Nelsonian Celia Davis and Raise You Five won three of the South Island TiES Futurity qualifying rounds and then won the South Island Final in January. Credit Elise Ford Photography.
Celia Davis is 18 years old and lives in Nelson. Raise You Five is a 12-year-old Bay gelding by Raise the Flag and out of Molly Malone (Towkay). He has just had one season of ESNZ-registered competition, doing Jumping and Eventing. Together, they won three of the South Island TiES Futurity qualifying rounds and then won the South Island Final in January. So ESNZ asked Celia to tell us about it:
Winning the TiES Series was a huge accomplishment for me and Raise You Five, as this had been a goal of ours since I bought him back in November 2024. I love the idea of this series as it promotes Thoroughbreds and shows everyone that we can give them a nice life after racing.
Five has only just started revealing his personality, which I find very special. He is friendly to all the other horses and always loves having a mate in the paddock. Five grunts a lot. When he’s rolling, jumping, and cantering, he grunts. He is also a very dramatic horse in the sense that if he takes a rail in showjumping, he’ll often do a little kick out the back like he’s frustrated with himself. Five is not a very brave horse when it comes to hacking – he finds farm animals a little scary. Overall, Raise You Five is playful, kind-natured and a bit of a wuss.
Originally, I was drawn to this horse because of his unique name, and I know the Raise The Flag breeding line are all performing well. I fell in love as soon as I rode him; his big canter felt like a rocking horse, and his jump was lovely to ride too. I liked how he had a nice mouth, a good rhythm and how he tried hard for me. Sounds like basic things, but I didn’t find all these in other horses I had tried.
Our biggest highlight of the season was competing in our first 110cm! We had trained hard to get the confidence to step up a height and all our work paid off. Five did a lovely clear round and earned himself third place! I was just happy to get around, but the placing was a bonus. Very excited to see what this horse can accomplish.
One thing Five has taught me is that all horses are different, and I need to be a versatile rider. At first, I rode him like I rode a previous pony. I would sit hard in the saddle, jam my leg on and ride every stride. Five did not like this. He wanted me sitting light, like a trackwork rider, and just to leave him alone to figure out the jump for himself. It took a lot of trial and error to get my riding correct, but one day we just seemed to click.
Goals: Event 105 and maybe even 1* this winter, step up to 115cm and maybe even 120cm next showjumping season. Very ambitious, but don’t tell me ‘The sky is the limit’ when there are footprints on the moon. 😉
What I love most about Thoroughbreds in this sport is their work ethic. I find that this breed will try so hard for you if you look after them. It can be hard for some to make the transition from being a racehorse to a sporthorse, but once they do, they’re really lovely horses.