Retraining Centre & Facilities

Abey Performance Horses is operated  1 hour west of Melbourne at Myrniong in the rolling Pentland Hills. With our great facilities, experience and expertise we are able to take in horses for training, pre training, spelling, rehabilitation as well as campaigning for competition. We specialise in providing a great start for off the track horses and setting a great foundation on the flat and jumping.

Facilities include

  • 24 horse meshed large paddocks
  • 60 acres horse meshed spellers paddocks
  • Under cover large day yards
  • Round yard and natural sand all weather riding arena fully fenced
  • Farm access for hacking horses out
  • XC training paddock
    6 horse walker, concrete and rubber with roof
    Sand based gallop/ exercise track 800m

Our Team

Lou Abey

Lou is has successfully re trained and competed her off the track horses for many years to FEI level in Show Jumping & Eventing. Lou & her fiance Will Foulkes is an EA XC course designer and builder run a commercial beef farm at their 1240 acre property with assistance from Penelope (13) & Arthur (11).

Lou began training local ponies at a young age and first started riding track work as a 12yo. Throughout her career Lou has been lucky to work with, learn from and train with a vast array of knowledgeable horse people. This provides a unique and solid set of skills. 

Specializing in thoroughbreds APH takes in horses for training, sales prep as well as pre training. With great experience working, riding, training and competing in many different equestrian fields, this gives APH a great insight in assessing each horse and finding what it will be most suited to, and then finding a home that will best compliment each horse.

In 2023 Lou was the winner of the Australian Godolphin Award for Equine Welfare, and also was the winner of the Racing Victorias Acknowledged re trainer of the year in 2023 and 2024, and was runner up in 2025

In 2021 won the inaugural Racing Victoria RESET award for excellence within the RESET program.

Will Foulkes is an integral part of Abey Performance Horses.

Will manages all of the infrastructure and never ending projects! As well as managing the property feed. We cut our own hay as well as work closely with our feed sponsor BARASTOC to make sure our horses have peak health and nutrition.

Will is an EA Level 1 XC course designer as well as an amateur eventer, and owner of several lovely thoroughbreds. 

 

 

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Mel started riding at a young age in the Netherlands doing dressage and show jumping. In 2018 she made the move to Australia and spent several years woking with High Country Horses in Merrijig, taking out rides, looking after a large team of horses and working with the young ones.
Mel now has 2 thoroughbreds geldings of her own.
Mel is great with breakers and young/ green horses. She is a patient, kind and intuitive rider with a lovely way with horses, and we love having her as part of the team!

Evie came to us for a weeks work experience and we liked her so much that she never left!

Evie has been riding since she was 8 and worked as a riding instructor for a couple of years. Evie has a cert III in Equine studies & years of experience working with brumbies that need to be desensitised and exposed to new things

Evie has a great way with horses, and is very quiet and gentle with them, she is also our pony riding specialist and a great asset to our team

Wendy Whiting is our next team member to introduce & has a wealth or experience schooling & educating horses, including many thoroughbred and has competed to 3* eventing.
Amongst plenty of success on horses Wendy has trained In 2014 Wendy won the inaugural Racing Victoria Off the Track Triequithon aboard Ripley Lodge Gator (Tailgater)
Wendy still competes and now her children and grand children and riding & competing her horses.
Wendy has an excellent feel & connection when riding and encourages horses to work correctly, as well as to be rideable. And is a great asset to our team.
Fun fact: We generally know where Wendy is on the farm as we can hear her! AND she shows up all of us under 50 by still being able to mount any horse from the ground.