WILD CARD TRAINER

CAILIN BOBBERMEN

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For Cailin Bobbermen, the journey into horsemanship wasn’t one she inherited — it was one she built for herself.

Based in South East Queensland, Cailin is the trainer behind Caballine Equine, where her lifelong passion for horses has grown into a full-time career focused on starting and educating young horses, building confidence and helping owners better understand the horses they work with.

Cailin didn’t grow up in a horse family or on a property. Her journey began much more simply, as a determined, horse-obsessed 12-year-old girl who found every opportunity she could to be around horses. Those early years took her through trick riding and showjumping before she gradually discovered a passion for starting and developing young horses.

After finishing school and beginning university, Cailin knew she wanted horses to become a bigger part of her life, but without the financial backing or industry connections to create an obvious pathway, she had to make one for herself.

An opportunity found through a somewhat questionable Gumtree advertisement became one of those unexpected stepping stones. Cailin threw herself into working with horses, learning as she went and making the most of every opportunity that came her way. Those early experiences became an important part of her development, teaching her not only about horses, but about resilience, adaptability and creating opportunities rather than waiting for them.

Alongside her developing horsemanship career, Cailin became a qualified electrician, giving her the security of a reliable trade. But horses remained where her heart was, and at the end of 2025 she made the decision to leave that security behind and take the leap into training horses full-time through Caballine Equine.

That journey has helped shape one of Cailin’s guiding philosophies: there are no challenges, only opportunities.

Every horse, setback and new experience presents an opportunity to learn, adapt and become better.

Central to Cailin’s approach is the belief that horses are not designed to fit into a singular mould. Every horse is an individual, and a method that works for one may not provide the answer for another. For Cailin, good horsemanship means listening closely enough to the horse in front of you to recognise what they need.

Above all else, her priority is confidence.

Before performance, manoeuvres or specialised training, Cailin wants a horse to develop confidence in themselves, confidence in their handler and the ability to think through situations rather than simply react to them.

Through Caballine Equine, Cailin regularly works with young horses, developing individual programs designed to give them strong foundations and the confidence to continue learning long after they leave her care. Just as importantly, she works to help the people around those horses understand not only what they are doing, but why — giving owners the tools to continue developing the partnership themselves.

Her desire to better understand the horse as a whole also led Cailin to complete her Equine Sports Therapy qualification. Her studies in biomechanics, movement and physical comfort have added another dimension to her horsemanship, helping her recognise the subtle ways horses communicate through their bodies and behaviour.

As Cailin puts it, horses cannot speak to us with words, so it is our responsibility to find other ways to listen.

Cailin has also tested her horsemanship in the competition arena. She has competed in Cowgirls Gathering’s Race to Ranch, winning in her first year before returning to the competition with a Standardbred. She has also worked as a Pen Wrangler at the Man From Snowy River Colt Starting Challenge, experiences that have continued to broaden her understanding of young horses, horsemanship and the unique environment of training competitions.

Her own horsemanship journey continues to evolve. From backyard riding to showjumping, trick riding and starting young horses, Cailin is now also exploring the reining and cow horse worlds as she continues seeking new knowledge, skills and experiences.

For her, however, it has never really been about titles, competitions or qualifications.

At heart, she is still the girl who simply wanted to be around horses.

“I didn’t inherit my horsemanship. I built it, one horse, one experience and one mistake at a time. And I’m still learning — I always will be.”

That willingness to keep learning is now bringing Cailin to Legacy of the Horse 2027, where she will step into the arena as one of four selected Wild Card Trainers.

Cailin will have the opportunity to showcase her approach to starting a young horse, with the Wild Card winner earning the fourth and final position in the Legacy of the Horse Championship alongside our three invited Championship Trainers.

For Cailin, it represents another opportunity to learn, challenge herself and continue the journey she began all those years ago.

There is always another horse to listen to, another lesson to learn and another opportunity waiting around the corner.

And in April 2027, that next opportunity will be waiting in the Legacy of the Horse arena.

WILD CARD TRAINER

BLAIR TABER

For Blair Taber, working with horses every day is quite literally the realisation of a childhood dream.

Based in beautiful Yinnar in Gippsland, Victoria, Blair runs Lonesome Oak Horses, a breaking and training business specialising in starting well-rounded horses and providing them with strong, practical foundations for whatever direction their future may take.

But Blair’s story didn’t begin with horses in the backyard or generations of family horsemanship behind her.

Growing up with non-horsey parents in the small coastal town of Inverloch, Blair was simply a horse-obsessed kid determined to find a way to make horses part of her life.

Her first “horse” was a hobby horse that went to bed with her, while her pushbike regularly doubled as the next best thing with a set of makeshift reins tied to the handlebars.

And despite living in a townhouse, Blair remained firmly convinced that the backyard was absolutely big enough for a horse — even if her parents never quite agreed!

Fortunately, attending school in the small farming community of Tarwin Lower introduced Blair to horsey friends and opened the door to the world she had been looking for.

Throughout her childhood and teenage years, she was fortunate to borrow horses and became part of a close friend's horse-loving family, whose home quickly became Blair’s second home.

There were years of Pony Club, afternoons riding after school and weekends spent in the saddle. In the days before mobile phones, Blair and her friend would leave home in the morning and disappear on horseback for the day, exploring the back beaches of Venus Bay, riding through town or following the Tarwin River.

Occasionally, word would make its way back through the small-town network that the girls had been spotted riding along the main street an hour earlier — enough reassurance for the family to know they were still alive and well!

Those childhood adventures planted the seed, but at 19 Blair’s horse journey changed dramatically.

After finishing school and spending a year in Melbourne — quickly deciding city life wasn't for her — Blair applied for station work and headed north to a remote Gulf of Carpentaria cattle station.

She stayed for the next seven years.

It was there, amongst the cattle, horses, long days and hard work, that Blair truly found her passion and developed much of the practical horsemanship that continues to influence her today.

Her station years immersed her in cattle work, horse breeding, yearling handling, starting and training young horses, shoeing and veterinary skills.

Within only a few months of arriving, Blair was given the opportunity to begin starting her own horse.

For the girl who had once needed to borrow horses simply to ride, it was an extraordinary opportunity — and one she embraced completely.

Even after working from around 6am until 5pm, Blair would regularly come home and get back in the saddle to work with her young horse. That pattern continued throughout her years on the station as she took every opportunity she could to develop her skills.

Her education came through practical experience: horse schools, talented co-workers, respected old-timers willing to share their knowledge and, perhaps most importantly, thousands of hours spent in the saddle discovering what worked, what didn't and why.

Sometimes those lessons were learned the hard way, but each one contributed to the horsewoman Blair was becoming.

By the end of her seven years on the station, Blair's mustering plant consisted entirely of horses she had started herself.

For Blair, that remains something pretty special.

Eventually, she made the difficult decision to leave station life and return home to Victoria in 2014.

Her connection to the cattle industry remained strong. Blair initially worked in local saleyards, gaining experience in another side of the livestock industry, before later working in the livestock section of a local abattoir.

Horses, however, were never far from the picture.

In the background, Blair continued starting horses of her own and began slowly developing a small breeding program. She started and sold several horses, and positive feedback from buyers gave her the confidence to consider turning her skills into something more.

From there, Lonesome Oak Horses was born.

Initially, Blair intended Lonesome Oak to simply provide a platform through which she could start, train and sell quality, honest horses.

Then people began asking whether she would start or train horses for them.

One horse led to another, word spread, and what began as a tentative step into her own business gathered momentum.

Eight years later, it hasn't stopped.

Today, Blair specialises primarily in starting young horses and developing well-rounded foundations that allow them to move confidently into a range of disciplines and future roles.

Many Lonesome Oak graduates ultimately become trail horses, which is particularly fitting given Blair's Yinnar property backs directly onto bush trails — providing an invaluable real-world environment in which young horses can gain experience outside an arena.

That practical element is an important part of Blair's approach.

Her horsemanship has been shaped not only by formal learning, but by working cattle, long days in the saddle, starting young horses, navigating real-world situations and learning from the many horses and people who have crossed her path.

Blair is also quick to acknowledge the clients, professionals, friends and mentors — including Scott — who have influenced her journey and helped shape both the person and trainer she is today.

She knows that learning never really ends.

And for Blair, that is one of the best parts of horsemanship.

There will always be another horse that teaches something new, another person to learn from and another opportunity to refine the way she works.

At a family gathering some years ago, one of Blair's cousins made an observation that has stayed with her:

“Blair is the only person I know who is living their childhood dream.”

It's difficult to imagine a better description.

The little girl who went to bed with a hobby horse and tried unsuccessfully to convince her parents that their townhouse backyard could accommodate a real one now spends her days surrounded by the animals she once dreamed about.

It's something Blair remains incredibly grateful for and never takes for granted.

And now that journey is leading her to a new challenge.

In April 2027, Blair will step into the Legacy of the Horse arena as one of just four selected Wild Card Trainers.

There, she will meet and begin working with a young horse supplied by Woodstock Paint Horses, bringing with her the practical horsemanship, adaptability and experience developed through years of starting young horses and working in environments where a horse needs to become far more than simply arena-trained.

The Legacy Wild Card Challenge will provide Blair with the opportunity to showcase not only what she can achieve with a young horse, but the foundation she chooses to build and the decisions she makes along the way.

The four Wild Card Trainers will each bring a very different background and approach to the arena, with the winner earning the fourth and final position in the Legacy of the Horse Championship alongside our three invited international Championship Trainers.

For Blair, it is another chapter in a journey that started with little more than a love of horses and the determination to find a way to be around them.

From borrowed horses in Inverloch, to seven years on a Gulf cattle station, to building Lonesome Oak Horses in Gippsland — Blair has quite literally created the horse-filled life she dreamed about as a child.

Now we get to see where that journey takes her next.

Welcome to the Legacy of the Horse 2027 Wild Card Challenge, Blair Taber.

WILD CARD TRAINER

MITCHELL LYNHAM

For Mitchell Lynham, good horsemanship begins with a willingness to listen, adapt and continually question whether the approach being used is the right one for the horse standing in front of him.

Based in South East Queensland, Mitch is the trainer behind Tortuga Equine and works professionally starting and developing horses, with a particular focus on creating softness, willingness and confidence in the horse’s mind.

Mitch’s involvement with horses began at an early age, and by his teenage years he was already working within the horse industry, gaining hands-on experience starting and training horses.

Those early years gave Mitch an important foundation, but much of his development as a horseman has also come through his willingness to seek out knowledge for himself.

As his experience grew, Mitch began purchasing and working with green-broke horses that had previously been started by other trainers. These horses often needed further development and, in some cases, a different approach to help establish confidence and give them the foundations they needed to move forward successfully.

Working with these horses became an important part of shaping the trainer Mitch is today.

Rather than simply following a set formula, he began paying closer attention to what each individual horse was telling him and asking himself whether the exercises he was using were actually achieving the result he was looking for.

Mitch also actively sought opportunities to learn from a variety of trainers, spending time with different horsemen and women to observe their techniques, philosophies and approaches.

Rather than adopting any one particular method in its entirety, Mitch took the pieces that resonated with him, experimented with them and gradually incorporated them into his own developing program.

“I take what resonates with me and apply it to my own methods.”

Through that process, one principle became increasingly important to his horsemanship — softness and willingness in the horse’s mind.

For Mitch, training is not simply about teaching a horse to perform a particular movement or complete an exercise. The response behind that exercise matters.

He wants the horse to understand, to remain mentally engaged and, importantly, to become a willing participant in the process.

That philosophy has also shaped the way Mitch responds when things don't go to plan.

Rather than immediately viewing resistance or a lack of understanding as a problem with the horse, Mitch sees those moments as valuable information for the trainer.

“If I was unable to gain my horse’s willingness through my exercises, I viewed it as an opportunity to improve my methods.”

That willingness to reassess has encouraged Mitch to continually experiment with different techniques and look for better ways to communicate with each individual horse.

For him, there isn't necessarily one answer that will work for every horse.

Sometimes the trainer needs to change the question.

It is an approach that requires observation, feel and adaptability — recognising when to continue with an exercise, when to change the way it is being presented and when the horse may simply need a different path towards understanding.

Mitch’s experiences with young and green horses have reinforced his belief that the early stages of a horse’s education are incredibly important. Establishing confidence, softness and willingness provides a foundation that can influence everything that follows, regardless of the direction or discipline that horse ultimately takes.

His approach has also proven itself in the competition arena, with Mitch taking out the Ron Wall Memorial Colt Start at the 2025 Coonamble Challenge — an achievement that further demonstrated his ability to establish a foundation with a young horse within the unique pressures and time constraints of a colt-start competition.

And while horses are a significant part of Mitch’s world, there is another side to him that some of our Legacy audience may not know just yet. When he isn’t working horses, you may also find Mitch swapping reins for a microphone as he continues his involvement in music. We might just have to find out a little more about that side of our Wild Card Trainer before April!

It is this combination of experience, curiosity and willingness to keep developing his craft that Mitch will now bring to Legacy of the Horse 2027.

In April, Mitch will enter the Legacy arena as one of just four selected Wild Card Trainers, where he will meet and begin working with a young horse supplied by Woodstock Paint Horses.

With limited time and a horse he has not previously worked with, the Wild Card Challenge will provide the opportunity to see Mitch’s philosophy in action — how he reads the horse in front of him, establishes communication and adapts his approach as that horse begins to learn.

For Mitch, it will not simply be about how much can be achieved.

It will also be about how it is achieved.

His focus on creating willingness rather than forcing an outcome, and his belief that a trainer must be prepared to continually evaluate their own methods, are principles he will carry with him into the Legacy arena.

The four Wild Card Trainers will each bring their own experience, philosophy and approach to starting a young horse, with the winner earning the fourth and final position in the Legacy of the Horse Championship alongside our three invited international Championship Trainers.

For Mitch, it is another opportunity to test his horsemanship, continue learning and showcase the approach he has developed through years of working with different horses and seeking knowledge from different trainers.

Because for Mitch, horsemanship is never about having all the answers.

It is about being willing to keep looking for a better one.

We look forward to welcoming Mitchell Lynham of Tortuga Equine to the Legacy of the Horse 2027 Wild Card Challenge.

WILD CARD TRAINER

COMING SOON 

We are excited to soon be announcing our Wild Card trainer for Legacy of the Horse 2027