Another life change - a new job and then promotion!

The five years that I spent working at the surgery were very happy and enjoyable;  however, I decided to bring this to an end as a result of an offer of a job by the manager of one of the local veterinary drug companies. The Farmers Co-op had a very large veterinary department and the drug company wanted a representative working there. It was a great opportunity for a new challenge and I was finally employed late in 1977 by both organisations on a 50/50 shared basis, the Co-op paying my salary and the drug company taking a commission on the sales.

Myself taken at my folks home in Ruwa. 1976.  This was my all time favourite  evening dress with an African bead work decoration, the latter still in my possession!

  

This change of job meant, of course, that I had to move out of the surgery flat and I was on the search for somewhere else to live. The cottage out at Brackenhurst with my folks was still an option, but I really wanted something in Salisbury and closer to work. I finally found a delightful single storey two bedroom town house with its own small garden, for rent in the suburb of Greendale, not very far from the Co-op  There was also a car port and an outdoor enclosed area, which was suitable for my cats. By that time, their number had risen to three! A highly bred female lynx point, a non-registered male seal point and lastly to join the family was a Persian colour point.

No 3 Rosena Park, Greendale.  The front overlooking the garden...

 the back with car port....

and the garden, with its typical southern African planting.

Work at the Co-op proved to be great fun and I made many very good friends among the farming community, who did most of their shopping there. At the end of my first year, the manager of the veterinary department retired and I was offered the job! However, this would mean that I would have to become wholly a Co-op employee and the drug company arrangement would fall away. I went into the situation very carefully and decided that I would be better off employed by the Co-op, but the work load would increase by quite a lot. Not only would I be in charge of the veterinary side of the Co-op, but also the agricultural chemicals and fertilisers used for soil treatment by the farmers. Unfortunately, the major increase in the range of products I had to deal with meant I spent a lot of time with administration in the office and so missed much of the personal over-the-counter contact I had had with the customers.

By this time, I was doing very little riding other than at the weekends when I would go out to my folks, but Saturday afternoons were still spent helping at the race course, both with my Dad and the staff at Borrowdale Stud, with whom I had kept in touch with throughout. My life had pretty much developed into a set routine and the next couple of years were fairly undramatic.

Mum and I leading in Merrylegs with jockey Jimmy Anderson to the winner's enclosure at Borrowdale Park. 1977

As above on a different day.  Note the skirt change in length and the white boots of that era!!

Borrowdale Park race course stands in 1977.

My godmother and I at the Kariba dam wall on one of her several visits to Rhodesia.

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

My Mum buys a race horse.

At the end of 1963, my Mum successfully bid for a horse called Thorstone at an auction at the Borrowdale race track. 

Thorstone when we bought her.

She was a large, very gangly chestnut mare who, to that date, as a two year old had shown nothing at all on the race track. Dad was convinced that as a three year old, she would fill out and with that would come the improvement he expected from her. His patience paid off and she had a number of second places, which more than paid for her keep, before finally gaining some wins.

My Mum leading in Thorstone, with jockey Charles Purchase, into the winning enclosure on 14 March 1964.

and with Jockey Ian Mackenzie-Smith 4 July 1964

In September 1965, when there was a large amateur race meeting at Borrowdale,  I partnered her, to win the main race of the day.

A proud Dad leading Thorstone and me into the winning enclosure.  This win actually caused a big upset, as the horse that finished second had been very heavily backed!  At least the bookmakers were happy!

I had an excellent day’s racing, achieving another two wins, riding a chestnut called Significance and a dark bay called Happy Time.

Significance owned by Mrs Nicholas, trained by Errol Abrahams and ridden by myself. Won by a short head!

Kubla Khan was still going from strength to strength and by this time he was well into A grade and competing in the Rhodesian team events. He had certainly taken over where Mr Smith had left off. He was an extremely strong horse and it had taken me some time to find the solution to the problem of keeping him under control! I came up with the idea of using a hackamore, which is a bitless bridle, and this just worked miracles with him. Suddenly I was in full control and he listened to every move I made. He was the only horse on which I had ever used one of these bridles  and I was more than impressed with the result!

Myself, and Kubla Khan wearing a normal snaffle bit in this photo.

The next couple of years were a mixture of the Veterinary Research Laboratory, wild life work, falconry, riding Kubla Khan and competing in local shows, while at weekends, when possible, going to the farm to see Neil. 

Myself on the farm with Neil's two dogs, Yogi on my right and Trixie under arm.

 Dad was still training, enjoying it, and holding his own with a number of wins at the race track.

Dad leading in Budget with jockey Andrew Erasmus in the saddle.

19 April 1965

Me leading in Budget with Roddy England in the saddle.

7 June 1965

Note:  My Mum would have been 100 years old today, 10 June 2015. RIP.

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

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