Kiwis call themselves the world leaders in horse breeding and racing. My friend Daryl knows better than I do whether this is true. In any case, I found out more than I ever need to know about Kiwi horse expertise on this trip. I loved every minute of it.
From the beginning Daryl had set her mind on checking out New Zealand’s horse industry and its bailage wrapping machines. After we left the Banks Peninsula, we headed south through mountains and agricultural farmland toward Timaru. Daryl had made an appointment there to meet with a farm machinery expert in this railroad town situated on the Pacific coast.
Don Hayman (honestly that was his name) is the manager of a huge farm equipment salesroom in Timaru. He has machines, catalogs and good information on bailage wrapping equipment.
I learned that these are huge farm machines that take those big round jelly-roll shaped bales of hay you see lined up in fields at haying time and wrap them. These enormous rolls sometimes are encased automatically in black, green, or white plastic wrappers, and you notice them dotting the fields like huge marshmallows when wrapped in white. The process is mechanized through use of the bailage wrapping machines. Daryl explained to me that when a bale of hay is wrapped in such a way that it becomes fermented, as for instance, sauerkraut does, when unwrapped at the appropriate time, horses love to eat it. It’s like giving a lollipop to a wide-eyed kid, she said. On our trip Daryl was on a personal quest to learn more about these bailage machines, possibly to purchase one eventually for her farm.
Hayman was waiting for us at the AC Farm Machinery Company. Daryl proceeded to do her research. Bailage wrapping is much more prevalent in NZ than in Maryland horse country, she learned. On that day, she gained a treasure trove of “horse-candy” bailage information from Hayman.
But that wasn’t even the best prize of the day.
A famous thoroughbred racehorse named Pharlap was bred and raced on New Zealand’s South Island. Many years ago, his fame had spread among horse circles in the U.S. and Daryl had heard about this champion. He was a horse with a reputation in New Zealand of similar dimensions to Seabiscuit in America. She believed Pharlap was bred somewhere around Timaru and was determined to make a pilgrimage to his statue. But no one seemed familiar with the location.
Hayman came to our rescue. Before we arrived, he had contacted Melville Coles, a New Zealand horse trainer who lives in Timaru. Coles’ life revolves around horses, and he is knowledgeable about everything concerning the nearby Pharlap Racetrack. A jovial man in his 70s with a white shock of hair and brilliant blue eyes, he is legendary in New Zealand’s horse industry for his 50-year career as a trainer. For his lifetime contributions to the field, he was named the outstanding trainer in the country in 2004. Happily for us, he was eager to share some of this knowledge.
Coles showed up in his battered pickup truck at 9:30 a.m. He offered to show us around the Pharlap Race Track and to Daryl’s delight knew exactly where the statue of Pharlap stood. He volunteered to lead us there. Finally, she was to realize her ambition to find the elusive statue. I was more pleased than she was to shoot numerous pictures of the statue of Pharlap, Daryl, and of our new trainer friend, Mel Coles.
Next we headed over to the racetrack, a harness and dirt track for running and grass for steeplechasing. Riding in Coles’ truck around the grass we observed the steeplechase hurdles and Daryl remarked, “This resembles a community track you’d find around our country some 50 years ago.”
Our genial host surprised us next with an invitation to drop by his house. There we examined his walls covered with pictures of champion race horses of bygone eras as well as a multitude of awards, ribbons, and silver cups representing his illustrious career.
When Coles brought us back to the racetrack, our good fortune continued, quite by accident. At the stables we watched two expert horse people working with a horse that was agitated and kicking in his stall. When the horse had calmed down, Coles introduced us to the owners, John and Rose McWilliams.
They told us their fascinating story. The McWilliams couple has dual citizenship in the U.S. and NZ. Formerly living in Mississippi, they owned a string of successful restaurants across the south. Several years ago they decided to sell out and move permanently to the South Island to begin their own horse business. A year before, they had bought a beautiful horse farm that was nearby.
Learning this, Daryl didn’t waste any time getting to her favorite subject, bailage. McWilliams was familiar with the bailage process. In fact, he said he was using bailage with their horses.
We were in luck once more. The couple invited us to follow them out to the farm to show us their use of bailage.
It was an impressive farm. In their long low ranch house, I chatted with Rose and learned the inside scoop on how people can become NZ citizens. It isn’t easy. (During the next two weeks we chatted with a number of people from England who had immigrated to New Zealand to stay but could become citizens only by establishing a business. Often, it was a mom and pop motel.)
Daryl, happy as a clam, rode around the farm in a four-wheeler with John and Mel. I was content to stay indoors out of the mud and the rain!
This totally unexpected day was a rewarding experience in every way. It was also the first of many other instances where we grew to appreciate more and more the friendliness and generosity of New Zealanders.
[Go to New Zealand Part Seven]
