30th anniversary ride 2012

Thirty years of Brookvale buckles – Part 1

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the beginning of the National Capital (Brookvale) Endurance Ride. From 1982 to 2011, over 20 riders have won five or more Brookvale buckles and three of them (Shelly Ison, Gillian Petersohn and Searle Johnston) have more than ten.

Four horses have won five or more buckles with the one rider. They are: Searle Johnston's Shinda, Gillian Petersohn's Karakatana Aluf, Colleen Clancy's Wiz the Fizz and Rochelle Knihinicki's Tuldar Ronnie. The only other horse I could find that has won five or more buckles with different riders is Searle Johnston's Too Soon (Narraburra Magnifique) – he completed the ride three times with Kerren Hosking and three times with Searle.

In Searle's five completions on Shinda, they were first heavyweight three times and in the last Brookvale ride they completed together, were second middleweight and best conditioned open horse. Searle was equal first middleweight (and joint winner of the ride) twice on Too Soon and achieved best conditioned horse awards with both Too Soon and Haraka. Gillian was nearly always in the lightweight placings – she was first lightweight five times (four of them on Karakatana Aluf) and equal first lightweight once. In his seven completions, Karakatana Aluf was best conditioned catchweight horse at least four times. Shelly has so far won the lightweight division three times and been among the placings in many of her other rides, including in 2011 when she was second lightweight and Aloha Fabian the best conditioned lightweight horse. This was Shelly's third best conditioned horse award in the National Capital Ride, the others being with Miss Ellie.

All of Talea Hasko-Stewart's five completions and four of Rochelle Knihinicki's were achieved as juniors. Jenny Oliver's six completions included three wins. Others on the list who have won the ride are Carol Sparkes, Colin Joyce, Kerren Hosking, Peter Norman and Jennifer Gilbertson (for a complete list of winners, see the honour roll on this website). The Bohm family warrants a special mention: while no individual appears to have achieved more than four buckles, five members of the family have at least one, beginning with Kevin's successful completion of the 1982 ride on Kelkette Park Izak.

Apart from three years (1992, 2003 and 2007) when the ride was not held at all and another three years (2006, 2008 and 2010) when for various reasons it was held in Canberra, the National Capital ride has been run from its original base on the Blundell family's property, Brookvale. From 1982 to 1985, the ride was 110 km in three legs; from 1986 to 1991 it was 100 km in two legs and from 1993 to the present it has been 80 km in two legs, though the course has changed several times. It is still regarded as a challenging ride and to have successfully completed it on five or more occasions is a significant achievement, but the people and horses who won some of their buckles before 1993 really earned them as they had to cover an additional 20 to 30 km.

The buckle design has changed several times over the 30 years. The original buckle was an oblong in a silvery-coloured metal featuring a horse and rider in bushland. A plaque was offered as an alternative in 1985 and 1986. A new buckle with a gold or bronze rider against a contrasting background was introduced in 1987 and used for several years. Then a round buckle with a horse's head was used briefly in the early 1990s before being replaced in 1995 by a new design featuring a horse and rider against the Parliament House flagpole. While that design continues to be used, there have been several changes to the background colour and from 2011, some changes to the size, shape and overall appearance of the buckle.

The ACT Endurance Riders Association greatly appreciates the support of the many riders who have returned to our ride year after year and looks forward to this list continuing to expand. We hope to see lots of you back at Brookvale in October.

Melanie O'Flynn

See Part 2 – riders who have won five or more buckles | See 30 years of photos