Hillcrest wouldn’t be Hillcrest without horses. They are as much a part of the tapestry as the crisp air and open spaces. But for how much longer will the tradition last? wonders Liz Clarke.
Clodagh Shaw, former race horse trainer and now a regular top grade jumper, has known the area for as long as she can remember.
“I think I was about ten years old when I started riding here,” she says. “Horses and vets were everywhere.”
She recalls that at that time her father’s property, Graceland in Inanda Road, covered more than ten acres of superb riding country. “We even had our own training track for race horses,” she says.
She had six horses of her own, and became a serious competitor at the age of 16, winning the coveted victrix ludorum at the Royal Show.
During the years she has ridden along every pathway, through cane breaks and wooded valleys, from Old Main Road to Botha’s Hill, from Assegay to the Shongweni Valley.
But, she says, things are changing so rapidly that, somewhere along the line, developers and riders are going to have to sit down and talk.
“The problem is there are more horses in this area than ever before and less and less space to ride them. You now have to compete with everything from heavy trucks to quad bikes. It’s becoming downright dangerous.”
Despite the development over the past few years, she says the stalwarts of the local equestrian community have managed to maintain a high level of participation in horse events, with programmes and competitions happening on a regular basis.
“I don’t think riders are against progress,” she says. “It’s just that it has to be done sensibly and in consultation. When you think about it, Hillcrest is on the map because of its unique country atmosphere.”
She points out that the annual international polo events are huge, and Summerveld is just down the road. Some of the top vets in the country live in the area and look after the horses. “Take that all away and it would be a pretty lacklustre place,” she says.
However, for every problem there must be a solution. Clodagh believes the answer lies in good communication with those who have a vision for the future, like Tongaat Hulett, which owns large swathes of land currently used to farm sugar cane.
“I have seen some preliminary plans that suggest bridal paths be incorporated around residential estates to allow for horse riders,” she says. “But frankly that would never work.”
Horses are easily “spooked”. There will still be quad bikes, motorcycles and fast cars in these estates. All it needs is one nasty accident for things to turn sour. The horse community would move away and the ambience would be lost for good.
A better plan, she believes, is a secure equestrian “belt” incorporating a number of open properties catering for people who have a common aim to promote quality horse riding country – a bit like Virginia or Kentucky in America.
“But to make something like that work means sitting down and talking to people who know the horse world. There are plenty of us who would gladly do that. It just needs a willingness from both sides to come up with the right answers.
Clodagh says she is happy to take the call.
1 Comment
I am trying to find any information about Oonah Whittsett – mother of Clodagh Shaw, who is the subject of your article. Oonah was a Springbok diver who competed in the Empire Games.
I would like to contact Clodagh Shaw – and wonder if you might be able to help with that?
My interest is purely personal, as I publish any information I can find about aquatic sports history on my website.