Five Minutes With... Brett & Aimee Warren

Brett and Aimee with children Millie and Bailey, pictured with Cumo Z and their adorable chocolate Labrador pups!

Cheezy Z competing in Sydney 2011

Stunning young European stallion Graf Rhapsody

Promising young horse, Aalmo, is currently listed for sale on Horsezone

Beautiful Sobraon Park, situated in the township of Traveston, Queensland, is where successful competitors Brett and Aimee Warren, along with their two young children Bailey and Millie, many horses and several chocolate Labradors call home!

In the 10 years Sobraon Park has been established, the Park has earned a reputation for producing some of Australia's most successful performance horses. Set on approximately 30 acres amongst prime farming land, the Park is well appointed with individually occupied horse-safe paddocks, a fully fitted stable complex, Sobraon Park is a perfect place to raise and care for horses. Brett and Aimee take great pride in breeding, raising, training and selling quality animals to loving homes.

In addition to his achievements in Australia, Brett has also competed overseas in showjumping and sporting, and on several occasions has been invited to travel abroad to train elite riders in many different countries. Aimee has proved to be a successful show horse rider as well as a judge, having been invited to judge at many well-known events in the industry.

This week Brett received the welcome news that he - with top showjumping mare, Cheezy Z - has been chosen to compete as a member of the Australian team at the March Trans-Tasman events in New Zealand. Congratulations Brett!

Following this exciting news, Jo Johnson caught up with Brett and Aimee for a chat... 

 

Aimee and Brett, how did you first become involved with horses?

Brett: I started riding when I was about three years old my father had cattle and horses,l so we all just had a pony to ride around the farm.

Aimee: I started when I was around 12 years old - my mum used to ride when she was young. It started by going on a trail ride and never wanting to get off!

 

What were the first horse sports your participated in?

Brett: I started off in Pony Club and mainly did mounted games and jumping.

Aimee: Pony Club and then showing.

 

What are your favorite horse sports?

We both love showjumping mainly but some of the other disciplines are really interesting to watch at the top level too, such as cutting.

Are there any horse events you would love to try?

Probably something completely different like cutting!

What do you think makes a great showjumper?

We have definitely got a different outlook on this compared to years ago. It used to be something that did the job, got over the fence and won the money. We still want some of that, but now when we are looking at horses to purchase or bring on, it is more about the overall look and rideability. There is no point having something that jumps the moon but doesn’t have the right head to deal with it. We also have to make sure they are rideable for resale value.
 

Brett, do you have favourite horses?

From the past I would have to say it would be Little Town Lad. He was a very honest horse that I won my first World Cup on, and my current horse Cheezy Z. We have been so blessed to have her - she has won so many classes that I have always aimed for, including one of our local shows, Gympie. It is one of Queensland’s toughest Grand Prix events and Cheezy Z won this in 2010 and then in 2011 we won Queensland senior country and state tiles.

What horse would you love to own?

We would loved to have had Dobels Cento

What would you consider as your biggest achievement in your horse-life?
Probably meeting each other! Had it not been for horse shows we probably would never have met.

 

Aimee, what item in your grooming and/or tack box can't you live without?

My big thing is licorice! My horses all get it if they jump a clean round, they really look for it when they come out the ring and get annoyed if they don’t get it. Other than that probably baby wipes they are so hand for many things.

What's been happening with your horses on the competition front recently?

We have just come back from a break. Cheezy Z has returned home after being out at equivet doing ET and we were successful in getting two eggs out of her this year. We have also just recently sold Cumo Z to a lovely family in Queensland.

So we will now start working the others and for our first show we will head to the Sunshine Coast Grand Weekend in February, which is held at Nambour and is always a great way to start the year. Especially with a great Stubben saddle up for grabs for the best 1.40m horses over the two days!

We will then head over to New Zealand because Brett and Cheezy Z have been selected in the Australian team for the nations cup at New Zealand Horse of the Year Show and we will also do the gold cup as well. Then back home and start the Queensland curcuit.

We are really looking forward to taking Cheezy Z over to New Zealand, as we had planned on it last year but an unfortunate situation arose. Her jump is always there we just need to get her fit, we try and do this by doing hill and paddock work on the 100 acres across from us. she will head over at the end of February and we'll do one show then on to the Horse of the Year Show. We have both been there before but only as a spectators, it is an amazing show (one of the best we have seen) it has great events and shopping too! We are really excited to be part of it and hope that we can do our owner Kim Tenkate and our sponsors Stubben Australia and Omega Feeds proud, without these guys it would be impossible for us to continue.

You have a wonderful young horse for sale at the moment, tell us about him?

Currently we have a great young D grader for sale, his name is Aalmo he is a bay Warmblood gelding by Alimo. He has been jumping really well around some bigger tracks (1.20m) and would ideally suit a young rider or someone wanting a good futurity horse.

We also have some young stock for sale. We are reducing our numbers due to our son starting school this year and just not having enough time.

View Aalmo's listing on Horsezone for more details.

 

I believe you have some exciting news to share regarding a very impressive young stallion - Graf Rhapsody?

Yes we have a wonderful owner Kim Tenkate, she owns the mare Cheezy Z. Kim has recently been to Europe and purchased a young stallion from the Verband Auction - Graf Rhapsody. He is by Graf Top who was just awarded top stallion of the year. Graf Rhapsody is staying in Germany to be broken in and do his performance test and some servicing as well. We will hopefully be receiving some semen over here in February 2012 and putting some mares in foal. We will be selling semen once it's in the country. Check our website in late February 2012 for details and video.

 

What are your goals for 2012 and the future?

We will just be concentrating on the Cheezy Z and some young ones we have. We are also looking at purchasing a nice mini prix horse in the future. In 2013 we will start breaking in Cheezy babies which will be very exciting and Graf Rhapsody will come over then too!

 

If you get a spare moment, how do you relax?

Brett works really hard during the week, shoeing (Brett is a popular farrier in Queensland) or riding, so on our weekends off we either go skiing or fishing, or we have friends over and the boys ride the motor bikes on the motocross track down the back paddock at home.

Aimee, in addition to your horses you also have some other lovely four-legged critters?

Yes I have three female chocolate Labradors and a chocolate male. All my dogs are registered with papers with Dogs Queensland and have run of our property; I have been breeding them for a while now and mainly sell to families. All my dogs are brought up with the kids so they are well socialised when ready for their new homes!

 

Thank you Aimee and Brett for your time and we look forward to seeing how you go in New Zealand and to more news on Graf Rhapsody!

Quick Link

• Visit the Sobraon Park website