From the very moment she hopped on his back, Ariella Stafford was told her standardbred Practically Magic would never be able to compete in showjumping.
Fast forward eight years and the duo were crowned the 2025 Queensland Off-The-Track (QOTT) Leaderboard Champions for Showjumping in the Standardbreds category at the recent Equestrian Queensland Annual Awards.
The former harness racer had formerly been in the care of Vic Frost and Gail Geeson, posting six wins from 58 starts on the track under the racing name of Jackfrost.
He had his last race at Redcliffe in 2016, before being retired.
Stafford then came upon Jackfrost a few years later while volunteering for Riding for the Disabled (RDA) where she would prepare horses for lessons.
She explained how her immediate plans to retrain the standardbred in showjumping were shut down.
“I started volunteering at RDA, and they gave us a horse to look after and ride - at that point, he was very, very green, and he couldn't canter and he was just leading little kids around,” Stafford said.
“I kind of decided ‘oh, I'll ride him, and I want to jump him,’ and everyone said ‘he's a standardbred, he won't jump.’
“Me being aged 11 at the time was thinking ‘he’s got four legs, and he's a horse and he'll jump, what are you talking about?’
“I had no idea what I was doing so I just went on my merry way, started jumping him, and he had no idea what was going on at the start.
“But he's really come good, and he's come such a long way since then.”
Since then, the now 19-year-old and Practically Magic – who is known as “Jag” at her Murwillumbah home – have not looked back.
Stafford and Practically Magic have been competing around South-East Queensland and the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales.
The duo jumped and won the 1.20-1.30m class at the Tweed Valley Equestrian Group Power of Pink event in Murwillumbah in November last year
Their efforts resulted in the honour for this year’s QOTT Leaderboard, which was established to highlight ex-racehorses excelling in their new equestrian careers.
The awards are presented to off-the-track horses that have accumulated the highest points in each discipline at the end of the competition season.
Stafford said the prize was a great reward for the hard work that had gone into retraining Practically Magic.
“I was very grateful to win and quite surprised to be perfectly honest,” Stafford said.
“It’s been a long journey with that horse specifically, and I was really lucky to have a lot of very supportive people around me this last year, so I’m very grateful.
Ariella Stafford and Practically Magic. Pictures: Jack Martin Photography
“The QOTT Leaderboard is something to work towards, and it's great for the pacers especially because they don't really get a lot of recognition.
“There's a lot of awards for the thoroughbreds now, but for the standardbreds there isn't a whole lot so it's a great initiative that Queensland Off-The-Track and Racing Queensland run.”
After a rough run with weather affecting events in 2025, Stafford is hoping to move Practically Magic up into the 1.30m classes in 2026.
She has also been retraining two other former harness racers in Mistar Zipstar and El Tovar, who are also looking to go up in height at showjumping events in 2026.
“Looking back now…you'd never think Jag would have turned out to be the horse that he is now,” Stafford said.
“Since then, I've gotten two more pacers and turned them into jumpers as well – they’re such a great breed, and they do jump!
“They're the most reliable, forgiving horses you'll ever sit on, and honestly the pace helps more than anything because they're great with their legs, they've got a great brain and they'll always help you out.”
So much is Stafford’s enthusiasm for spreading the word about the versatility of standardbreds, she changed her Instagram handle to @the.jumping.standy and is known as the “girl with the pacers.”
She is hopeful other retrainers can recognise the jumping potential of the racehorses retiring from the harness track.
“It's quite funny, I’ve seen a lot of people over the years that have gotten standardbreds and said ‘You've inspired me, I went and got one!’” Stafford said.
“I've had a couple of friends that have said that, so that's been very cool, and I've had a lot of people ask for advice.
“It’s grown since volunteering at the RDA and now I really want to retrain more standardbreds.”
Click here to learn more about the QOTT Leaderboards.
Ariella Stafford and Practically Magic. Pictures: DKA Photography
