That attendee was Shelley Peters, who is the owner of Tell Me A Story (Blaze to his mates), the beautiful Quarter Horse gelding that Stacy rode during the Masterclass.

When asked how she felt to see her gorgeous boy out there in the main arena with Stacy, Shelley replied, "I felt overwhelmed that it was actually happening! It was surreal to see my horse out there! I remember walking into the Masterclass and thinking WOW the stadium was packed and there was my boy in front of everyone... people behind me were commenting on how pretty he was and I maybe had a little cry."

Of course, Shelley was once again overwhelmed with pride that night when Stacy rode Blaze in a freestyle bridleless reining demonstration. "Blaze is the first horse ever to be ridden by Stacy Westfall in a bridleless ride that isn’t her own," says Shelley, "she wasn’t planning to ride bridleless, as she said this was a huge task and she needed thousands of hours to get a horse ready - the fact she did it within four hours on Blaze was amazing."

"On top of that there was a spotlight, a huge crowd and a crazy atmosphere yet he handled it the best any horse could have. Especially since he didn’t know Stacy - nor was he used to her feel and buttons - he was very trusting of her and did everything he was asked. All without reins! He is a wonderful horse and Stacy has huge talent."

Blaze's Vital Statistics...

DOB: 24 October 1995

Sire: Little Story Teller

Dam: Top of the Lions

Home: Serendipity Reining Horses, Ourimbah on the Central NSW Coast, with Shelley's Dad, Greg Peters.

Early Life: Blaze was first trained by David Norbury and was then owned by Leonie Huber.

Why Blaze is a Super Horse? 

Tell Me A Story is currently ranked the eighth highest money earning horse ever in Australia with life time earnings of $30,458.80. This makes him the third highest earning gelding ever.

This is a great achievement given the prize money on feature classes in his derby and futurity years has increased substantially from 1999 to the present. Shelley comments, “I would be interested to see where Blaze held up if the prize money was normalised out. If he’s in the top already with the futurity now worth $30K from $2K in his feature class years, he would surely be even higher.”

Blaze's futurity year was in 1999, where he came first in one go round and second overall in the open futurity trained by David Norbury. He has since gone on to win in total seven Australian national titles, 14 runner up titles and 12 top five placings. At a state championship level he has won 33 titles, 18 runner up titles, 19 placing and also first at the Australian Halter showcase open, not including his performance at club level.

As an example, Blaze's figures include the following classes in just national and state competition alone;

Open- Four 1sts, and eight 2nds

Open non pro- Five 1sts and eight 2nds

Intermediate Open-Six 1sts and Four 2nds

Intermediate Non Pro-Six 1sts, Three 2nds

Perhaps Blaze's greatest achievement is that ten years after his second place in the Australian open futurity he went on to win the 2009 Australian open non pro and just recently placed first in 2011 Australian prime time non pro ridden by Greg Peters. This shows that at the age of 16 he is still competing and winning at the top non pro level and shows no signs of slowing down. This is exemplified in Blaze being the oldest top earning money horse in Australia still competing.

Blaze is the only horse in the top eight that has allowed the ability of a beginner rider and open non pro rider to compete on the horse, in the same show years with great success, illustrating not only his versatility, but his true honesty and ability to not only compete with the very best but to be quiet and well trained enough to allow a novice rider to compete.

From these statistics above, he would arguably be one of the best horses ever in Australia measured in his talent, consistency and longevity overall all levels of open and non pro levels.

When Blaze met Shelley...

Shelley and her dad, Greg, purchased Blaze in 2006 and have owned him ever since.

Shelley is currently in her last semester of a University degree Commerce-Accounting Combined with Law and also works at a boutique Chartered Accounting Firm called Azure Group, so often travels between the farm at Ourimbah and the city.

Growing up around horses, but following in the footsteps of three sisters who did dancing and netball, Shelley didn't actually start riding until the summer of 2005/06 when she was 15 years old.

"Dad bought me Blaze in March 2006," remembers Shelley. "I always wanted to do reining as it was something dad and I could do together. I loved the thrill of watching a horse do a sliding stop and turnaround and once I had a go I was hooked! Dad has had a lot of success in reining (he grew up around horses and began reining in 1990), winning futurities, derbies, opens and open non pros, which are the highest level, and I want to follow in his steps and get to that level. I have tried my hand at western pleasure and also rode a friend's cutting horse and it is something I would like to do in the future but right now I’m very keen on reining. With Full time work and Uni its hard to fit time in - so I’m wanting to do as much reining as possible."

"Blaze and I have been very fortunate to have so much success in the show pen, however it has taken a lot of hard work. I do a lot of preparation at home with dad teaching me. Blaze and I have travelled a fair bit and haven’t always been a winner - sometimes we come last in the class, sometimes I haven’t been able to compete because of Uni or work but the only way we have been successful is by also failing. As they say success is just hard work and commitment."

"I think what makes us a winning combination is that we have a special bond. I am also very fortunate to have dad who teaches and mentors me with Blaze when I get stuck. We also look after and love him on the ground - lots of cuddles, washes, massages, etc, which I think helps you bond with your horse… he always wants to please me, which I think its because I always do the same with him!"

How Blaze met Stacy!

"The Equitana invitation came about by an invitation from the Reining Australia Board. They called me and asked if Blaze would be available," shares Shelley. "Dad was originally hoping to compete at Equitana on Blaze in the reining Finals, but when I found out about Stacy we both decided to let them use him.  It was a great honour that someone of her calibre wanted to use him. We emailed Stacy a video and some pictures and she loved Blaze and that's how he was picked."

"When I found out I just screamed! I don’t think I slept much! I was very excited and honoured, but also worried, I'd have to get him ready for the freestyle demo with the bridleless riding, spot lights, tuning him up etc and I was scared Stacy would get him and think he wasn’t good enough, which certainly wasn’t the case!"

"As far as when it really hit me that Stacy Westfall was going to be riding my horse, I think it was when we arrived at Equitana on the Wednesday before it all started. We saddled up Blaze and took him to the main arena and met Stacy. She asked me to jump on him and ride him around to show her what he was like. I think I didn’t breathe for that whole ten minutes!"

"I wasn’t surprised at how well Blaze took to no hands... but I was very proud! He adapted to a new rider extremely well, but I knew he would, we'd done the preparation, and he is such a trusting and honest horse. We also worked through his buttons with Stacy and she used them to complete the run."

"Getting Blaze ready for Equitana was crazy. Both dad and I had to share the riding of him to get him ready as it took a lot of preparation and time. After the Reining National Championships in August, we let him have a month off (he was in pretty heavy work before hand) and began to work him in September, especially on his fitness."

"Training a reining horse takes a lot of time and effort and even once they are trained it is as hard to keep them good and honest. With Blaze he came trained, however, dad and I spent a lot of time fixing certain things and basically we re-trained him to our training style, which worked out well."

"In completing in bridleless reining it's all about trust, having a strong training routine and especially very good leg buttons. You don’t just get a horse that can do it over night - it's years of training and trust and developing that relationship. We do a lot of trail riding and expose Blaze to as many situations as possible. When he's scared it's about comforting him to move forward... some days you need to put up a fight but other days it's about reading what his body is telling you, but Blaze is a very special horse." 

Hanging out with Stacy...

When asked about what it was like working with Stacy during Equitana, Shelley had one word to describe our favourite American, "Awesome! Stacy was so friendly and thankful to us for letting her use Blaze. She was great to speak to and is just a really nice, genuine person. She loved talking to all the people who visited her booth and was so happy to help anyone out with questions they had about their horses."

"Stacy loved Blaze and gave me fantastic feedback about how great he is! She did give me a few little pointers on things I can do with him, especially bridleless. She was very grateful to be able to trust him enough to ride bridleless and acknowledged the hours we put in to get him to the top level he is at." 

Has fame gone to Blaze's head?

"No, he's very humble and is still happiest eating in the paddock! Blaze loves food! Anything - Hay, Carrots, Apples, anything! His funniest habit is falling asleep in his ‘horse made’ sandpit at home snoring. He hasn't changed at all. I didn’t think I could love him anymore, but after Equitana I do just a bit." 

What's next for Blaze?

"Although Blaze is getting on in age, he still has a fair few years on him... He's still up there with the best of the best and is in perfect health, in my opinion his greatest achievement- his longevity and talent" says Shelley, "I'll be attending my usual NSWRHA Reining shows as well as State and National Championship shows. Dad will also continue to ride him in the Top reining classes, including the Open Non Pro... while I'm also planning to compete in the freestyle at these reining shows - bridleless of course - I'm hooked! Also, Stacy might also be coming out again soon and wants to ride him again so stay tuned for that!"

Quick Links

• Read 'Five Minutes With... Stacy Westfall'
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