30th anniversary 2012

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

Rowena Hadlow and Deakin Blue

The Hadlow family from Bungendore started endurance riding in the 1970s, making them among the first riders in the Canberra district to take up the sport. Kavin Hadlow attempted the Quilty in 1973 on a horse called Bonanza, a buckskin gelding of no particular breed. Of the 54 horses that started, 29 were vetted out and Kavin’s was one of them. Kavin rode Bonanza and a grey gelding called Hi-Jack over the next few years at some of the few endurance rides held, including Taralga, Sofala and East Kurrajong. Hi-Jack was a 16hh ex-showjumper, also of no particular breed, that Kavin purchased from Canberra after he was found to be too strong and hard to handle as a showjumper. Robyn entered her first ride at Taralga in 1976 and was successful on Hi-Jack.

It was not until 1979 that their daughter Rowena (now Rowena Robinson of Falls Creek near Nowra) was allowed to enter her first endurance ride. She entered the Taralga ride in January 1979 on her pony club mare Queenie but after completing the 80 km course, they vetted out on pulse at the final check. Rowena tried again at Taralga in 1981 but Queenie was again vetted out on pulse. Rowena received her first buckle a few months later when she completed the Sofala ride on Hi-Jack.

In about 1982 the Hadlows bought the grey purebred Arabian gelding Deakin Blue. Known to his friends as 'YoYo', he was a tall (16hh) but compact horse with a gentle nature. He did all his endurance rides in a blue halter and was easily identifiable at a distance by his size and jaunty tail carriage. About the only times he wore a bridle were when being ridden by Kavin as a 'Red Coat' at Canberra Royal.

Deakin Blue remains one of the greatest endurance horses of all time, not only in this district but in Australia. His first endurance ride was at Kangaroo Valley in 1983, where he was ridden by Kavin. He and Rowena did their first endurance ride together at East Kurrajong in 1984. In his 10-year career, from 1984 to 1994, he accumulated 8,952 km and would probably have achieved much more but for a paddock accident in March 1994 that forced him to retire prematurely at the age of 16. Having passed 5,000km in 1989, Deakin Blue reached the top of the Australian distance horse register in 1993 and remained there until overtaken by Alan and Helen Lindsay’s BindoDeakin Blue's career highlights were three Quilties, three Shahzadas and two State Championship rides. He won the Cobb & Co 200 in 1991 and completed it in three other years. Closer to home, he completed the National Capital ride in 1985, 1986 and 1989. All of his rides were in middleweight division. He was National Distance Horse of the Year in 1989 and was often in the national and state top-10 listing for horse of the year, distance horse of the year and one-horse-one-rider combination. He was mostly ridden by Rowena but on several occasions by Kavin, including the 1990 Cobb & Co 200 and the 1991 Quilty.

Rowena continued endurance riding, mainly on Chifty, another purebred grey gelding closely related to Deakin Blue, and later on Karumba Nazrani. She now has 11 Shahzadas and eight Quilties to her credit and in 2009 completed the 'Big Three' – Quilty, Shahzada and NSW State Championship in the one year. Kavin completed a lot of rides on several different horses during the 1980s and early 1990s. He never fully recovered from a bad fall during a droving trip in the 1990s and passed away in 2001. Robyn did only a few rides after the early 1980s but accompanied Rowena as her strapper and also helped with the running of the Brookvale ride for many years.

By Melanie O'Flynn

Local horse and rider 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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