Ron passes on a lifetime of passion for horses

Ron Cooke puts 18-year-old Aimee Harnett woman and her horse through their paces.

Mercury Bay man Ron Cooke’s show jumping journey started as a young boy. “My father was a blacksmith and horse dealer, and I spent plenty of time following him around as a lad.

“I wouldn’t get out of the way, so he gave me a go at riding and I never looked back,” says the 81-year-old, who now devotes his time to training young riders at Mercury Bay Equestrian Academy.

With a show jumping career that spans more than 40 years, Ron says all he’s ever wanted to do is work with horses. “There’s not much to do with horses that I haven’t done.”

As well as being a successful show jumper, Ron has been an international dressage judge. He’s trained other riders, bred horses and been a horse dealer. He’s also played polo and been a rodeo rider.

Ron was fortunate to train with some of the big names in show jumping as a youngster and this cemented his love of the sport.

A memory that sticks in Ron’s mind isn’t one of his achievements on the international stage, rather a record-breaking jump he made in Auckland when he was in his early-20s.

“In about 1963, I broke the Auckland high jump record with a jump of 6ft 3.5 inches [189cm],” he says.

Shortly after that, Ron was selected as a member of the New Zealand show jumping team that competed in the North Island against a visiting Australian team. While Andrew White and Telebrae were the first show jumping team to represent New Zealand at the Olympics in 1960, trans-Tasman competitions were more common at the time because the cost of getting horses and riders to international events, says Ron.

Show jumping and eventing is much different now than it was when Ron started out, and that’s a good thing he reckons.

Career highlights

The professional era, and support from organisations like the Sports Foundation, make the expensive world of eventing more accessible for riders, says Ron.

“A lot of good riders of my era got stuck because they simply didn’t have the money needed to compete. Riders covered their own costs back then.”

Ron supported himself by learning the blacksmith trade from his father and is an experienced farrier.

“I’ve never made a hang of a lot of money out of it,” he laughs. “But I’ve been doing something I enjoy all my life.”

One of the highlights of Ron’s breeding career was producing stallion Hi Tensile, which went on to be part of the Japanese show jumping team. It was a real experience transporting Hi Tensile and 15 other horses to Japan by sea, recalls Ron.

As well as the highlights, there have been difficult times including many broken bones.

Ron recalls plaiting manes and tails at a yearling sale in Hamilton when the colt he was working on reacted to another colt and lashed out, giving him three broken ribs. That would have been bad enough, but a couple of weeks later Ron had to attend a sale on behalf of a client and getting there by car was absolute misery, he says.

“I travelled in the front seat, which was down as flat as it would go, and I felt every stone and bump we drove over that day.”

The octogenarian now trains young riders at Mercury Bay Equestrian Academy, which he established five years ago when he moved to the Coromandel Peninsula from Auckland.

“This is what I do now. I want to pass on my knowledge and make good riders better.”

Training young riders

Ron does what he can to help young riders training them and also has a good stock of used equipment that he’s accumulated over the years, which he sells to riders.

Ron’s family have shared his passion for horses with first wife Joan and second wife Estelle horse-lovers as well. His children have followed in his footsteps with foster son David Collett, 30, a full-time show jumper and instructor. Foster son Daniel Blundell, 29, is also a successful show jumper, and both run their own equestrian academies. Daughters Chantelle, 46, and Ann, 41, both ride and help out at Mercury Bay Academy when needed.

Ron was proud to be Daniel’s groom at the 2017 World Showjumping Championships. In the first round at Hawke’s Bay, Daniel won his first horse grand prix with Lavello, and finished fourth overall in the show jumping category after all rounds.

After a long career, it seems Ron has no plans to slow down. The passion for horses that’s driven him since he was a young boy sees him working to pass his knowledge to young riders who are keen to learn. “Seeing young people I’ve trained achieving success is great.”


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