No confusion for Marrissa Jones in joining QOTT Acknowledged Retrainer ranks

By Andrew Smith 

Confused by name, but definitely not by nature – it is an accurate summary of the retired racehorse that has recently come into the care of Marrissa Jones.

Marrissa is one of the Queensland Off-The-Track Program’s newest Acknowledged Retrainers, signing up to the program in January of this year.

The 27-year-old started retraining racehorses in 2015 and founded her own equestrian business, Summit Equine, shortly after, operating out of her 10-acre property at Jimboomba.

Marrissa’s career progressed with years of work in the racing industry, leading to her ultimately owning and training her own standardbred racehorse Callmedemaro who was successful on the track.

But it is in retraining retired racehorses that she has found her niche.

“My parents are not horsey at all - they wouldn’t even pat a horse but my stepdad bought shares in a racehorse that was trained locally, and he said to the trainer ‘the horse can spell out at our place - just tell us what we need to do to take care of them,’ ” Marrissa said.

“A few horses came to spell at our place and when they finished racing, I’d try and get on them and ride them. They were only broken-in to harness race, so I learnt the hard way how to ride them.

“I slowly worked on my skills with the horses that my stepdad owned that were retiring and from there, I just worked for various different trainers in different industries.

“I worked for a thoroughbred breeding stud, thoroughbred racing trainers, harness racing trainers and dressage stables - I wanted to soak up as much information as I could to better understand the mindset and expectations of racehorses.”

It was Marrissa’s connections to the harness racing industry that saw Confused Artist land in her care.

The seven-year-old had been prepared for racing several times but never made it on to the racetrack.

It was when Confused Artist’s owner and trainer Daren Garrard reached out to QOTT looking for a home for his standardbred that Marrissa saw an opportunity.

“I know Daren, I’ve worked with him for a long time, seen his horses at the track and I know he takes care of them so I knew this horse would have a good foundation,” Marrissa said.

“As soon as I saw the notification, I didn’t even go look at him – I spoke to Daren and said, ‘I’ll take him.’

“I want to go a bit longer than the normal timeframe I would allow for retraining some horses, just because I think he’s got a lot of potential.

“He’s quite a nicely put-together horse, with a great temperament. I’d like to take my time with his retraining and see what he enjoys most as things progress.

“There are a lot of opportunities now available for off-the-track standardbreds and this horse has the potential to be very successful in a new career.”

Marrissa currently has five horses on her team at her Jimboomba property, one of which is in the QOTT Acknowledged Retrainer Program.

She retrains both standardbreds and thoroughbreds but is enjoying the unique challenges that come with retraining horses freshly retired from the racetrack.

“Standardbreds have been exposed to a lot more than thoroughbreds and tend to be less reactive,” Marrissa said.

“However they’re difficult in that they’ve never had a rider on their back and have no concept of leg aids.

“So, it’s important with standardbreds in the initial phase to do a lot of groundwork and really get them familiar with these new aids.”

Joining the QOTT Program is also set to boost Marrissa’s retraining capacity.  

“I was already self-funded and I just wasn’t at the capacity where I could take on more horses because obviously the expenses are pretty high,” Marrissa said.

“I’d had a few trainers from my connections in the harness industry reach out asking me to take retiring horses, and it was financially not feasible to take on anymore at that stage.

“With the QOTT Program, it’s a game changer - the funding and support of the program allows me to care for and rehome more horses, and bridge the gap between racing and rehoming.”