'Golden Sands Horse and Wagon Rides'

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St James Christmas Wagon Trek.
December 2011
By Sophie Allen

I loaded up my pony, Jester on the beautiful boxing day morning and headed up the grey valley and
through the lewis pass. The trees made a leafy Green avenue for us, little showers of Gold floated down past the Black tree trunks as spent leaves caught the gentle summer breeze.
With the quiet road we made good time and found the base camp near Hamner around midday. It was blisteringly hot as I unloaded Jester, made a space for us at the gate and let him go in a paddock nearly full of Clydesdales and half draughts. Later on the rest of the team arrive and the last of the sixteen Erewhon Station draught horses were unloaded, with another riding horse as well, there were 18 in all and twelve people.

Day One 38km
We harnessed up early to try and beat the heat, and headed off through Hamner and up Jack's Pass. The going was steep so there were lots of rest stops on the way to let the horses catch their breath and to let the dust settle amongst the Blue Borage and White aromatic Manuka. After dropping down through the
Golden broom and hitting the Clarence river terraces we sheltered under the cool St James homestead willows for lunch. Unfortunately we are not alone as a veracious hoard of sandflies were also enjoying their lunch. US!
We past a heard of horses in the riverbed and lots of beef cows and young calves before making camp for the night at Fowlers hut. The tents and BBQ were set up and an evening of drinks and banter ensued.

Day Two 30+km
After a gentle start to the day on the river terraces the road got rougher, some narrow gates were negotiated and we started to climb. As we near the top of Maling Pass the snow capped Spencer Mountain Range peaks over the saddle. At the top, a wide, inviting valley opened up before us, if only the decent weren't so steep! Part way down there is an oasis of Beech trees and a stream to shelter by for a quick rest and then we are off down to the Waiau River for lunch.
Travelling the swathe of wild flowers it is too much for me to stay with the procession, so I took off for a gallop over the river flats and amongst the scattered, ancient Matagouri trees. The grass was long and Green from an unusually generous spring, the flowers were stunning and I found a ring of huge horse mushrooms to fry up with our dinner. As the valley widened again we reach our camp, the old St James summer homestead. This is still private
so we set up for the night nearby. The horses were given a lovely big tape paddock with a stream through the middle. Lots more drinks and mutton chops, dirty jokes and good company and we were late wobbling off to our tents again!
Day Three 20+ Km (50+km for the outriders)

It was a big day for the out ridders with lots of work to do to find a suitable trail for the wagons to follow. Wild horses swept down the valley, trailing behind, as they pass us at a gallop, was a very young foal. After some steep and narrow cuttings the wagons crossed the rough and swift Waiau River just before the steep narrow gorge and cycle swing bridge. Dodging the huge boulders, the big horses hall their passengers across with no trouble. We had another late night of fun and then a rest day with the rain setting in.

Day Five 30+km
Back up the Maling Pass in the low morning cloud it was thankfully cold but dry for the horses. They steamed and dripped with sweat as we reached the Beech tree oasis for lunch. We didn't stop long for fear of them cooling off too much.
We made it to the top in good time, about an hour up the steep pass (1300 metres above sea level), and then down to Fowlers hutt where half the horses and one wagon were trucked back to Hamner. We spend a happy New Years Eve a the Hamner base where friends have made us a lovely dinner which we
devoured after queuing for the shower.

Day six
After breakfast it was back up to Fowlers hut to collect the rest of the horses, wagon and gear and then we went our seperate ways at midday. I headed back home to the West Coast and the Erewhon team take a few trips to get all their horses, truck, trailers and wagons back to the station over the next few
days.

Thanks to everyone for their company and a wonderful trip!

Happy New to you all.

'Meet Murphy and Sophie'

Murphy looking fit !

Back in 2008 I had the idea of starting a tourist venture with a horse and wagon on the beach. I hadn't had any harness experience but have owned a horse since I was 18 months old, and started and retrained many to ride over the years. That's about 34 years! I didn't know if I would need more than one horse and I had to design a wagon that would be suitable for my needs. I didn't know about swingal trees or shaft length or even what type of harness or horse I would need. I collected many photos off the net but everyone seems to harness up differently and it would also be easy to copy others mistakes. An acquaintance gave me an old wagon to copy the turntable off, it was so rusty the wheels collapsed on the back of the truck on the way home but it gave us something to go on. Thankfully I had a good friend, Ian Hultenburg, who did all the steel work with my help in his huge shed in Barrytown. He also was going to let me base my business from his premises but sadly he has since passed away. The next thing was to decide on a horse. After a few false starts, and deciding on using one horse, it became clear that a heavy horse would be the best option. I also wanted a horse with some experience as harness work is quite different to handling a riding horse. During this time it seems that everyone else wanted a heavy horse as the prices rocketed! The real decider was when I bought the harness, (before the horse!) So now I was looking for a big horse to fit the harness. Not long after I bought the harness Murphy came up for sale. He wasn't too far away (near oxford) and I could afford him. I raced over the hill to meet him and fell in love with him. He is a Clydesdale and his 'proper' name is Kintyre Lodge Pride. Although he was really unfit and his feet were a mess it was obvious what a quiet gentle and obliging horse he is. As soon as he got here I got to work on his hoofs with the bare foot trimming that I do, and started to get him used to the beach and gently got him fit with the sled. He taught me heaps about how to drive a harness horse. Finally on New Years Day 2011 we put him to the wagon. The shafts were still too long and the traces were (very carefully) tied until I could get advice as to just where everything should be adjusted to. I was a bit nervous as it was only my second time driving a wagon ever and he hadn't been in a wagon for some time, but everything went so smoothly! The wonderful community on the 'Australian Heavy Horse Forums' ran a critical eye over the photos I sent them and advised on a few alterations. Within the next week we were down on the beach taking friends for rides and trotting through the creeks. There was no looking back! Although I haven't quite got my base sorted out yet, I don't think it will be long until we are in business. I think we will be called 'Golden Sands Horse and Wagon Rides'
We hope that you will come out for a ride and meet Murphy (and me) soon.

Sophie and Murphy.