Carol Heuchan was born in the middle of the City of Sydney to fairly impoverished parents who had no interest at all in horses. Undeterred, she worked at Riding Schools from the age of nine, travelling alone on public transport, cleaning stables, grooming etc. just to be near them.
At fifteen, she 'lay-byed' her first horse and paid it off by selling second hand bottles.
Carol's dedication was noticed by an established horsewoman and she began to get rides at Shows.
Over the years, she has had a go at most horse sports but the Show ring was her forte. From rejects and homebreds, she produced Royal Show Champions and continued to do so for decades, teaching riding and judging extensively throughout Australia and also overseas.
Carol says you have to have a sense of humour to work with animals and this was surely evident in her first book "Horseplay", a collection of rhymes and ramblings, hysterical and heart-warming - a fresh insight into the horse world.
The little book was a roaring success and suddenly, just when she was feeling the strain of competing at the highest level without physical or financial help, she found herself - at the instigation of mates - on the stage!
Her writing was impressive enough but as a performer, just mesmerising. The horses (to their delight) took early retirement and the world of Bush Poetry took over. ('Bush' poetry just means it's with rhythm and rhyme, the origin being in the bush but the poems cover every topic imaginable these days.)
Carol Heuchan has amassed hundreds of awards, including the richest in poetry history, a Case JX55 tractor valued at over thirtyfour thousand Australian dollars (which she says she can't drive for nuts!)
She produced a second successful book "Horsing Around!" then the CD "A Pocketful of Poetry" which became the 2006 Australian Bush Laureate Album of the Year. Her single CD "Why?" a poignant story of an absentee father, was 2007 Recording of the Year.
Carol is the winner of many prestigious literary awards, three times poet laureate winner, Performer of the Year 2007 and the current Australian Champion in all categories.
Her new book "Touching Tales" is to be launched this week. Watch for details on her website, www.carolpoet.com.au
But the epitome for Carol is when her two loves, horses and poetry combine - either at horse events or in her writing. And this is very much the case with her newly written poem about the current crisis of Equine Influenza in her country.
We have
asked Carol about what has been going on in Australia and in typical frankness
she said "Before I begin, let me say that I don't claim to be an expert
in E.I. and certainly could not be aware of every facet of the situation in
every area, so I speak purely from my own experiences and observations.
"I just could not believe at first that the virus was here. Heck, in fifty years, my horses haven't even had a cold!
"As the enormity of it dawned, the dreadful scenarios began to unfold - gross mismanagement from a myriad of authorities totally unprepared and unable to cope and even contemplate the magnitude and diversity of the effects.
"Where
to begin? Lack of communication, confusion and conflicting reports, led to
rumours. Certainly not all horse people have the Internet and this seemed
to be the only attempt at informing people. The media focused on whether or
not the Melbourne Cup would be on and the general public thought we were a
bit eccentric to worry about a sniffly nose. Even ON the internet, different
bodies gave out different information or precious little at all. So, of course,
horsey folk, at all levels, talked amongst themselves and the stories ranged
from the mildly annoying (little or no response to valid, direct enquiries)
to downright animal cruelty.
"While some vets are working tirelessly by day and attending umpteen fiery meetings at night, others, "clean" as we put it, are reluctant to come on to infected properties. Clean horses with vet problems, such as extreme acute colic, just left to sink or swim. In one case, the nearest Vet hospital, an hour away, would not take the horse as they were 'dirty'. The option was travel, if permission was obtained at all, let alone in time, for three hours to another hospital for surgery. BUT the horse would not be allowed to return for probably three to four months, with hospital rates incurred - beyond the financial scope of most.
"
The first E.I. related foal deaths were confirmed. Then some healthy horses
in their prime died from secondary problems, or quite often from anti-inflammatory
drugs being administered to a horse off its feed. Consequences were ulcerated
gut and colic.
Requests to authorities/organisations re nursing advice were ignored.
"By the time horses had been in lockdown for six weeks or so, many in uncustomary confinement, the stories of healthy horses forced to remain in tiny yards/stables with little availability of hay due to the drought, were prolific. You can imagine the stress - swollen legs, horses developing the typical deep seated psychological problems that result when they are incarcerated in unnatural situations to which the majority were unaccustomed. Most people did their best to understand that this was in an effort to eradicate the virus but when some people flaunted these laws and when breeding Thoroughbreds were given carte blanche access to travel to studs across the state, the anger and frustration built.
"Probably what has caused the most dissent in the horse world (and dissent is putting it mildly) is the extraordinary, blatant, preferential treatment for racehorses and the racing industry, in management, vet. treatment, vaccination, one way bio security and financial aid. Add to this the ridiculous media coverage of milliners worrying that they wouldn't be able to sell their hats for the Spring Racing Carnival!
" The 'them and us' was building to an inferno, with most people feeling that the thing was CAUSED by the greed of the Racing Industry. Artificial Insemination, with DNA and blood testing is part of the 21st century and shuttle stallions are seen as worth more in fees than the use of straws. But the huge thorn in the side is the relaxing of quarantine laws. It seems unimaginable that a stallion is able to come straight from serving mares in a country that has just had an E.I. epidemic! Vaccination notwithstanding, is not totally infallible - so the inferno was fuelled.
"But in fairness, although we non-racing people - now called The Performance and Pleasure Horse Industry, contribute 80% of the value to the economy of the horse industry while Racing (although full of rich individuals) is only 20%, they are ORGANISED. They knew about this possibility years ago and had a contingency plan in place. They are VISIBLE - to the media and to the public and to the Government and they are POWERFUL. I personally feel they have precious little regard for general horse welfare and none whatsoever for other horse activities. The rest of us are so fragmented, distanced, anonymous, non businesslike and too busy fighting with each other to present a united front to the powers that be.
"Well, we WERE.
"Thanks to the tireless efforts of horsemen like Peter Toft (whose five hundred suffered E.I.) and now a group of dedicated Queenslanders, I have hope for the future. Government ears are now listening to them and Horse Flu Management is improving. The first tiny steps have been taken in one little corner of Australia, to work towards the huge task ahead.
"Now I realise that bleeding hearts don't pay bills. I am aware of the enormous value of horse related business to this country (it is the second largest employer). I have not even touched on the broad range of multitudes of micro businesses and livelihoods that are devastated and probably will never recover. Similarly depleted I feel, will be the organisations, many of which are struggling to compete with other sports and activities in a changing world. A good number of these may well sink into the past. But whatever else, the welfare of the horse, each and every horse, must be first and foremost."
