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Pegasus History 
In the beginning….
In approximately 1973, local horsewoman, Bid Williams, was
approached by Judith Burns, a Therapist at the Canberra
Hospital, to see if Judith might be able to take a few
children with disabilities out to Bid’s farm to have some pony
rides. Judith felt the lives of these children were somewhat
restricted and that they could benefit from an activity such
as riding. Bid’s horses were not suitable for the task, so
with the aid of Ruth Squair, whom Bid knew through the Pony
Club movement, she approached Marcel Judd at Forrest Park
Riding School to see if they might be able to have the use of
some riding school horses. Marcel very generously agreed and
offered the free use of two ponies for two hours a week,
provided that Bid and Ruth produced everything else needed for
the lessons. Bid and Ruth quickly rounded up the necessary
volunteers and soon after, Judith brought the riders out to
Forrest Park regularly on a Friday afternoon.
The joys of riding….
Bid recalls that “In the beginning we were woefully
ignorant of the implications of the rider’s disabilities – we
just had to ‘suck it and see’”. However, on the first
afternoon at Forrest Park, she recalls that a young girl who
was usually wheelchair bound, rode under a tree and reached up
to touch the leaves. Suddenly the girl shouted “I can touch
them! They are so soft!” As joy and tears transformed the
girl’s face, Bid was hooked forever and riding for the
disabled was born in Canberra.
An Association is formed….
For about two years, riding continued once a week at
Forrest Park, during which time the first formal meeting of
what was to become Pegasus, took place. On 25 June 1975, the
inaugural meeting was chaired by Dr David Nott and attended by
his wife Carolyn, Bid Williams, Ruth and Colin Squair and
Marcel Judd. This meeting resolved to form an association with
the title of Disabled Riders of the ACT.
Pegasus is born….
The first AGM was held on 27 October 1975, and at the 4 th
meeting in December that year, the name ‘Pegasus’ was
suggested by Dr Nott as a business name. Pegasus was a
beautiful, mythical wild horse with wings who, according to
legend, was caught, tamed and ridden by Zeus (after tempting
Pegasus with a golden bridle).
Later, in 1977, the Association’s formal title was also
changed to Riding for the Disabled of the ACT (primarily as
people mistook the Disabled Riders of the ACT, for a group of
injured jockeys!).
The move to Pegasus Farm….
At about this time, Marcel’s lease at Forrest Park was
coming to an end, so Pegasus desperately sought a new, and
hopefully permanent, home of its own. Competing against
commercial bidders for land proved to be an impossible task
and despite submitting bid’s for land on the Federal Highway
(near Bendora) and in Narrabundah Lane, the Committee had no
success.
Luckily, a local Senator, Michael Hodgeman (whose mother
was involved with one of the first RDA groups in Tasmania),
heard of Pegasus’ plight and with some further lobbying of
other politicians, the National Capital Development Commission (NCDC) offered Pegasus land at Holt in
late 1977. The land had a small and dilapidated cottage,
power, telephone, two boundary fences and absolutely nothing
else! “Pegasus Farm” was born.
Development of facilities….
Over the ensuing years, through great generosity and
support from many individuals and the local and federal
government, the facilities at Pegasus have been built and
expanded. The original cottage was not fit to be lived in, so
the local TAFE were recruited to build a new one which was
relocated to its current site on the back of two
semi-trailers. The old indoor school arose out of a financial
gift from Bid Williams’ mother, which Bid chose to use to buy
a shed from the construction site at the sewerage works. The
shed was modified and strengthened and then it too was
relocated to Pegasus Farm.
A government grant built the original common room and the
first of the stable blocks, both of which were later expanded,
once again through further grants and huge community support.
By this stage most of the riding lessons were being carried
out on the side of the hill, where the current horse yards
are. This kept both the horses and the volunteers fit as they
labored up and down the hill during lessons. Bid recalls that
when the coaches wanted to teach the riders to canter, they
used to send them down to the bottom of the gully, turn the
horses around and ‘sort of stop them as they came over the
ridge.” It was all a little bit on the hairy side! Soon, the
outdoor arena was built, and then in the early 1980s, Geoff
Schmidt helped to achieve the impossible, by project managing
the construction of the main indoor arena – which still has
one of the best riding surfaces in the local area.
The famous ‘Pegasus Ponies’……
When it moved to Pegasus Farm, the group started of with
five begged and borrowed ponies. As is still the case, there
was a certain amount of turnover of the horses as many were on
loan and were often resumed by their owners. Some of the early
horses were not ideally suited. There was one trotter who
tended to pace a bit, which apparently bemused some of the
riders. It also had a very awkward canter which challenged
many of the kids. As our coaches rarely find fault in our
horses, one was heard to say to the riders - “You’ll just have
to practice won’t you! You just haven’t practiced enough to
sit to his canter!”
The horse is at the centre of Pegasus’s
magic…..
The horses and our interactions with them is what makes
Pegasus unique. Learning to listen to the horse, respecting
the horse and riding as softly as possible are fundamental to
life at Pegasus. This not only teaches fantastic life skills
to the rider, but it also treats the horse with the dignity
and care that they deserve. If you asked any rider who has
ever visited Pegasus, the one thing that they could probably
still remember is the name, and something of the character, of
the horse that they rode.
Respect and caring is the key…..
Maya Scott, is one of those riders. She had lessons at
Pegasus when she was between the ages of 7 and 15. Her family
then moved to West Australia and a few weeks ago, now over 10
years since she left, she told Bid Williams, “Pegasus is the
place, above all others that I’ve experienced, where everyone,
horse and human, is respected and cared about and looked
after”.
Thank you to our supporters over the
years….
An organisation like Pegasus can not possibly survive with
out tremendous support from individuals, community groups and
the government. It is impossible to name the many hundreds,
probably thousands, of people who have helped build Pegasus to
the point it is at now. Some who should be remembered include
the many coaches who have taught over the years, the
management committee members who do all the thankless behind
the scenes work to keep the place operating, the volunteers
who help in classes and with other tasks about the place, the
many individuals, community groups, local businesses and
government who have made donations of time, effort or money
for the development of facilities and programs. And of course
we will never forget the riders and horses who have made it
such a worthwhile experience for anyone who has come to be
involved with Pegasus.
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