a crestfallen Raelene was about to load Chubby to take her home, Allan approached her. ‘We must have passed the test because the deal was done. Off we go home. Jason has a new horse. Raelene is crying.’

Raelene wasn’t just crying; she was absolutely devastated. This was a mare she had never considered selling but she says, ‘Financially, selling her was the right thing to do, although it was very hard. I had to give up

something good to do other good things with my horses at home and I was able to console myself knowing that Chubby was going to great owners who would continue to show her and do the best for her.’

As soon as Jason rode Chubby he says he knew she was absolutely brilliant. ‘I regard Raelene as the best breeder around. Combine the start she gives her foals with Ian Francis’s talents and, well, you can’t go past them. I was very lucky to have Chubby after such a good start and Raelene and Ian are a big part of my current success with her.’ That success began within a few weeks when a jubilant Jason won a $3500 novice with Chubby – then horse flu stopped play. In disbelief, Allan exclaims, ‘What a time to get serious about cutting!’

When the EI ban was lifted and the 2008 show year began, a frustrated Allan’s only instruction to Jason was, ‘If there is a show, then take her – let’s make her as famous as we can as soon as we can.’ As Chubby’s four-year-old year unfolded, she was placed in virtually every show she entered including a third at the Victoria Derby and equal second in the 2008 Gold Cup Open. By the time of the NCHA Derby, the mare was a little tired after travelling 6000 kilometres in only three weeks but Allan had convinced himself this would be the breakthrough. He was to be bitterly disappointed again. ‘This was our big opportunity. Jason was conservative in the first go-round and got an average score. In the second go-round he had to fly by the seat of his pants and they missed the final by one point. He was mortified and the look of devastation on his face was so heartbreaking that all I could do was shake his hand and say “You did the best you could”. He’d tried so hard but to me, missing the finals of the Derby with a good mare like Chubby was different to having tasted the pain of having a dud horse that didn’t achieve anything.’

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Above: Allan and Helen after Chubby’s 2009 Classic Challenge run where she placed equal third

Below: Allan and Helen with Chubby, Tamworth 2009

Eye to Eye ~ 2009 NCHA CUTTING HORSE YEARBOOK10.

By the end of December Allan and Jason looked at Chubby’s earnings and the shows that were still available in the points’ year and decided to go for the lot. ‘We arrived at the National Finals leading the $3500 and close to leading in the Open.’ By the end of that show, Oaks Unchained Melody was 2008 NCHA $10,000 Novice High Point Champion, 2008 NCHA $3500 Novice High Point Champion, 2008 NCHA High Point Mare, 2008 NCHA High Point Open Reserve Champion and she recorded the highest score at the 2008 NCHA Finals of 147. As Jason says, ‘She won everything but the egg and spoon race.’

Allan declares, ‘Chubby’s success proves what you can do in spite of setbacks. Have a plan and a belief in what you want to achieve.’ He knows he hit the jackpot with Oaks Unchained Melody and says, ‘This little mare has managed to fund herself. She’s paid her own way, has achieved so much and deserves the recognition.’

Allan and Helen go to as many futurities and shows as they can, they have videos of all Chubby’s winning runs but Wild Horse 2009 was the first time they’d had actually seen their mare win. To Allan’s shock, he was so nervous he had to hide. ‘In my family I’m considered to be the noisy one but watching Chubby I’m anything but. I was biting my nails and was so nervous and apprehensive I had to go away and find a quiet spot to watch.’ He now knows first-hand that, if you have a heart problem, cutting probably isn’t the sport for you. ‘This cutting, it’s totally consuming. It’s there for the moment; you don’t want to blink when your horse is out there because you’ll probably miss something.’

He probably wouldn’t be so enthusiastic if he hadn’t had such early success with Chubby. ‘EI probably helped both her and us, she had to sit in a paddock and mature and after that break we were keen to get some return.’

However, he adds, ‘We weren’t expecting the success we’ve had. To go and do cutting like this was the craziest thing I have ever done in my life. I’m used to being in control and I have no control over this at all. I’ve had to put so much trust in Jason and the surprise is how well we are able to work together even though we’re a thousand kilometres apart. I ring him occasionally and the nice thing is that we can talk about things other than horses.’ There are things other than horses?

The businessman in Allan says, ‘Paying a trainer is a fairly challenging exercise but I decided to invest in a high-quality horse thinking that I’d have a horse to compete on when Jason had finished with her. It doesn’t look as though that’s going to happen because the more she wins the less inclined I am to take her out of training.’ Allan has just turned 60 and he’s working on yet another five-year business plan for his cutting horses. ‘At the high end of this sport there are probably another hundred good horses out there – and I’d like another one.’

Most people wait for their boat to come in but not Allan Hunter. He asks, ‘Why wait for your boat, why not swim out to it?’ He never stops swimming and has just possibly found another good mare, this time the conventional way, through a sale. He says, ‘I’m only too willing to invest in people. I took a punt and put my trust in Jason Leitch and it has worked out so I’m prepared to do it again.’ In reply, Jason says, ‘Allan is a very easy owner to have a good relationship with. He shows me the respect of my judgment and asks for my guidance. He is also very respectful of the life I lead. He knows I have other clients and other horses, we talk once in a while but he doesn’t take up too much of my time.’ Jason complements Allan and Helen for coming into the cutting industry the way they did, describing Allan as a very clever man who did his homework before approaching trainers. ‘He used his business skills, did his market research and he knows that horses aren’t about the figures. Allan and Helen are very practical people who are willing to be guided into success.’ Any trainer would be delighted to have owners like these.

These days Allan feels more comfortable now he has a proper hat to wear to cuttings. He says, ‘For me, success doesn’t have to be the big cheques, it’s an inner feeling. I don’t need the shiny buckle or the cowboy boots, but I do need to feel welcome.’ Maybe people will take notice next time a man with big plans turns up at a major futurity show in an Akubra and oilskin. Jason Leitch has been rewarded for seeing through the clothes to the man beneath, and he will be the first to tell you to save yourself a lot of heartache by never judging people by what they wear.

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Left: Jason Leitch and Chubby hang tough at Chinchilla 2008, showing the style that won high point mare and $3500 Novice Champion, $10,000 Novice Champion and Open Reserve Champion in 2008