Rowan's blog

Exmoor

Exmoor is one of the last remaining 'wild' parts of England - and a remarkably civilized wild place it is too.

I spent many childhood holidays on a farm just down from the moor on the south side. Dad and I returned to visit the farm, farmers family, the rare Exmoor ponies on the moor (the oldest, purest breed and most primitive of the Brisish native ponies), Doone Valley (setting of Lorna Doone), Tarr Farm Inn, The Royal Oak at Withypool and other favorite haunts. 

The narrow, deep Devon lanes force you to slow down a bit. It was much needed.

Bock

I put down my dear Basil (an event horse) in October when his incurable melanoma started causing him pain. RIP Basil. It took a few months before I could start to think about riding again.

In February I started part-sharing Bock, a magnificent dressage horse. He has lovely paces and is well schooled. I'm learning a lot with him, as well as being thoroughly entertained by his cheeky personality!

More pics here.

For those of you not familiar with dressage - at the very highest level it looks like this:

RIP Basil

Basil, you were 'the best' horse.

I will always remember and miss you; your nicker of greeting, your handsome face, your athleticism and focus, your enthusiasm for jumping, carrots and clover, your bravery and your beautiful kind eyes.

I'd like to imagine you're cavorting, pain free; galloping, bucking and squealing in delight to be back with a herd of friends from your past, in green rolling hills (with lots of clover) and fresh mountain streams.

Rest in peace xx

Photos from the time I was lucky enough to spend with Basil.

We won!

I took Basil the horse to the Northside & Avondale One Day Event on 5 & 6 Sept. The 'One Day Event' (ODE) is actually held over two days; the dressage and show jumping were on the Saturday and cross-country on the Sunday.

We were in the lead after the dressage phase. I had a little drama in the show jumping warm up arena - I landed heavily on my ankle in the stirrup over a practice fence and wasn't sure whether I'd be able to put weight on it again in the stirrup! But after a couple of minutes my ankle went numb and we jumped a smooth clear round. That evening I couldn't walk and was couch-bound with ankle strapped, iced, elevated and dosed up on Nurofen!

I worried that I might not be able to walk the cross country course on Sunday morning, so was relieved to find myself able to hobble when I got up at the crack of dawn.

I walked slowly twice around the course on foot (I had to learn the course, work out how many strides I should ride between fences etc) and then flew around it on Basil the super horse to secure our victory!

I was thrilled to win it - Basil has been fed a lot of carrots in the last week!

If you're interested in learning more about the equestrian sport of eventing, there is a good article on Wikipedia. I only do the small stuff, we were competing at Prelim level, which in Australia means maximum jump height 95 cm, ditch 2 m and drops 1.2 m. The highest level of the sport involves maximum fence height 1.20 m, ditch 3.60 m and drops 2 m.

Lots more Basil pics here.

Basil and Rowan's first event

I took Basil to Sydney International Equestrian Centre (SIEC) for the two day event over the weekend. We competed at Introductory (the second lowest) level. We came 18th out of 30, so have something to improve on for next time!

Ben, Nefley, Emma and Suzanne came along to cheer me on and take pics.

The rest of the pics from the day are up here.

Snowy Mountains

I took some time off around Australia Day. I left Ben and Quilla at home, put Basil out in the fields for a holiday and headed down to the Snowy Mountains for a real Aussie adventure. I'd always wanted to trek through the Snowys and sleep in a swag and this seemed the perfect way to celebrate my citizenship having just been approved.

The five other people on the trek were delightful and interesting. Australia Day was the highlight. We tracked several mobs of brumbies across the mountains and plains. We crossed bogs, galloped up hills, drank sweet pure stream water, had 'billie tea' (the old metal kettle heated in a little fire built next to the stream). I lay back on the grass, Akubra hat over face, digesting a delicious lunch of sandwich, cake and fruit (carried, along with the kettle, on the packhorse). In the evening we sat around the campfire at Wares Yards. There were dramatic renditions of Banjo Patterson poems. The stars lit up the sky. The group (all true blue Aussies) decided I didn't need a Mayor to conduct my formal citizenship ceremony - they created their own to induct me. We all stood around the fire under the big southern sky and sang the National Anthem. It was very sweet and thoughtful of them. (Then in the morning they wanted to know how it felt to be a new Aussie!)

I can now say I've ridden the old drovers tracks - and feel I can legitimately claim this great big wild and beautiful country as my own.

All the pics are here.

Basil

A few months ago I was very generously given a horse! His name is Basil, I've been riding him for a few years. I took him to a dressage competition back in May and just got the photos back.

I've plenty of room for improvement. Luckily I've got time on my side - there's a 69 yr old man competing in the Olympic dressage for Japan. It's a pretty remarkable story, he competed as a show jumper in the Olympics 44 years ago! His name is Hiroshi Hoketsu.

Clear round

I just completed a little jumping competition. My first comp in 11 years! I got a clear round. Woo hoo!

The jumps were about the height of the lowest pole in this pic:

And I was beaten (in terms of speed around the course) by a pony about this big:

But I got a nice smooth clear round. And that's a good start!

Melbourne Cup is Flat

Yes, the Melbourne Cup is a flat race. But I'm reading a book called 'The World is Flat' and I recon the Melbourne Cup is flatter than ever.

Why? Globalisation. Japanese horses Delta Blues and Pop Rock placed one and two.

The gossipy man on horseback who interviews the winning jockey en route from winning post to crowd was stumped. Jockey Yasunari Iwata managed something along the lines of, "Very happy!" "Happy!!" (huge grin) "Biggest race ever" "Wonderful horse" (big pat and big grin). It was actually very moving. Interviewer asked a couple of questions. Horse probably understood as much as Yasunari Iwata. Horseback interviewer plans trip to Japan to learn language before 2008 Melbourne Cup.

I got online and sent my congrats to the Japan team I work with. Small world nowerdays. Flat world.

Third time lucky!

Makybe Diva has gone into the record books. She's the first horse ever to win the Melbourne Cup three times!

Her jockey, Glen Boss was pretty happy (he also rode her to victory in 03 and 04). I was pretty happy too - my money was with her this year.

See pics taken in the bar on the day.