Riverside Equestrian Centre

BIG NEWS!

Riverside has great plans for improvement and expansion of its operation, with more horses, more facilities and more horsey fun for more people.

The past few months have been a little tumultuous as regular riders at Riverside will know that Mrs White will reduce her day to day involvement of the riding school as part of her retirement plan. She has a book to get to the Publishers!

Riverside has a new Manager, Megan Puschmann, who has been with us now for five years and has shown only determination, persistence, loyalty, intelligence and hard work. It's a big job ahead of her, but we have seen enough of her since she began at Riverside to know that she can do it with our help and support. Good on you Megan for rising to the challenge, we wish you the very best in your new endeavour.

Mrs White's son Brian has joined the Board of Directors and will provide day to day support to our new Manager.

Hopefully the toughest part is behind us now with the installation of new management, as we prepare our expansion and development plans for the school.

These include:

the purchase of new horses,
upgrading yards and fences,
upgrading lights on one arena and installing lights on the second arena
installing dust mitigation sprinklers on the second arena
a major revamp of the reception area, including demolition of the old mine workshops adjoining the big shed, and installation of a new office building and employees tack storage.
development of an online and over-the-phone payment systems
just to name a few....

Watch this space.......

VALE GOLDEN REEF KIMBERLY 10/9/1979-5/7/2010

THE ALL PURPOSE WONDER PONY by Elizabeth Macarthur White It is with great sadness that I anounce the death of Kim at 8.10am on Monday the 5th of July, 2010. He lived long enough to say good bye to us and to let us know that his health problems were due to age related failure of his internal organs rather than to cholic or plant poisoning as I first thought. Although he had difficulty breathing during his last day with us he was as cute and loving as ever. On Sunday evening, I walked him over to my daughter Jenny's place so he could say goodbye to her. Kim was delighted by Jenny's lush green lawn which he munched on while Jenny hugged him and received reassuring snuffles in return. It was as though Kim was saying goodbye thank you for a wonderful life with the White family and all his hundreds of other special human friends.

Kim has now joined the ranks of the spirit horses so don't be surprised if he starts haunting you as one of his many human friends. Special horses don't die they live forever and just become more mobile once their spirits are no longer restricted by fences.

Kim was born at 8am over 30 years ago on a perfect spring morning on our Kangaroo Reef property in the Adelaide Hills half way between Hahndorf and Mylor. He was the first foal of three special ponies born that year to mark the beginning of our pony breeding venture known as Golden Reef Pony Stud. His mother, Tammy, a dappled grey part Arab mare, had chosed a special birth place high on a north eastern slope under a weeping willow, with its pale green spring mantle, next to our orchard of plum, cherry, peach, nectarine and apple trees all of which were in full boom. Thus the air was fragrant with the scent from those pink and white blossoms mingled with that from white clover and other flowers. The birds were in full morning chorus accompanied by the background buzzing of bees. The air was crystal clear on our sunny slope so we could see right across the Adelaide Hills to the TV towers on Mt. Lofty but remnants of fog filled hollows between the intervening hills which looked like islands floating on a magic sea. It was a perfect morning as though nature was celebrating the birth of a very special pony.

The new colt was a cute, fluffy, charcoal black foal with grey spectacles indicating that he would grow up to be a dappled grey like his mother. On his forehead were two large white diamonds which led to my husband, Andrew, naming him Kimberly after the home of the best diamonds in the world. Kim himself, proved to be a real diamond and a pony to keep rather than to sell. When Andrew later suggested that I should sell the 3yr old Kim, I responded by training Kim to harness then presented him and his sulky to Andrew as a birthday present. Thus it was appropriate that it was Andrew who was with Kim when he passed away at around 8am on another perfect day, this time, of course, in winter at Riverside Equestrian Centre.

Please celebrate Kim's wonderful life instead of mourning his death. He will always be with us. Some things are meant to be - this was the time for Kim's passing. Some years ago Jenny asked me what I would do when Kim died? I replied "I will stop running the riding school". How prophetic was that reply. As mentioned in our last newsletter, I am currently handing over the management of Riverside to my son Brian as Managing Director and to Megan Puschmann as the riding school manager. I plan to retire on my 70th birthday on 29th July, so that I will have more time to spend with Andrew, ride, write and paint. My first book to be finished will be called "Kim, the all purpose wonder pony".