Garterlicious was never just another horse in the paddock. From the very beginning, she represented opportunity, vision and the coming together of two bloodlines that Corey and Trudy Holden believed had something special to offer.
The story began with a mare named Duckalicious, a striking red roan mare owned by Ian and Lisa Hindmarsh. Sired by Peptos Stylish Oak and out of Dazzling Duckling, Duckalicious carried a female line that Corey admired greatly. Before Lisa purchased the mare, she had been shown by Fred Johnson, and Corey later spent a few years campaigning her for Lisa. Through that time he developed a real appreciation for the mare and the qualities she possessed.
For Corey, the opportunity extended beyond simply receiving an embryo from a quality mare. He had always wanted exceptional mares to breed to their home sire, Reys Ya Garter, but many of the outstanding mares within their own program were closely related or siblings to him, making suitable outcrosses difficult to find. The opportunity to breed an unrelated mare of Duckalicious' quality to Reys Ya Garter was something he saw as incredibly exciting.
For Trudy, however, the cross had already become something much more.
“It was probably more my dream to get a Duck mare bred to Reys Ya Garter than Corey,” she laughed. “He liked the idea too.”
In fact, Trudy had already decided exactly what she thought the resulting foal would be long before she was born.
“I'd already picked her name before she was born. Corey asked me what I had picked if it was a colt and I said, ‘Nope, it's going to be a filly.’ I said bay roan with some white and a big thick tail.”
And somehow, that prediction became reality.
“That’s exactly what we got,” she laughed.
That cross resulted in a bay roan filly and from the moment she hit the ground, Corey felt she was exactly what he had hoped for. Beautiful, athletic and carrying all the traits he had envisioned, they named her Garterlicious, combining the established “Garter” family name with the Duck female line that had gifted her to them.
As a two-year-old, Garterlicious was hauled extensively to season her before her show career began. Even then, her instincts around cattle were impossible to ignore.
“She was so cowy from day one,” Corey recalled. “As soon as you walked near a cow her ears would stick straight up.”
She simply loved her job.
“She would try so hard and had so much expression on a cow. She was intense all the time when working one.”
Training her toward the futurity was never difficult. She was a pleasure to work with and arrived at her first major events with all the signs of a mare that could become something special.
Corey believes much of her natural expression and cow sense came from her granddam, Spinning Garter, the mother of Reys Ya Garter. He saw undeniable similarities between the two mares and strongly believed the Duck bloodline crossed with Reys Ya Garter had created an exceptional combination.
At the same time Garterlicious was beginning her show career, life away from the arena was equally busy. Trudy had just given birth to their son Cash leading into the futurity and was unable to attend to watch Corey show the mare for the first time.
Corey piloted Garterlicious into the futurity final, where bad luck interrupted what had already been a successful campaign. Yet it was only the beginning. Throughout her show career she became known for her consistency, repeatedly making major finals and proving herself as a mare that always gave everything.
“She had an intensity and expression on a cow that I haven't seen in many horses,” Corey said. “To see that quality continue down through generations is pretty special.”
Physically, Garterlicious was equally impressive. Strong, balanced and beautifully put together, her type complemented both her pedigree and her ability.
One of Corey’s most memorable moments aboard her came during the Classic Final at Scone.
“The cows were so tough,” he remembered. “I almost felt bad asking her to hold three cows because it felt like they were attacking her.”
But Garterlicious never wavered.
“She just wouldn’t give up.”
Through pure grit and determination she kept trying and eventually carried herself to victory.
“That show really proved how big her heart was.”
While Corey campaigned Garterlicious through her futurity career, Trudy eventually took over showing duties toward the latter stages of her derby year.
For Trudy, the mare left an immediate impression unlike any horse she had ridden before.
“I'd never ridden a horse so feely and sensitive, other than Reys Ya Garter,” she said.
She was never a horse that needed pressure.
“You never had to hassle her. You never had to work her on cows for too long because she was already so good at her job.”
One memory still stands out vividly.
The first time Trudy showed her, walking down toward the herd, she felt something beneath the saddle.
“I remember thinking, ‘What is that?’”
Then she realised.
It was Garterlicious’ heart pounding beneath her.
“She loved her job so much that you could literally feel her heart pumping as she walked toward the cows.”
From a young age she was an extremely sensitive mare with a large personal bubble. You had to earn her trust and respect, but with that came extraordinary ability. Her natural talent translated into everything she did.
“To walk down a timeline on a mare with that feel, that care, that calibre and that want and grit, that was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
For Trudy, the journey with Garterlicious had begun with a dream.
“When we were offered the opportunity to breed a Reys Ya Garter baby out of Duckalicious, that was a huge dream of mine and I’ll always be grateful for that opportunity.”
Now Garterlicious is writing the next chapter of her story as a broodmare.
She has already made an impact as a producer, with her foals carrying remarkable similarities to their dam, beautiful types with colour, presence and quality.
To return the gift they had originally been given, Corey and Trudy later gifted an embryo from Garterlicious back to Lisa Hindmarsh. That embryo was bred to Kit Kat Sugar and produced a gelding now showing successfully in Non-Pro competition with his new owners.
Her breeding program has continued to expand. She has been crossed with Hard Hat Henry, resulting in a striking red roan colt named Hardalicious, who is preparing to make his debut at the 2026 Futurity. They also bred her to Smooth Talkin Style, resulting in a filly, and to Bama Jelly through embryo transfer. She carried her MVP foal naturally herself and now has another MVP pregnancy being carried by a recipient mare.
Most of her foals have followed in their dam’s footsteps and inherited her striking roan colouring. Ironically, her very first foal broke the trend and arrived as a bay. Trudy laughs that the fillies have stayed true to their dam though.
“All the fillies are bay roan like her.”
Corey had always believed Garterlicious herself would have been highly competitive in America and now Corey and Trudy are preparing to send one of her exceptional daughters overseas, fulfilling a dream they have carried for years.
Trudy still laughs remembering one of Corey’s earliest predictions.
“When we first started training her, I asked him, ‘What kind of mare do we have here?’”
Corey’s answer came quickly.
“She’s good enough to go to America. This mare is the calibre to compete over there.”
Years later, he still believes it.
For Corey and Trudy, Garterlicious became far more than a gifted embryo, a successful show horse or a valuable broodmare.
She became everything they could have hoped for.
The complete package.
A once-in-a-lifetime mare.
The one gift that became everything they could ever ask for.
