Every so often, a horse comes along that changes everything. Not because of what they win, but because of what they give back. For Pryde’s sponsored rider Karen Ruzsicska, that horse was her beloved Monty.
Monty, sometimes better known as ‘The Shark’, ‘The Monster’, or just ‘Monster’ for short, was a 14-hand whaler pony from Darwin. He got his nickname from his habit of biting people if they got a little too close.
“He’d take your finger off in a heartbeat,” Karen said.
Monty was cheeky through and through. He could hear a carrot snap in half from a kilometre away without even turning to look. He rolled his eyes like a teenager and was full of personality.
Monty was a former riding school pony, who had spent years teaching local kids to jump, play games, and fall in love with horses, which meant by the time Monty became a part of Karen's family, half of Darwin already knew him.
After struggling to find the right horse and feeling a little jaded in the sport she once loved, Karen joked with a friend that she just “needed a Monty.”
Stars aligned after circumstances changed for Monty’s owner and he found a permanent home with Karen. Four years on, he’d become an unmistakable piece of the family’s heart.
Monty arrived exactly at the right moment, reigniting Karen’s love of show jumping.
“He was just a really, really fun horse. He just brought the fun back into everything.”
Although Monty would give most things a go, he didn't have that much scope. Karen would take Monty to a few speed classes, some 80cm jumping, and even a little bit of Dressage, although if it were up to Monty, he would rather just eat grass.
Karen had been a loyal Pryde’s feeder long before Monty joined the family. She first fed her horses EasiSport after her niece Olivia Ruzsicska introduced her to the brand, and her loyalty stuck. The results spoke for themselves.
“I have been feeding EasiSport to a number of horses for quite a number of years and I just really liked the result.”
“Every horse had a brilliant coat, I was able to maintain a steady, feeding ration, and didn't have to adjust too much.” she said.
Alongside his big personality, Monty also came with a health condition that needed real care. He suffered from Equine Metabolic Syndrome, and his previous owner had already worked hard to manage his weight. Keeping his diet tightly controlled was non-negotiable, and this is where Pryde’s came in.
“I put Monty on EasiSport and EasiFibre as his feed and he stayed on that for the entire time I had him. It did him really well.”
“I just automatically put him on what I had been feeding for years and he looked amazing.”
Monty passed away this last January, and the response caught Karen by surprise. A single post on social media about the loss of her dear Monty, brought comments from people all over Darwin. Former pony club kids, riding school families, anyone who’d ever learned to jump, or been nipped, all expressed how Monty brought joy to them in different ways.
When suggested that Monty might be something of a local celebrity, Karen laughed.
“He would have loved being called that.”