By Jem Anshaw
Tom Ollerton is proud to say he has been around horses since day dot and was quick to clarify with a cheeky grin that that is his day dot, not the horses.
Tom was announced as the 2025 Scone Horse Festival VIP, an acknowledgment of over 60 years of involvement in the local horse industry.
“You could have knocked me over with a feather, I felt very humbled, it’s a great honour to think that of all the people who are in the horse industry and I’ve got the nod,” Tom said of the announcement.
“You do it because you love it, you don’t make a lot of money out of it, and you meet some great people, you meet the best people in racing.”
Tom has done it all. He has been a jockey, trainer, farrier, breaker, and still does trackwork from time to time, sharing that back when he got started in the industry you had no option but to do it all yourself.
“I like training a winner, that’s the top, I get a great thrill out of shoeing a horse if he’s had a problem, especially if you get it right,” Tom shared when discussing what his favourite parts of his job are.
“People say ‘why do you do that? It’s too hard. I say it is hard when you’re learning, but just like everything, once you know how to do it, it’s easy.”
Ava Peel was announced as the 2025 Young Achieve for the Year after a remarkable 2024 riding at events like Sydney Royal, Canberra Royal, and ASH Youth Nationals.
Ava secured multiple supreme titles, championships, and youth awards riding Boon Hill Boston and Gatton UQ Andrew, often outperforming experienced adult riders.
The Horse of the Year title was bestowed on Lord Larry, a decorated dressage horse owned and ridden by Robyne Smith from Gwandalan Stables.
“He’s a fabulous horse and I’ve had huge success with him, he wins a lot more times than he doesn’t and if he’s on his day, he’s pretty much unbeatable certainly in our region,” Robyne shared, adding she too did not expect to receive the accolade.
Lord Larry was five when Robyne imported him from Europe in 2018, and after a few delays in transit when he finally arrived she realised there as a bit of work to be done.
“I must say, I got a bit of a shock when I first got him because he was a lot of horse, and he was pretty green,” she recalled.
“I had him here in May, and I didn’t take him out anywhere for nearly eight months because he was that green.”
But over time they got to know each other, and the pair became unstoppable, and now they have dominated at local competitions and represented on the international stage.
