30th anniversary 2012

Some local horses and riders of the 1970s and '80s (Part 1)

Alison Parker and Majura Gold ('Sundance')

The first riders from this district to attempt the Quilty were Alison Parker (now Alison Hudson) from Bungendore and her friend Suzie Horne. In 1971, only five years after the first Quilty, endurance riding was still a new sport in Australia. There was little information available for people wanting to try the sport, and few rides in which to gain experience. At that time, there were no qualification requirements for the Quilty and for many horses and riders, it was their first endurance ride. Ally and Suzie, who were neighbours near Bungendore, wanted to try something different and decided to enter the 1971 Quilty – Ally on her young palomino stallion Sundance (later registered as Majura Gold) and Suzie on Sundance’s half-sister Amber. Ally and Suzie had trained their horses for several weeks in the hills between Bungendore and Lake George and the horses were reasonably fit. Amber completed the ride successfully but Sundance vetted out on pulse at the end of the third leg, having covered 86 of the 100 miles. With the experience gained from this ride and a lot of valuable advice from other riders at the Quilty on how to prepare a horse for a ride of this kind, Ally and Suzie returned the following year with the same horses, now fitter and clipped, and this time both were successful in a riding time of just over 16½ hours. Sundance did no more endurance rides but has at least two local endurance horses among his progeny: Kristen Proudfoot’s mare Chicky and Searle Johnston’s gelding Brindabella Bold Boris, one of Chicky’s foals.

Alison had other interests, including polocrosse, barrel racing and flag racing, and did not continue with endurance after winning her Quilty buckle in 1972. But ten years later, when the first National Capital Endurance Ride was being organised, she decided to enter it. Her Australian Stock Horse mare, Soft Breeze, was already fit from a season of polocrosse and needed only regular riding in the hills around Bungendore, where Ally had trained for the Quilty, to maintain her fitness. Alison (then Alison Guy), her neighbour Jan Neal and friend Judith Perkins all entered the 50 km encouragement ride at Burra on 19 September 1982, organised by the ACT Endurance Riders Association to help local riders prepare for the 110 km ride in November. All three successfully completed the encouragement ride, Ally on Soft Breeze, Judith on her part-Arabian gelding Razzle Dazzle (bred by Alison) and Jan Neal on her first-cross quarter horse gelding Bruven Champ. They entered the endurance ride in November with the same horses. Ally and Judith were two of only 16 riders out of 39 starters to finish, with Ally placing 6th open and sharing the First Local Lady Rider award with Judith, who was 4th lightweight.

Alison has had a life-long interest in Arabian horses and for many years she and her husband Ray have bred Arabians on their Quartz Hill stud near Bungendore.

By Melanie O'Flynn

Photo captions

1. Alison Parker on Majura Gold
2. Majura Gold
3. (Left to right) Jan, Alison and Judith at Burra 1982
4. Alison on Soft Breeze at Brookvale 1982
5. Alison’s Quilty and Brookvale buckles

Other stories

Lorraine Danson and Stranger | Alison Parker and Majura Gold ('Sundance') | Janet Rose and Maizie | Searle Johnston and Shinda, Binda and other champions | Rowena Hadlow and Deakin Blue

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