Fran Cleland
Bits: Equine jeweller in finals, Good Old Days news & AGM time
A WOMAN who makes jewellery from the hair of “the special horses in our lives that leave their hoofprints forever on our heart” has made...
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Fran Cleland
Aug 30, 20232 min read
Royal gala lights up the faces of showies in the north
THE Show Horse Council of Victoria responded to the request of many of its members to hold an event in the north of the state with a show...
Fran Cleland
Aug 30, 20232 min read
Thoroughbreds dominate field at Friends of Werribee event
FANS of the Thoroughbred would have been excited to see more than 200 ex racehorses competing at the Friends of Werribee Park Horse...
Fran Cleland
Aug 30, 20232 min read
Jodie Mckeone unstoppable as she chases down her dream
AUSTRALIAN carriage driver Jodie Mckeone is living out her dream, claiming the bronze medal in the Grade I class at the FEI Para Driving...
Fran Cleland
Aug 30, 20232 min read
All levels well catered for at Kadina's Copper Coast show
IT’S been a busy three years for the Kadina Agricultural Society’s “Copper Coast” show in South Australia. Like so many, the Covid...
Fran Cleland
Aug 30, 20232 min read
Rockstar crowd turns up for Future Farms open day
WHEN a stud’s open day attracts a crowd big enough to rival a rock concert, you know it’s going to be great. The attention to detail at...
Fran Cleland
Aug 30, 20235 min read
Bits: Road users hearing, pony trots and endurance news
ANIMAL Care Australia and Bitless Inc represented the horse community last week at a Victorian Government hearing for the inquiry into...
Fran Cleland
Aug 23, 20233 min read
Mount Duneed show was so much fun it will be hard to top
SHOW competitors can be fickle but every now and again an event is run so well that all you hear is laughter, cheers and a unanimous...
Fran Cleland
Aug 23, 20233 min read
Ekka signals the start of the spring show season
THE first of the big eastern state royals, the “Ekka”, as Brisbane is affectionately known, heralds the start of the new show year. It...
Fran Cleland
Aug 23, 20232 min read
Australian carriage drivers secure another set of ashes
THE Carriage Driving Ashes – a collaboration between the UK and Australia, with identical competitions held over identical courses in NSW...
Fran Cleland
Aug 23, 20233 min read
A peek inside the secret world of flying horses
HORSES travel by air as easily as humans these days, and are possibly better cared for. Back in the dark ages, they may have merely...
Fran Cleland and the FEI
Aug 23, 20232 min read
Young endurance horses up for the challenge in Europe
ENDURANCE riding is strictly policed and unlike young racehorses whose career so often begins at age two, horses must be older than four...
Fran Cleland
Aug 23, 20234 min read
Bits: Trans Tasman win, pony ride ban and Brumby calendars
THE Australian Young Rider team won the Trans-Tasman Young Rider Challenge borrowed horse competition held at the Waratah Showjumping...
Fran Cleland
Aug 16, 20232 min read
Win at Boneo made all the more special for Dianne Barnes
THE dressage championships at Boneo Park last weekend proved a successful and emotional show for para equestrian Dianne Barnes who won...
Fran Cleland
Aug 16, 20238 min read
No matter how many horses you have had, no one forgets their first
IT’S said you never forget your first kiss, or your first love. For horse people it’s their first pony. Even if the person is world...
Fran Cleland
Aug 16, 20232 min read
Juniors brush up on their craft at NSW show and clinic
WITH the show season fast approaching, the Equestrian NSW Junior Horse Show and clinic provided a chance for the show kids to polish up...
Fran Cleland
Aug 16, 20232 min read
Naracoorte takes on task of hosting zone championships
NARACOORTE Hunt and Pony Club took on the big job of hosting Pony Club South Australia’s south-east zone championships. Riders from...
Fran Cleland
Aug 16, 20232 min read
Behind every great rider (or pony club kid) is a groom
BEHIND every rider, from the smallest pony club member to the elite competitor at the Olympics, is a person following with a box full of...
Fran Cleland
Aug 16, 20233 min read
Bits: Vale Jack Ruckwood, HOTY cancelled and road use survey
JACK Ruckwood, one of the pioneers of Appaloosa breeding in Australia, has died at age 87. He was a driving force and founding member in...
Fran Cleland
Aug 9, 20233 min read
Ponies show their woolly worth at winter gymkhanas
THEY might not cost as much on the open market as the Olympic dressage horses or Melbourne Cup champions but hairy little pony club...
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