Rocky becomes a new member of our family.

For my 21st birthday, my parents bought me a Great Dane, who we named Rocky. He had been bred by our local veterinary surgeon and at the time was about 9 months old. I went to the surgery to meet him, and found him lying happily in front of the fire with a litter of Chihuahuas playing happily on him, climbing back and forth over the top of his back and belly. He seemed more than happy to jump into my car when brought outside and we became instant companions. He was very protective and seldom left my side. When in the car, nobody dared to come close as he sounded a bit like a lion in full roar; not even my friends who he knew well would take the chance of going near the car if he was in it!

Rocky

At the same time I changed to a double bed, as Rocky decided that there was no doubt about where he was going to sleep and that was on my bed! Very little room was left for me on my original single bed. The door to my bedroom led to the outside, so it was ideal that not only could he be by my side but he was also in a position to guard the comings and goings in the garden area surrounding the house. 

Introducing Rocky to Dusky.

Seems they are happy in each others' company

Not too long after Rocky joined the family, I went to see Neil at the farm. While on the road, I passed a family who were obviously going on holiday with their caravan, but their vehicle had broken down. On passing I realised there were small children there, so as I had Rocky in the back I reversed back to see if I could help in any way. The father asked if I could take him to the next town where he hoped to find someone who could help him, so I said jump in and I would take him with me. While talking to the parents, Rocky was unusually quiet but as soon as I had an unknown passenger in the car, a low growl started in the back. I spoke to Rocky and told him to calm down, but I saw my passenger stiffen and freeze into position. It was  a trip of only about 5 miles and I have seldom seen anybody get out of a car so quickly with garbled thanks when we arrived at our destination! Hopefully the poor man found some help fairly quickly so his family could resume their travels.

My Dad with Rocky.  Dad was just on 6ft (1.83 metres) so this gives an idea of how big Rocky was.  The Pekingese at the bottom is a dog that I was given when the owners returned to the UK.  He  also thought he was the boss and Rocky had a lot of respect for the snappy little fellow!

Going for a ride :-)

Neil with Bits the dog that his family owned.  Bits was quite a character and was frightened of thunder.  He always took refuge in the bath of all places. You had to remember not to leave the washing in soak in the bath if there was a storm around!!

My Life Before Charente to be continued :-) 

 

The section of my life story during our overland trip is published on Kindle if you should be interested:-

 

See

 http://www.amazon.co.uk/THE-GREAT-1953-TREK-ebook/dp/B008KK0KHU/ref=pd_ys_iyr1

Pietermaritzburg show (South Africa), Rhodesian Colours and turning 21 in Umtali (Rhodesia).

That evening, we loaded the horses onto the train for Pietermaritzburg in South Africa, and set off smartly by car down the coast road, hoping to get to the Mozambique/South Africa border before it closed for the night. There were two cars; I was driving alone and the other two riders were in the other car, trying desperately to keep each other awake. I have always been lucky, in the respect that no matter how tired I am feeling, I seem to wake up as soon as I get behind the wheel of a car! This is inherited from my Dad I suspect, as he was much the same. 

On arriving at the border, we encountered Customs and Immigration, housed in just a caravan - this was 1964! Upon knocking on the door, we were told that they had just closed! After much pleading and begging, we were told that if one of us went over to the South African arrival post, and they were prepared to allow us through, he would let us exit Mozambique. No mobile phones in those days!  Off I went to speak to the South African border force, returning with a big grin on my face  and saying that we had the all clear! I had planned to stay with a friend in Pietermaritzburg but the other two riders were staying with friends in Durban, so we split up on arrival in Durban and I had about 100 kilometres further to go from the coast. After another 45 minutes drive, I was knocking on my friend's door in the early hours of the next morning. Unfortunately, the horses were also travelling overnight, so after only a couple of hours' sleep, I went off to the station to unload the Rhodesian team horses. 

We had a great show and my horse Mr Smith was beaten into second place in the Grand Prix  by only a short time margin. The horses then returned to Salisbury by train, but I was faced with the very long (1600 kilometres or 1000 miles) car journey home. The little map below is quite deceptive and the distances are great. It doesn't look far, but remember it took two whole days for of us to drive in our 1960's cars from Salisbury to Lourenco Marques!

Mum and Dad told me to have a rest halt and stay overnight at the hotel just over the border at Beit Bridge, the little town on the giant Limpopo river which forms the border with Rhodesia in that area. On arrival there in the evening, it was to find the place was fully booked; so I got back in the car and just kept going! I think this is probably the longest drive I have ever done in one go; in later years, I drove the 1100 kilometres from Johannesburg to Salisbury many times but with the extra distance from Pietermaritzburg  tacked on, it was not something I would wish to repeat! On my return from South Africa and Mozambique, I was awarded Rhodesian colours for equitation, of which to this day I am extremely proud!

Meanwhile, after his good showing in Pietermaritzburg, Kubla Khan was going from strength to strength. He was showing every promise that he would soon be competing with Mr Smith as my top shop jumper. At the beginning of the 1964 season, he started winning event after event in the D (lowest at that time) grade, and by halfway through the year, he had enough points to be well up into C Grade. 

The beautiful scenery in the background at Umtali, on Rhodesia's eastern border with Mozambique.

At Umtali Show, towards the end of his first season, he jumped brilliantly and I knew that with the points he had gained there, he was sure to be starting his second season in B Grade.

I only wore my pink hunting jacket for special events!

Kubla Khan and myself collecting a prize.

Umtali was a success all round and while there I celebrated my 21st birthday. A friend, Neil, whom I knew from both horse racing and show jumping took me across the border into Mozambique for dinner. There is nothing to beat Mozambique prawns and Portuguese wine and we celebrated well into the night! This was the start of a long friendship and only after five months of going out together, did I discover that he was almost 5 years younger than me! He was in fact still at school at the time, and only left there at the end of that year to go farming with one of my father’s race horse owners and a close family friend. By this time, age did not come into the equation and we continued to be constant companions.

Neil and myself 1964/5. Not sure where we where!  Possibly at Mermaids Pool, once a very popular resort  just outside Salisbury in the good old days!

My Life Before Charente to be continued :-) 

 

The section of my life story during our overland trip is published on Kindle if you should be interested:-

 

See

 http://www.amazon.co.uk/THE-GREAT-1953-TREK-ebook/dp/B008KK0KHU/ref=pd_ys_iyr1