Good change for Allan as he embarks on new journey
Kaizen. In Japanese culture it’s a phrase used to describe a philosophy or system that is based on making positive changes on a regular basis. Good change.
For breaker and pre-trainer Brett Allan, it’s a philosophy he’s followed throughout his life and career, as he embarks, along with partner Rosa Diesveld, on a new venture conducting the breaking-in and pre-training of horses under the banner of Kaizen Horsemanship.
“It’s a Japanese word that means to continuously improve, we thought that was a good name,” said Allan.
Born in South Africa, Allan first started working with horses after moving to Australia in 2011, working on a farm and riding out the horses on a daily basis. It was a lifestyle he fell in love with and, from his picturesque Kanangra base, he has started out with the education of young horses.
“I started working with horses in Australia,” said Allan. “I started working on a farm, riding horses for the owner and I got addicted to the lifestyle, being out in the country and so I worked there for a while and then went to work in polo horses for five years.
“I progressed to break in all their horses, before I then worked with another breaker for a couple of years, however when he went to work as manager for Corumbene Stud, I’ve started taking over some of that business and it started from there really.”
His work with a variety of different equine athletes, he says, stands him in good stead for the daily challenges of breaking in a young racehorse.
“My experience of breaking-in polo ponies is invaluable,” said Allan. “You have to get them pretty broken come the end of it, following a ball around and running alongside other horses, which racehorses need to learn as well.
“No matter what discipline the horse is doing I try to make the breaking-in process enjoyable, keeping the horses happy throughout the process. The horses only get one start in life and the habits and behaviours that are formed early on are really important.”
From his base in Kanangra, a property Allan describes as having ‘fantastic facilities’, he hopes Kaizen Horsemanship can develop into bigger and better things, embodying the philosophy of the business’s acquired name and his hands-on method of educating the young horses.
“It’s a beautiful property with fantastic facilities,” said Allan. “There’s an indoor round yard and an arena. We’ve got a big paddock, put a track in and it’s fully equipped with practice barriers and it’s in a pretty good spot too.
“People spend a good amount of money on these horses and the facilities we’ve got here ensure the ultimate safety for the horse and give them the best start in life. We’ve got beautiful barns with rubber floorings and rubber walls. It’s a good facility from top to bottom, you couldn’t get much better.
“I like to have my hands on everything. So we’ll stick to our numbers to maintain our quality.
“I do everything within the yard and I ride all the horses. I think people like to know who are riding their horses. You’ll know if you send a horse to me that I’m the one sat on top of it everyday and I’ve done all the work on it. I quite like that aspect.”
Since starting up at the end of last year, the fledgling operation is already beginning to taste the first signs of success, with a string of winners in recent weeks that were broken in at the property, including the Tracey Bartley-trained Barossa Rosa (Adelaide), a gutsy winner at Canterbury on January 8.
“We’ve had quite a few wins over the last few weeks with horses that we’ve broken in. Greenheart stands out. He’s an All Too Hard colt trained by David Atkins. I really like him from when I worked with him. I just thought ‘wow, this horse is an athlete’. He moves around the ring like a cat, so that was awesome to see him win as I thought a lot of him.
“And then Barossa Rosa, she’s been winning some decent races. She belongs to one of our very good clients so it was fantastic to get a win for them.”
Currently working on the ground at the Inglis Classic Sale, Brett is welcoming new clients with purchases out the Sydney auction and beyond.
“We’re at the Classic Sale and have been pretty busy, so we’re more than happy to talk to potential interested clients in Barn F, with Kanangra.”