30th anniversary 2012

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

(Click on photos to see larger versions. Use browser 'Back' button to return to this page.)

Kristen Proudfoot and Coco

Kristen is one of several people from the Canberra area who were introduced to endurance riding by Searle Johnston, now her partner of 25 years. Kristen has competed on many horses but her special favourite was Coco, a grey mare of uncertain age and unknown breeding.

Kristen bought Coco in 1986 from a trail riding business in the southern highlands from which she had bought her chestnut mare Chicky earlier that year. Coco was probably about 13 at the time and was intended mainly for Kristen's children.

Kristen took Coco to a 40 km training ride at Taralga in 1987, in which they were disqualified for being five minutes over time. Coco was fine and Kristen concluded in hindsight that she had approached the hilly course too cautiously. Kristen's next attempt was a 70 km training ride at Tumut in 1987, which she and Coco successfully completed. Coco's first endurance ride was at Brookvale the same year and she successfully completed the 100 km. She was ridden by a friend, Kate Harmer, as Kristen had committed herself to attend a David Bowie concert in Sydney on the same weekend (Kristen says that although she was sorry to miss the ride, the concert was great). Kristen completed the 122 km Kevin Miners Memorial Ride at Adaminaby on Coco later that year and they went on to do many rides together, including the 1990 Quilty and the 1992 NSW State Championship, in which they placed second in the lightweight division, and were one of only three horse and rider combinations to complete the ride out of the ten lightweight entries. Coco was sometimes ridden by other people, including Bindy Carruthers in a Ross Webb Memorial Ride at Tumut, and Kath Dyason in the 1991 Shahzada.

Kristen had not been riding for long when she bought Coco, and pretty much learnt to ride on her. Coco was good natured but sometimes opinionated and would let Kristen know if she was becoming annoyed by what she perceived as a pointless exercise. Rearing was her favourite avoidance tactic, but she was always steady and safe. She was hard to hold at the start of an endurance ride so on Searle's advice, Kristen started using a port-mouthed bit, which worked well. Kristen usually rode with the reins on the buckle, taking up contact only when Coco was tearing off in the dark in a mob of horses. She was comfortable to ride. Kristen remembers falling asleep several times on the last leg of the Myrtleford Quilty in 1990, and Coco just poked along with the little group of tail-enders they were with and made sure Kristen didn't fall off or get left behind.

Coco usually looked rather shaggy in winter because she detested being clipped and also did not like having her face washed. She had a good conformation except for thin-walled boxy front feet that tended to pick up stones, but with careful management from her regular farrier she kept going for many years before her feet started to cause her problems. One vet who got to know her well, and realized that her hooves were part of how she was, used to refer to her as ‘the little mare with high heels&rsquo. Another nearly refused to let her start in one ride because he considered she needed remedial shoeing to correct her hooves and was not ‘adequately shod’ at the time. Over the years Kristen had to put up with a lot of looks, comments and well-meaning advice directed at Coco's appearance, bit and hooves but learnt to ignore them as Coco usually completed successfully and was often placed.

As well as her success in the 1992 State ride, another highlight was winning First Lightweight at Tumut. Kristen recalls that Coco kept up with Shinda for the first two legs of that ride then, as she was tiring, Kristen slowed her down and had enough time to eat plenty of blackberries during the last leg.

Coco retired in 1993. She had completed at least 3000 km in the lightweight division but, as she had completed several rides including a Shahzada carrying middleweight and some others with junior riders, her total distance would have been closer to 4000 km.

Two of Kristen's later endurance horses, Tirra Lirra and Tim Tam, were Coco's foals. Tirra Lirra, born in 1994, was the result of Virginia Dodson donating a service by her Arab stallion Raheem as first prize in an ACTERA fund-raising raffle. The person who won it owned a gelding so Kristen bought the service from her. Tim Tam, born in 1996, was by Roy Amos' stallion Fred. Coco was put down in 2003, aged about 30, and was buried at Bendora.

Kristen's other mare Chicky did only a few endurance rides, as did her first foal Sparky, but a later foal named Brindabella Bold Boris (also by Roy's stallion Fred) is the most recent of Searle's endurance horses.

In 18 years of endurance riding, Kristen accumulated well over 10,000 km. She still rides but for the last few years has taken part in training or social rides rather than competitive endurance events. After moving from Canberra to their property near Gunning, Kristen and Searle started a stud, Bendora Arabians.

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

Back to 30th anniversary home page