AMANDA BENSON
Queensland Off-The-Track proudly introduces Amanda Benson as a QOTT Acknowledged Retrainer.
Growing up on a 12,000 acre cattle and wheat property near Goondiwindi, horses were a huge part of Amanda’s life from a very young age. Mustering cattle and attending pony club was an integral part of her childhood, however, after six years at boarding school, all Amanda wanted was to become a professional eventing rider. Right from the start in 1991, partnered with off the track horses, Amanda achieved great success in her chosen sport. This success soon enabled Amanda to self-fund her eventing career by retraining and rehoming off the track horses. Many of these horses were sold overseas and had considerable international success including ‘Otis’ who finished 4th in the individual at the Atlanta Olympics with his new Belgian owner, as well as winning Silver at the Young Rider European Championships, and ‘Poet’s Corner’ who was sold to Japan and won Japan’s first ever 3DE.
In 2000 Amanda moved to the outskirts of Sydney to be closer to the bigger competitions and she competed up to 4 star level in eventing, while establishing a large and successful equestrian business that provided agistment, horse training and coaching services.
After 21 years in Sydney, Amanda and her husband decided it was time to return to sunny Queensland and settle in the Sunshine Coast area. Their beautiful Dulong property features all the best equine infrastructure including three floodlit arenas, grassy post and rail yards and five turn out paddocks. Amanda is now ready to use her expertise and experience and get back to her first love – retraining and rehoming retired racehorses.
“As part of the retraining process I like to take it slowly and expose off the track horses to as many different environments as possible, such as trail rides and trips in the horse float to low key destinations so they start to learn that a trip away from home doesn’t mean they are going to the races. When it is time for a retrained horse to find a new home, I ensure that the horse is 100% suitable and that the new owner has the knowledge, experience and financial means to provide the horse with the absolute best of care.”
In addition to her extensive training and competition experience, Amanda is also a Level 2 Equestrian Australia Accredited Coach.
Retraining Interest: Thoroughbreds
Retraining Focus: Eventing, Showjumping, Dressage, Leisure, Pony Club / Riding Club
CONTACT AMANDA
- Location: Dulong 4560
- Phone: 0429 049 912
- Email: amandabenson@bigpond.com