I strongly believe that without SAQ there would be a lot of retired harness horses falling through the cracks.
Ditta Crisci – a name many will know well now through her continued involvement in many aspects of the community, including the winner of multiple Standardbred Retrainer of the year awards.
Ditta’s journey with Standardbreds started with a gelding called Kabelha Gold, adopted through the Standardbred Association of QLD adoption program by her cousin, who she fell in love with so quickly that he soon became hers instead. It was through Gold that she became a member of SAQ in 2012, and went on to adopt another horse, Our Triple Two, through the SAQ adoption program – and so her love for the breed began.
In 2012 Ditta purchased her first Standardbred direct from a trainer, ‘How Bout That’. While working as a strapper at harness racing stables, Ditta made connections that would play vital roles in her development and continuation as a Retrainer.
‘I chose to start retraining Standardbreds as I saw there were a lot of horses retiring from racing with not many options for a career after racing. SAQ was playing a huge role in the traceable rehoming of these horses but a lot of people were looking for horses already going under saddle. They’re incredibly well handled and exposed to various environments, well-travelled, hardy and hardworking, versatile and mostly sensible – it was really a no-brainer!’ Ditta explains.
Since then, Ditta has rehomed approximately 210 OTT horses, with the large majority being Standardbreds.
‘We rehome a lot of horses into trail riding homes, being well suited to riders who need a confidence boost or people returning to riding after a break or having children. We also have them go into endurance homes, feed lots for pen riding, jumping, dressage, eventing, sporting, light horse troops and much much more,’ Ditta says.
When she’s not working on her retainer horses, however, Ditta also enjoys riding and spending time with her own personal Standardbred, Zeus. Zeus, a rising 16-year-old unnamed gelding by PB Bullville out of Making Gold, first came to Ditta as a retrainer for rehoming from a private owner in 2015. After 7 years with a very loving and knowledgeable lady owner, Zeus eventually found his way back to Ditta’s property once again. Ditta knew straight away that this time, he would be staying.
‘Zeus will try his hoof at absolutely anything, and while he tolerates showing and dressage, he absolutely loves jumping and chases cows,’ Ditta describes.
After over a decade working with the breed, Ditta notes that she’s seen an improvement in the general attitude towards Standardbreds. Ditta also believes the more Standardbred riders and lovers get their horses out competing and showing the rest of the performance community what they’re capable of, more people will see why they’re such a great, versatile mount. As Ditta points out, ‘Nearly everyone you speak to these days has either owned a great one or knows of someone that does, which I think is a fantastic advocacy for the breed’.
To further her support of the breed, in 2024 Ditta began volunteering with SAQ as the Grants Co-ordinator as she had always felt her own values and mission were well aligned with the organisation.
‘I strongly believe that without SAQ there would be a lot of retired harness horses falling through the cracks. Whenever I find myself at capacity with horse numbers I always refer owners and trainers to SAQ to rehome their horses, and believe this organisation is vital in assisting Standardbreds into their life after racing, especially as an organisation run by volunteers’, Ditta notes.
Image: Ditta Crisci riding Zeus, credit Teichmann Photography
