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This one’s a rare breed

Posted on October 7, 2011

BIG FUTURE: Rob Talent with his yearling filly, Elektra, a brown and white skewbald.

SUNRAYSIA is currently home to one of the rarest horse breeds in the world.

Well known Sunraysia horse owner Rob Talent recently welcomed into his stables one of only three standard-bred, buckskin and white skewbald colts in the world.

His latest acquisition is the result of a very long search that wasn’t without its obstacles.

“I’ve wanted to breed skewbalds since I saw a pacer called Rorschach in Queensland and I’ve since done a lot of research over the past 10 years,” Rob said this week.

“You’d hear the commentators say how rare it is for a skewbald to win, so I thought, it’s now time to finally get one.”

The Sunraysia horse owner finally tracked down the owner of a standard-bred buckskin and white skewbald colt in New Zealand, but was initially knocked back.

“I inquired about buying him and she initially said, no he’s not for sale,” Rob said.

“I became friends with her on Facebook and she eventually contacted me on Facebook and said she was selling him.

“I immediately said I would buy him, even before asking about price.”

But the colt hadn’t even left Kiwi shores when it gave its new owner a scare.

The colt was kicked in the mouth and there were initially fears it wouldn’t survive its injuries.

However, it was nursed back to health and eventually given the all clear by a vet.

With that little scare behind him, the colt arrived on Australian shores in June this year.

Rob said that despite his colt only spending a few months in Australia there’s already been significant interest in the horse.

He’s had inquiries from as far away as Ireland, where one potential buyer offered Rob about twice what he bought the colt for.

Despite the offer, Rob said he wasn’t even tempted, with plans to race the horse as a pacer early next year.

“It wouldn’t matter if I was offered six figures, I wouldn’t sell. He’s definitely not for sale,” he said.

In about three weeks Rob will send his new addition away to be broken in. The colt will then take a break before entering its first race early next year as a two-year-old if all goes according to plan.

Rob said he’s not concerned if his horse doesn’t make it as a pacer.

“We bought him mainly to breed with, but if he cracks it as a race horse we’ll be happy,” he said.

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