30th anniversary 2012

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

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Bob Perriman and Persius

Bob started endurance riding in 1982, around the time he retired, and competed in several rides during the 1980s. He and his six-year-old chestnut part-Arabian gelding Persius (‘Percy’) entered the first Brookvale ride but were not successful. They completed the ride in 1983 and again in 1986, being placed second heavyweight on both occasions. Bob was involved in organising the early Brookvale rides and later served as ACTERA president.

Dianne Georgeff and Jedda

Dianne Georgeff (Keddie) and her chestnut thoroughbred mare Jedda were another successful local combination in the 1980s. They completed two Quilties and a Shahzada plus several rides of 80–120 km, including the 110 km Brookvale ride twice.

John McGinn and Pinocchio

John McGinn, a successful heavyweight rider in the 1980s, had several horses, but the one probably best remembered is his part-Arabian gelding Pinocchio, who had been a bucking horse in rodeos before John bought him. Despite his ongoing tendency to buck, he turned out to be a good endurance horse and had accumulated 1000 miles (1600 km) before being killed by a train in 1988.

Debbie and John Wallace and Glenallan Solitary Man (‘Solly’)

Debbie and Solly (photo taken at an Adaminaby ride)

Debbie and Solly were the first local rider and first local horse to win the National Capital (Brookvale) ride, which they did in 1985 when Solly was 10 years old. He missed the first Brookvale ride because, after organising the Burra training ride in September 1982 and having helped to organise the Brookvale ride, John and Debbie moved to Queensland for a couple of years, returning in 1985.

Solly, a part-Arab gelding, did his first endurance ride at Kangaroo Valley in 1981. In an endurance career spanning 10 years, he completed many rides in both NSW and Queensland, the highlights of which included winning the 200 km Warwick to Nerang ride in 1983 and finishing the 160 km Colo Challenge in 1987 and the Quilty in 1990. He lived to the age of 30 before succumbing to cancer in 2005, having been with Debbie for 25 years.

Marie de Monchaux and Tilden Zeichen

Marie first attempted the Brookvale ride in 1982 on a five-year-old Australian Stock Horse gelding named Cedar but withdrew at the end of the second leg when she realised she was unlikely to complete the ride in the time allowed. She had a Welsh pony stud near Canberra and in 1984 tried the Brookvale ride again on her 13.1½ hh Welsh B stallion Cymreig Rustler. Marie, a tall woman, remembers her feet having been quite close to the ground during that ride!

Marie on Tilden Zeichen with Chris Robertson on Prancer, Brookvale 1985

Rustler’s successful completion of the challenging 110 km ride, carrying 80 kg, was a remarkable performance. He completed the 110 km course in 12 hours 15 minutes, placing 9th Open, and won a tile portrait of himself by Brigitte Heyer for being the smallest horse to finish.

Marie completed the ride again in 1985 and 1986 on her Welsh B gelding Tilden Zeichen (‘Zeke’), by Cymreig Rustler from a thoroughbred mare. A few years later Marie bought the purebred Arabian gelding Kelkette Park Ibn Khazelle, on which she completed the Brookvale ride four more times, as well as several other rides. He was bought by another local rider, the late Denis Jeffrey, when Marie moved to North Queensland in 1997.

By Melanie O'Flynn