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NEWS - MAY 08

Bruce and I have purchased a Winnebago Nullabor Motorhome and have embark on a trip for about 5 months. With long term friends, Paul and Pat Levick, and we will head up the east coast to Queensland then to Broome and Darwin. From there who knows, right or left, we can go where the whim takes us.
It would seem that retirement has finally come for Bruce and I – well, for 5 months anyway!
On our trip around Australia we may arrive in towns where friends live – it will be nice to call up these people that generally we only see at Royal Shows
Staying home to take care of things will be Lindy and her 2 children, Luke who is almost 5 years and Keeley who has just turned 3. Lindy will be ably assisted by our great staff Leanne, Jenny, Brian and new staff member Anthony.

With these big changes taking place my mind keeps travelling back over the years which prompted me to begin a walk down memory lane remembering all those pupils over all those years. Looking at those old photos of pupils, re-living all the wonderful times we have had in the horse world and recalling all the marvellous people we have meet we have decided to launch a new section on the website called “Down Memory Lane.
I would love to hear from you if you have been one of my pupils in the past; a photo of you then and now would be wonderful. I often wonder what our riders are doing and where our horses are.
It is good to look back and remember each one and to know what some of them have achieved in their lives in the world of horses. I know many have gone on to be useful people in other fields, for example nursing, teaching, home making, etc.
It makes me humble if I have been part of their lives and able to influence them in some way. I would love to hear from my past pupils.

Marena Stud and Riding Academy was honoured by the Wyong Regional Chamber of Commerce winning their 2007Annual Business Awards in Category 11 “Excellence in Primary Industry”. It was a great honour to be recognised in such a competitive district as ours

Kristy Oatley, who purchased Marena Mayflower and Marena Bolero from us when on her way to her present successful position, will represent Australia in Dressage. We all send our sincerest congratulations to them all and wish them every success at Beijing.

Clayton won the EFA National Rider of the Year 2007. Clay was unable to attend the presentation at darling Harbour to receive his award so he asked if Bruce and I would be able to collect the award on his behalf. There were many well-known people in attendance including former Olympians Wayne and Barry Roycroft and Gillian Rolton. Clay has also been named Number One in the World for Eventing, so it was great pleasure and pride that I was able to be there to receive this award on his behalf

The Equine Influenza, that devastated our horse industry, is thankfully beaten but its effect will be felt for years. In an effort to reduce our numbers we did not mate any of our mares in the 2006 season – then no breeding in the 2007 season due to EI means no foals for our mares in 2008. Consequently Marena horses will be in short supply for a couple of years. However we do have some youngsters in the paddock that we are preparing for sale in the Spring.

We are very confident leaving Marena Stud in Lindy’s hand whilst we are away for an extended time. She has proved to be a very able teacher as well as a gifted horse educator. Her pupils are doing very well, at Sydney Royal they held their own on new horses. See the Newsletter for fuller details at Sydney Royal. There are lots of new pupils too, also many mothers who learnt to ride here are bringing their children to learn.

Sydney Royal Easter Show was not a very happy situation for many of the competitors this year. The Equine Flu and the resultant late start to the on again, off again show resulted in confusion. After 43 years in the same stables Marena Stud was moved to another pavilion and our stable allocation was messed up resulting in us arriving later than usual. Throughout the show there was tension because of the trouble all competitors were having. Fortunately we had a good team that shook off the problems and got on with the job.
I am sure the RAS will address these problems and Sydney Show will return as the pleasure it once was.

I will miss all our friends at Marena Stud whilst we are away but this is something that Bruce has wanted to do for a long time. We will meet lots of new people on the way and hopefully catch up with others. It is hard for me to leave our close family and my horses for such a long time but I have a new laptop and Skype to keep in touch regularly, so in this modern age we are not isolated as in the past. I will forward of our experiences as we go.

Our son, Peter, who normally helps me with the web site is still busy in Singapore building a power station, but Matt Frost will be our new webmaster so we should have our new features up and running soon.

Quote for the Month

“KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE STARS
AND YOUR FEET ON THE GROUND”.

I hope you enjoy our website and that “Down Memory Lane” gives you a smile as you remember also. All my best wishes to our readers

Maureen Walker

Quote of the Month  -  "When you are good to others, you are best to yourself." - Benjamin Franklin

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Contact - Maureen, Bruce or Lindy

HB & M Walker

336 Yarramalong Road, Wyong NSW 2259          Phone/Fax: +61 (0)2 4352 1707
Mobile: +61(0)418 433 710 or +61(0)408 611 556        E-mail: marenastud@bigpond.com

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