Overlooking the Lockyer Valley in Preston, Splendacrest Stables is changing lives – both young and old.
Jay Randle owns and operates the horse riding school, which specialises in beginner lessons for those aged five to 105 but also caters for disabled children and aspiring endurance riders.
Ms Randle also trains Arabian racehorses on the 16-hectare working horse farm south of Toowoomba.
Her passion is teaching children how to ride correctly, of course, but also how to catch the horse and apply the saddle and bridle, mount and dismount correctly, walk, trot and canter, as well as grooming.
Ms Randle told Queensland Farmer Today she draws “so much” satisfaction seeing her clients’ happy on horseback.
“Oh, absolutely. Oh my gosh, yes. Yes, absolutely. They really are a different person once they mount a horse,” Jay said.
“You know, they might be having difficulties at school or with exams or with boys or whatever.
“But once they are on a horse, they’re a totally different person, you know and even their parents say that.
“They look at home, they look natural. They’re not being forced or fake.”
Over the past six years, Splendacrest Stables has expanded into disability services with stunning results.
Ms Randle said while her riding-for-disabled program attracted children of diverse backgrounds and abilities, focuses and dreams, one common theme bound them all – their love of riding.
She said children with muscular dystrophy-type medical conditions such as cerebral palsy had particularly positive outcomes.
“They all just love to get on the horses, groom them and lead them around,” Jay said. “Or even pick up poo!
“One boy was only here six months but, in that time, developed his core strength through riding to the point where he was able to ride his bicycle around the block
“It was such a quick transition for him to get so physically strong because he was focused on something that was new and different. That really was an unbelievable outcome.
“I’ve got another little one who’s got cerebral palsy and she’s only five, yeah, and she’s been coming for a couple of years and her mum says it’s absolutely the best of all of her therapies.
“With horse riding she has to sit up straight and work different muscles and now she’s walking. She couldn’t walk when she arrived. You know, it’s amazing.”
Jay’s parents bought “Splendacrest”, a former dairy farm, in 1988.
Her father Ken Randle was an amateur racehorse trainer and loved the spider web of bush tracks ideal for riding that surrounded the property.
Sadly, he passed away in 1993, leaving her mother Carmel by herself who, too, was in poor health, prompting Ms Randle to quit her travel agency job and move home in 2000.
“I looked around and thought, ‘well hang on, this place was set up for horses. It has become a little bit run down in the interim. But, you know, maybe I could train some horses out of here’.
“I knew I could do it and succeed.
“So, I started talking to my hairdresser and it went from there.”
News soon spread that Ms Randle required help working her six horses and, soon, she had seven regular riders
“The girls would come and help me train these endurance horses because that’s what I’m into,” Jay said.
“Endurance is long-distance riding – you know, reasonably long trail rides of 30 kilometres to keep the horses fit – so I needed people who were fairly capable.
‘It was just a mutually-beneficial thing. They get a horse once a week and I’d get some horses worked, you know, So, it worked out really well.”
Before too long, Ms Randle was receiving inquiries from girls as young as 12 eager to ride and thought, ‘OK, if I want these kids to ride, they have to learn to ride properly’.
So, Splendacrest Stables horse riding school was born.
Ms Randle prefers to use the medium-sized Arabian horses to ensure children aren’t overwhelmed by their size.
“The Arabian breed also tends to be very friendly, seeks attention and loves children,” she said. “They’re always interested in seeing what this little person is doing.”
“If you approach a horse with an open mind and a happy face and they’re going to go, ‘Oh, that’s cool, you know, I like this person’.”
Splendacrest Stables streams students and clients into levels of achievement then promotes them as they progress.
Riders who successfully conquer blue, green and black levels are invited to join the gold level, which brings additional benefits, including membership of the endurance competition squad.
“Endurance riding, I believe, teaches people more about the care and welfare of the horse than any other sport,” Ms Randle said.
“You are on the horse’s back for up to 12 hours so you get to know the animal well and it gets to know you and the bond is very strong.
“You have to be able to detect minor lameness or to notice ‘Oh, this horse isn’t eating like he normally does or his temperature is 2.2 degrees higher than normal.
“The health and welfare of the horse is the prime basis of endurance riding because you don’t want to ride a sick horse.
“The kids learn so much more than if they were jumping over a pole at pony club.”
Over the past 20 years, many alumni from Splendacrest stables have competed internationally for Australia.
“I often think, ‘Dad would be so happy we’re using his much-loved tracks’,” Ms Randle said.
“My sister rides with me often and we say it all the time, ‘Wouldn’t Dad have loved this?
“When we were young, he ran pony club camps.
“And, he always said, ‘If you keep the kids happy, the parents will be happy’.”
