Trophies are Reminders of feats

Photographer Sandra Williamson, Judith Williamson's horse-riding trophies & ribbons, 7 January 2016, Patterson Lakes, Victoria, Australia [JudithKS0002]

As Judy held the bucket, she watched the horse shake its head from side to side, throwing the chaff off that was tickling its nose. Horses and riding had been a passion for her as long as she could remember. In her teens, she borrowed a horse to compete in the local Camperdown Country Show, but when she left home to do her nurse training there hadn't been any time or place to ride. Then her kids were born and she didn’t have the time nor the freedom to do as she pleased.

Photographer unknown, Judith Todman after riding at the Camperdown show, 1948, Camperdown, Victoria, Australia [b138]

Occasionally as the kids got older, she’d take them to a country rodeo. They never really shared her passion. Where she saw the musculature beauty of a finely tuned horse, they saw blowflies. Where she smelled the sweet scent of saddles warmed by horse’s sweat, they smelled horse dung and damp hay. She could feel the energy in the air as beast fought to dismount man. But all the children heard was the course language, the yelling and the cheering.  They couldn’t see over the jostling crowds of spectators.

Judy met Jenny through work. Like Judy she as an Occupation Health & Safety nurse, and also a single working mum with an interest in horses. But Jenny had a benefactor who supported her interest and she spent her weekends at her benefactor’s farm, often inviting Judy to join her so that they could train and ride the horses together.

Ironically it was Judy’s eldest child that truly rekindled her passion for horses and paved the way for new possibilities. Sandra had enrolled herself in a cross-country riding course with the “Council of Adult Education” in 1981 but had to relinquish her participation halfway through after being thrown from the stallion she had been riding. With Sandra recuperating and unable to ride, Judy stepped into the breach. 

The weekly ride was through the natural untamed beauty of the Strzelecki Ranges on unmade roads and through the bush. It was fast and furious both up and down the hillside. It was stuff that had made the movie “Man from Snowy River” famous. Scenes of mountain ponies galloping down steep ravines, riders leaning back in their saddles their backs almost touching the horse’s rump as their legs stretched forward stiffly in the stirrups to balance.

Judy was exhilarated. The course finished but Judy had rekindled a passion that she had almost forgotten. Inspired, she returned to the horse farm and negotiated to buy the horse she had ridden. As her children began to have their own families Judy became preoccupied with her new hobby, working fulltime during the week and spending her weekends riding. She joined the local horse-riding club and began training in dressage, winning her first trophy in 1984 for ‘most improved’.

Photographer Sandra Williamson, Judith Williamson’s Trophy For Most Improved Rider 1984, 7 Jan 2016, Patterson Lakes, Victoria, Australia [JudithKS0001-3]

Dressage seemed so confining after her experience in the Strzeleckis. Meg, her new horse, was not really well adapted for such rigor. Meg was a bit too stiff and not able to lead on the inside leg as required by this style of riding. It was then that Judy met Gay. Gay offered her the use of her own big handsome trotter “Santa”. Judy began riding with Gay and eventually sold Meg and purchased Santa from her. Together Gay and Judy joined a new riding club “Harkaway Riding Club” that focused on bush and navigational riding. Some rides took all day, others required camping for several nights. In 1993, Judy won her second trophy, for dressage, a very proud moment.

Photographer Sandra Williamson, Judith Williamson’s The Cattle Persons Cup Trophy 1995, 7 Jan 2016, Patterson Lakes, Victoria, Australia [JudithKS0001-4]

“I was the first lady rider to win the Cattleman s cup, so they had to change the title to Cattlepersons cup after that”

Judy has a slew of ribbons that speak to her enjoyment of horse riding and many happy shared memories.

Photographer unknown, Judy riding at the beach, circa 1988, Mordialloc, Victoria, Australia [T349]

Sepia Saturday: Using Old Images As Prompt for New Reflections - Prompt 521