Equestrian Legends - The Master John Fahey

As seen in the August 2017 edition of Horse Deals Magazine

Growing up, devouring everything we could about showjumping, the exploits of John Fahey and Bonvale, at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics read like a boys own adventure, except it was true. The story of the 21 year old from Northern NSW and his just under 15hh Stock Horse taking on, and bettering much of the might of, World showjumping at that time, was a cause of inspiration to a generation. John and Bonvale found themselves in a jump off for the Individual Bronze Medal, with one of the outstanding combinations of the era, Peter Robeson and Firecrest for the UK. John’s fourth place remains the best performance by an Australian showjumper at an Olympic Games. He and Bonvale produced the best performance of the Australian Team at the Tokyo Games and again in Mexico four years later.

John was born to ride and much is talked about ‘muscle memory’ and riding these days, well John has developed an encyclopaedic memory, as he began riding at the age of three. “My dad, Tom was a great horseman,” explains John. “He bred top campdrafters and novelty horses and we had a Radium bred horse, Master Luke, that was in the top 20 foundation sires of the Australian Stock Horse Society. Dad was my mentor and started me off at a very early age and taught me the basics. We had a small dairy farm at Upper Landsdown in the Taree area. I used to ride to school every day and would often get in to trouble for organising races with the other kids. I started when I was three, but when I was four or five, I rode everywhere with dad. He used to deal in cattle and we would often gather a mob and drive them to the sales. Dad had other properties along with his dad and brothers and we would go and muster there in pretty steep country, crossing rivers etc, and wherever dad went, I went along behind and that’s where I started.

“I won my first jumping event at Grafton Show when I was eight, riding Hero that belonged to the Gooch brothers. I was not allowed to campdraft until I was about 12 or 14 and dad started me off on Valentine, the best horse I ever put a bridle on. I rode him to school as well; he was such a tough and successful horse. I first went to Sydney Royal when I was 15, with a horse called Jubilee. I jumped in the senior competition which had Table A and Speed events. Jubilee was quick and we won two of the speed classes. The next year they brought in a rule that you had to be 17 to compete in the senior events, so I rode in the Pony and Galloway events and had five ponies, three of mine and two others, and they couldn’t beat me, as I had too much fire power.

“A friend of dad’s, Arthur Carroll bred Bonvale (by Allanvale out of the ASHS mare Bonnie). He would ride him to shows and then get someone to ride him in the hunts. It usually ended in disaster as many of them would be full of syrup. Arthur died and dad bought Bonvale for £550 which was a lot of money in 1958. We tried to feed him to keep him calm, but that didn’t work, so dad decided just to feed him the oats and corn that the campdrafters got. He got bigger and stronger, and his temperament improved and he was a much better horse. When I was 15, we took him to Taree Show; I put him in the high jump and he cleared 7’2” (2.133m). He went to Brisbane Royal, then Sydney where he jumped 6’2” (1.828m) in the Puissance and then to Melbourne Royal. I won the Australian Championships in 1964 at Sydney (the first of five titles for John) and that got us selected on the Team for Tokyo. Bonvale was such a versatile horse, he could do anything, jump 6’ (1.82m) in a six bar, win a speed class and the Grand Prix; he could do it all!

“We boarded the ship in Brisbane and it took ten days to get to Japan. Then we sailed for the UK and were six weeks on the ship. It was 1964 and we did a lot of shows there. It was unbelievable. We were selected again for Mexico and we flew the horses that time, which was much better. It was very wet there and one day he stumbled. He did not feel quite right to me after that, but we had a lot of vets look at him and they could not find anything wrong. We went from Mexico to New York and Madison Square Garden where we were fourth on the first day, third on the second day, and I felt I would win the speed class on day three. Half way around the course he blew a tendon. He went to England and we did all we could at the time to get him right. Apparently he had a slight pull of the check ligament under his knee, that I had felt early on and that led to the tendon going. We brought him home and gave him a long recovery process, but at the first show back, he didn’t feel right, so I took the saddle off and retired him; he was 19.

“I started travelling the Royal Shows from the late 50’s onwards. In 1966, I had an old five horse Bedford truck and an old caravan. Dad said, “when you drive out that gate, you are on your own.” I left in mid-January and didn’t get back until mid-November. I went from Cairns down to Melbourne and everywhere in between. I had Bonvale, Valentine, Red Rocket and a couple of others. Bonvale won £550 jumping and Valentine £550 in campdrafting and sporting events; he did everything. I worked out that during that trip, after expenses I cleared £50 a week, which was a decent wage in those days.”

Bonvale was the first of a long list of horses ridden to International success by John. “Maestro was my reserve horse for Mexico,” continues John, “and then I got Warwick that was certainly one of my best horses. I won the Australian Championships on Warwick in 1972 and had another good horse called Red Baron. I was keen to go to the Munich Games that year, but there was something of an industrial dispute between some of the riders, (I was one of them), and the horse leasing agreement, with the Equestrian Federation, and they cancelled the Team. However, I went to the UK anyway and was fourth in one of their Olympic Trials. I went on to Germany and had a very good show there with Warwick. All the while I was trying to convince the Federation to nominate me for the Games, but it did not happen. I sold Warwick to Tony Newbury who represented the UK many times in Nations Cups with him. Warwick was such a rideable horse and so careful, he would have been a successful horse today.

“Horses just kept coming along. I had The Fall that went to the World Cup Final in Baltimore in 1980, Barbarino went to the Final in Gothenburg, Style went to s-Hertogenbosh and Sorrento that dad bred, (and was by Master Luke) won me three Volvo cars and went to the Finals in Del Mar in 1992. I had a great little horse called Mecca during that time. I bought him for $3,000 and had to pay him off. When I retired him at 21, he had won me 333 firsts.”

Bits N Pieces, Focus, Red Cedar and Money Maker (sold to the UK), are some of the horses that John just kept producing. With the high point of Australian jumping during the 1980’s, John was the first to gain sponsorship and his horses carried the prefix, Tony Barlow (Tony Barlow Menswear) and by the late 80’s and early 90’s he was receiving $30,000 a year, which for the time was a considerable sum indeed. With sons Tim and Nic on the road as well, John had an amazing truck that would carry 14 horses and sleep 10 people. The caravan section would lower on hydraulics in to the horse section. Even with the wonderful trucks we have today, John’s was before its time. John Fahey is certainly the most successful Australian based jumping rider in the history of the sport in this country. Two Olympic Games (it should have been three), four World Cup Finals, plus unprecedented success at International shows and his domestic success that includes five National Showjumping titles:
• 1964 Bonvale, Sydney
• 1972 Warwick, Newcastle.
• 1978 The Fall, Dapto
• 1979 Red Rocket, Perth
• 1993 Sorrento, Sydney.

You either write a little or a lot about John Fahey, because there is no half way measure. This is a little and if you want to read the full story of this remarkable horseman then order your copy of “The Master” written by John with Joy Ringrose. The apt title was the nickname John earned early on in his career and the well written book is full of humour, history and horses. It travels the world and gives many amusing and insightful anecdotes about the founding (God) fathers of Australian showjumping.

“It’s been a great career,” says John. “I’ve had two goes at cancer and beaten that and I am as healthy as at the moment, and you’ve gotta keep laughing.”

Story by Anna Sharpley.

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