30th anniversary 2012

Some local horses and riders of the 1970s and 1980s (Part 2)

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The Dyason family

Kathryn (Kath) Dyason entered the first Brookvale ride on an 11-year-old stock horse mare named My Pixie. Pixie coped well with the hot, dry conditions, her heart rate remaining in the 40s, but as they had taken nearly 11 hours to cover the first two legs, Kath decided to withdraw at that point rather than try to complete the ride in the remaining time. Her daughter Megan, nearly three-quarters of an hour ahead, continued and finished as first junior with a time of 11 hours 55 minutes. Megan was also riding a stock horse, an 8-year-old gelding named Euree Mandingo (‘Mannie’). Mannie was quite small but very capable, being good at everything Megan asked of him. With a naturally low heart rate that dropped quickly, he would have made a good endurance horse, but Megan's main interest was eventing.

Kath's first successful completion was at Batlow in 1984, where she rode Mannie.

Kath and her husband Dennis decided to continue endurance riding and changed to Arabian horses. Dennis bought a part-Arab gelding, Myluka Marrak. Kath bought a part Arab called Lobo, by the same sire as the great endurance horse Glenallan Solomon (‘Salty’). Kath rode Lobo for four years, during which he completed a Quilty, a Shahzada and a NSW State Championship ride as well as numerous shorter rides including the Brookvale ride three times (1984, 1985 and 1986). Their big year was 1986 when they came second in the NSW One Horse One Rider category with 1,146 km.

Local riders filled the four top placings in that category that year, with Rowena Hadlow and Deakin Blue first with 1,376 km, Marie Hill (de Monchaux) and Tilden Zeichen third with 1,125 km and Dianne Georgeff and Jedda fourth with 771 km. Searle Johnston and Shinda were equal fifth with 750 km. Lobo was also placed third in the NSW Distance Horse pointscore and Kath fourth in NSW Distance Rider. The same riders also did well nationally in 1986, with Rowena, Searle, Kath and Marie being among the Top 10 Distance Riders; Deakin Blue, Binda, Lobo and Tilden Zeichen among the Top 10 Distance Horses; Deakin Blue and Jedda in the Top 10 National Horses and with Rowena and Di in the Top 10 teams of One Horse One Rider.

Kath was probably the first endurance rider from the Canberra district to compete internationally, placing equal 15th in the European Championships in France in 1991 on a borrowed mare named Lola. She continued riding until 1993, mainly on Lobo and two mares, Kea and Glenallan Palerider (‘Flapper’). Dennis's endurance career was interrupted by a badly broken leg as the result of a fall from Marrak but they completed several rides before and after that, including the Cobb & Co 200 in 1989. Kath and Dennis also sometimes lent their horses to other people to ride.

By Melanie O'Flynn

Other stories

The Neal family | The Dyason family | Carol Sparkes and Zamfir | Kristen Proudfoot and Coco | Melanie O'Flynn and Piedy | Paul Sheils and Visty | Debbie and John Wallace and Glenallan Solitary Man (‘Solly’) | Marie de Monchaux and Tilden Zeichen | Bob Perriman and Persius | Dianne Georgeff and Jedda | John McGinn and Pinocchio

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