Above: Jennifer Wood and Cocaine Ego Z.

Jennifer Wood is a much valued member of the Australian Jumping community, who always has a smile and a friendly word to say. However Jen never set out to have a career with horses.”it just evolved,” she says. “There was never a point where I was like, this is what I want to do. It just happened.”

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Jen’s story starts on the farm, riding her mum’s stock horse-cross. “Mum said she’d take me to Pony Club when I could ride on my own. I was five.” She joined Cudal Pony Club and never looked back. “I only had two speeds on my little white pony: stop or full pelt. I loved going really fast.”

From the outside, it may look like Jen had a plan. But she insists it wasn’t like that. She rode through Pony Club, worked for Grant Hughes after school, and just kept riding. “Mum took me to as many shows as she could. If she couldn’t, she’d send me with someone else.”

When she and husband Nathan moved out bush after getting married, things snowballed. Boree Equine was born, named after the creek running through their property. “Not very original,” Jen laughed. “We’ve always just winged it, but it’s worked.”

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It began with ancient ponies and beginner riding lessons. “I borrowed some ponies that were old when I was a kid. Lucky was so old, but he was wonderful.” Word spread quickly and people came for help with their horses.

Then came the mares. Then the foals. Nathan got obsessed with breeding. “It wasn’t something we planned. We just kept doing what was working.”

Now Boree Equine is producing foals with European dam lines. “We imported two 3-year-old mares,” Jen said. “You can have all the semen in the world, but if you don’t have the mares, you can’t do anything. Nathan’s goal is to improve the dam lines so people here have access to the same quality as Europe.”

They aree also running shows at Boree Equine. Eight so far under the Waratah Showjumping banner, including classes from 45cm to 1.40m. “We copied the Sydney Jumping Association (SJA) format: training Saturday, comp Sunday. We wanted to give our bush riders what we drive to Sydney for.”

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The arena is world-class. The support crew is fantastic. “Mum let us use the Waratah name. Ed McNair builds our courses. Tim and Di Dansey judge. We’ve got the space for people to camp and build yards. It’s just become this little hub.”

And then came Caboolture. Jen and iPod jumped double clear in the World Cup Qualifier and finished second behind Jamie Winning-Kermond.

“I still can’t believe it. That was my goal for the year: double clear in a World Cup. I didn’t go in to win, I just wanted to stay committed, calm, and composed. Then they said I was second. And to be second to Jamie – we’ve known each other since we were 14. That was pretty special.”

Above: Jennifer Wood and iPod.

She didn’t think World Cups were possible for her. “I didn’t think I’d ever have the horsepower. It always felt out of reach. So for me, this was massive.” iPod is quirky and Jen has been riding him for two and a half years and “here we are!”

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Cocaine Ego Z (Leroy), her long-time partner, was bought by Nathan without warning. “We’d just got married. He brought home this tiny brown colt and I was furious. I was like, we have no money. What have you done?” But Leroy turned out to be the horse of her life. “He’s been my best mate forever.”

Above: Jennifer Wood and Cocaine Ego Z.

Caboolture was the first show in 11 years she didn’t take him. “He’s retired now, and Lucy (Jen and Nathan’s eldest daughter) will hopefully start riding him later this year. It was so hard to drive out of the driveway without him on the truck.” Lucy and Audrey are already hooked. “Lucy lives and breathes it. Audrey rides because she can, but she says iPod is hers.”

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Finding the right pony for the children hasn’t been easy. They lost their first two to illness. “Telling Lucy her ponies had gone to heaven was awful. She looked at me and said, ‘Mum, why do all my ponies have to go to heaven?'” Jen credits the horse community for getting them through, saying “It takes a village.”

As for riding post-kids, Jen hasn’t felt the fear others sometimes describe. “I know a lot of women struggle with confidence after babies. I’ve worked with a lot of them to help them come back. But for me? I’m probably just a bit mad.”

Listen to the full chat with Jennifer Wood now on All Clear, available on:

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