Ballodair Park in Wilberforce, NSW, owned by Karen Miller.
It is superbly designed, practical, stylish, accommodating and what equestrians have been needing for a long, long time. Ballodair Park at Wilberforce, NSW, is owned by Karen Miller who has been developing the facility in the Hawkesbury area since buying the 70 acres eight years ago.
“I named it after the prince’s horse in The Innocent Mage, which was the first fantasy book I wrote,” Karen explains. That was 20 years ago. Since then she has owned Fantasia, a Penrith bookshop, and written scores of titles, some under her pseudonym K.E. Mills.
Karen Miller was born in Canada 64 years ago before moving with her family to Australia when she was two. Only a few years later she began immersing herself in the world of books and was writing stories while still in primary school.
“When I was in Hornsby Public my teacher suggested I read The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and then there were Enid Blyton’s Secret Seven books – I never looked back. That set me on the path of my two great passions in literature – crime fiction and speculative fiction.”
Karen and her horse ‘Boy’, who she taught how to jump over her home-made obstacles at her parent’s Glenorie property.
“My very first horse was an
ASH/QH – he was a rock star.”
Horses were her other obsession. “As a kid I’d ride on my grandfather’s cattle property in Tamworth,” says Karen. “My very first horse was an ASH/QH – he was a rock star.”
After graduating with a BA in communications from Sydney’s University of Technology, Karen went to the UK. She lived in Buckinghamshire for three years working for the late Dorian Williams, horseman and BBC equestrian commentator, and his wife, Jennifer, at their Pendley Pony Stud.
ENGLISH CLASS SYSTEM
“They had beautiful ponies,” she recalls. “And I learnt everything there was to know about the English class system back in the 80s! It was made very clear that my value as a human being ranked lower than any horse. Williams had once written, under a pseudonym in Horse & Hound, that grooms should pay the owners for the privilege of working with their horses.
“And none of the grooms was encouraged to sit for equestrian examinations. The Williamses thought we shouldn’t bother with all that kind of thing as we lacked the mental capacity to read books!”
Karen Miller (2014), who ‘hates having her photograph taken!’
“Working in that English
yard l learned how not
to treat people.”
Of course, Karen proved them wrong and passed her Stud Assistant Certificate with flying colours.“Working in that English yard l learned how not to treat people,” says Karen as she drove Equestrian Life around her magnificent complex, pointing out its many highlights; some established others, works-in-progress.
One of the cross country fences at Ballodair Park.
There are grooms’ cottages and apartments, a racetrack, the covered multi-function arena, a large grass area and an almost complete dressage arena already edged with judges’ boxes and about to be covered with a world-class surface. Some cross-country jumps have already been built, as well as round yards and wash bays. “Now there’s somewhere publicly that people can fitness train their horses,” she declares.
The dressage arena is a work-in-progress, although now not far of completion.
“The bricks on the stable floor
are steeped in history…”
The massive tack room is fitted out with military precision, and the stables designed so horses face each other. “Because they’re happiest that way,” she explains. “Also, the bricks on the stable floor are steeped in history. They were recycled from the Inglis Saleyards when it moved from Randwick after 100 years.”
The outdoor stables at Ballodair Park.
BABIES TO RETIREES
She pointed out the grassy paddocks, formerly barren earth and weeds, which she has rejuvenated over the years and where many of her horses now graze. A variety of breeds, they range from babies to retirees. “I don’t know the actual number, I must confess.”
At first Karen’s head trainer at Ballodair had been Lyndal Yelavich, an experienced horsewoman who had begun her own equine pre-export quarantine business in 2014 and who competed at advanced three-day eventing. “I produced a few promising horses to FEI two-star and three-star, one of which was Riggles who won several state and national titles,” says Lyndal.
Lyndal Yelavich training over the cross country course at Ballodair Park.
After working successfully together at Wilberforce, Lyndal had the chance to go to Europe. After spending time in Germany, she went to England and today heads Ballodair UK in Warwickshire working out of Bromson Hall Farm Stables.
Ballodair’s five UK horses are:
Don Bastiano (Desperado x San Amour), stable name ‘Basti’.
Asterix (Astrix x Warkant), stable name ‘Odie’.
D’Or Danseur (Don Frederico x San Amour), stable name ‘Dodo’.
Ballodair Park Dauphin (Desperado x Sir Donnerhall), stable name ‘Dean’.
Pennsylvania (Kjento x Marlon), stable name ‘Billy’.
Lyndal and D’Or Danseur, competing in Australia. Image by Roger Fitzhardinge.
And there was an addition to that list in April – Karen purchased Gareth Hughes’ Classic Goldstrike, a 14-year-old Grand Prix gelding by Tango out of Tequila Tender.
Forty-four-year-old Lyndal is only a few minutes from Hughes’ Bishops Bridge Farm. This is ideal as she spends a great deal of time training with this British Olympian who was recently in Australia teaching at Ballodair Wilberforce.
HUGE DECISION
Karen wrote about her recent purchase on her Facebook page:
“This was also a huge decision for me, not because I had a moment’s doubt about the quality of the horse or Lyndal’s ability to step up so far and so fast, but because this kind of horse means a big financial commitment with no guarantees. And as a rule I’m a pretty risk averse person.
“But over the past few months it became more and more clear that asking Lyndal to step up into FEI level riding beyond Prix St Georges, to teach those incredibly difficult movements to our horses who’d never done them, when she’d never done them, wasn’t fair. I mean, it can be done. People do it all the time and they are to be congratulated. This is beyond challenging work. But I felt there was enough pressure on Lyndal without making things even harder. And when Gareth said he was prepared to trust us with his beautiful boy, whose training has been impeccable, I couldn’t say no.
“So here we are. I’ve run out of words to say how proud I am of what Lyndal is achieving. Yes, you can say she’s been given chances most people only dream about. But that’s all she’s been given. Everything else is because she works herself to a standstill. Not only has she picked up what I’ve put down, but she’s run with it at a speed I find astonishing. And she’s made huge personal sacrifices along the way. There is no gain without pain.”
Gareth Hughes and Classic Goldstrike. Image courtesy of Hughes Dressage.
“I’ve always wanted
a place everyone
can enjoy.”
Karen’s head rider/trainer is now Kirsty Douglas who has a history of success in eventing (she won the Adelaide two-star in 2014 with Cushavon Crackerjack) and formerly worked for Craig and Prue Barrett; and there are two other riders on the staff.
Despite struggling with heath issues – chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia sometime slow her down – Karen’s mind and creativity are always in overdrive. She has so many plans for the future.
“I’m keen to run mounted games, showing, arena eventing and, possibly, carriage driving,” she says. “I’ve always wanted a place everyone can enjoy.”
She has done much more than that. Karen Miller has created an equestrian landmark. EQ
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