A life of song and saddles

Shirley Hyland is enjoying a life well lived.

The 93-and-a-half-year-old, who in 2001 was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal for services to equestrian, still lives at the Bushmere property where she and late husband Trevor raised their three children.

She’s had a hand in the riding futures of hundreds of youngsters . . . and some not so young as well.

Her sharp eyes don’t miss a thing when it comes to horses and riding. It’s been that way . . . well, forever.

A meticulously kept “skite book” gives a beautiful insight into life on the Coast spanning nearly a century.

Shirley’s first pony was Old Jack but she honed her riding skills when the station boys would call by their home once a week to collect the mail.

“They would go in and have a cup of tea and I would sneak out and ride their horses,” she says. “It’s a wonder I wasn’t killed.”

Shirley (nee Ballard) spent a lot of time with the James family, particularly their daughter Lois, who lived on Tauwhareparae Road.

As the only girl in the Ballard family, her visits to the James’ family were the only contact she had with another girl. “I was a real tomboy as the O’Connor family, who lived next door, were all boys.”

There were no trucks, so in 1938 her father, a highly respected horseman, borrowed a horse for her to ride at the Poverty Bay A&P Show.

Unfortunately when they arrived at the Show, the offer of the pony had been withdrawn.

Not to be deterred, she jumped on Ken Candy’s mount. He had driven some cattle to the Show aboard Trixie and Shirley went on to win the girl rider under-10 and bareback rider under-13 classes. It marked the start of a successful career in equestrian.

In those days, if you won a ribbon you were expected to ride in the Grand Parade. Again there was a quick search for a mount and Shirley ended up on Ian Anderson’s Shetland pony.

“The bridle didn’t fit, the girth was too long and I ended up way up the neck with just a bit in its mouth among the horses. I will always remember my first Show.”

Her first showjumper was Creamy . He had been used as payment to one of the James boys who was a mechanic.

“Dad bought it because it would jump out all the time and he thought I could learn to jump on it.”

At just 10 years old, she rode the

30-odd miles from Puketawa Station to the Tolaga Bay Sports. There were no kids classes then so she competed against the adults and placed second in the hunter jump. Quite a feat.

Schooling was a challenge on the Coast. The Ballard family moved to Bushmere Road, just across from where Shirley lives now, and she and her brother biked to Patutahi School.

That was followed by Gisborne High School where she took up singing. She had lessons with Linda Morrow, who at the time was one of the top singers in the region.

Shirley ended up singing at variety concerts held to raise money for the war effort.

“I was very nervous,” she recalled.

However, her singing career was on the rise. She went from concerts to local competitions to a children’s radio programme, and eventually operatic productions and competitions outside the region.

Her mother, who made all her performance outfits, decided she needed “proper” lessons so she was taken to Mrs Lighton, who played for all the top singers in Wellington.

Shirley had to balance her singing with her riding.

At 16 she got Thunderbolt, who she still remembers as her star, and together they won a lot.

It was around the same time she ventured into teaching.

Shirley was also playing the newly introduced sport of polocross and went on to represent the region.

In 1950, the Young Farmers formed a women’s branch and Shirley was the first president, remaining involved until she married in 1951.

She and husband Trevor lived on a

1400-acre farm at Tutamoi Road before moving to Wainui for the schooling of their children Christine and Antony.

Trevor continued to commute between there and the farm before the family moved to Bushmere Road.

The Tutamoi Road property was the joining of two smaller farms established post-World War 1 and the Hylands ran sheep and beef there.

“Those early days, there was no metal on the road and no power,” says Shirley. “The phone had 10 on a party line and the lines were run down. In the end we all got together and rebuilt them.”

Shirley and Trevor ran a kiwifruit orchard for eight years and a leased farm at The Willows for cropping and grazing.

“Farming was a big part of our life.”

She didn’t sing a note for eight years after getting married but when they came back to town she returned to her music and ended up singing in competitions against the likes of Malvina Major in 1963.

When she and Trevor sold Tutamoi Road, they bought 1000 acres at Te Karaka which was owned by son Barry and has since been sold.

While she had a horse – Coronation – on the farm, life was busy. When they moved to Bushmere, Trevor bought the unbroken Golden Slippers at a fair.

“She could really buck but I went on to do well on her,” Shirley said.

When they were looking for a horse for Christine, they eventually turned to Golden Slippers.

The horse had been stolen out of their paddocks and ridden to Tiniroto. One of the thieves was injured while riding it and ended up in hospital.

Police returned Golden Slippers to the Hylands and Christine who went on to place second and third in the New Zealand Pony Club Champs two years on the trot. The mare was 0.5 off winning the third year when she got sick.

At 12, Christine was given Sir Winston who she successfully competed on for five years. The two made the Gisborne Wairoa team for the Pony Club champs and won the coveted Dorothy Campbell (DC) section (under-17).

“She had proper training from the beginning, from as soon as she could walk,” says Shirley.

Christine, who represented the region seven times at the champs, went on to win the DC again, this time with Ali Baba, and later placed third in the A1 (under-21) with the same mount.

Shirley’s involvement with Pony Club set her off on a far more serious training path when Englishwomen Elaine Knox-Thompson and Suzanne Dickens – who produced the first New Zealand Pony Club manual – came to town.

Shirley attended many riding instruction schools with top trainers including Lockie Richards, Muller van Bruggen, Karl de Jurenak and Colonel Peter Doornbos.

Shirley had seen the Colonel teaching elsewhere and figured “this person had forgotten more than I would ever know” so invited him to Gisborne. She would stand ringside and learn from him.

Shirley became an international candidate dressage judge, a Grade 1 New Zealand dressage judge and a RAS grade 1 judge.

She was chair of New Zealand Dressage and then – true to form – created a training pathway for young riders. “

It took eight years to get through the New Zealand Dressage committee but is still going strong 27 years later,” she says proudly.

She was also instrumental in the development of the New Zealand Pony and Young Rider Dressage Championships.

The stories Shirley can tell . . . from old farming tales to equestrian folklore. She has seen so much, been involved in more things than most and is hugely respected throughout New Zealand.

She has outlived her husband and two of her children but their memories still burn brightly.

The late Christine was also a respected horsewoman and son Barry was a top athlete. Barry and the late Tony played rugby for Poverty Bay.

Shirley has eight grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren, with a great-great soon to make its appearance. Granddaughter Michelle Rennie represented New Zealand in road cycling at the 2004 Olympic and 2006 Commonwealth Games. Christine’s son Jamie is making his mark pre-training and breaking horses.

Shirley is still training and judging, refusing to let a small stroke get in the way of life.

Some of her students are daughters of those she has previously taught and she continues to get huge amounts of pleasure from them all.

“It’s all about setting those right foundations for future success,” she says.

It’s a mantra she has lived by her whole life, and one she has drilled into so many, who are now sharing that recipe for success.