OWNERS

JOHN & CHARLMA PHILLIPS

We have been good friends with the Phillips family for around 10 years. John and Charlma and their two daughters Sarah and Alex live at Caveton Park - a large farming property in Mount Gambier, South Australia.

As well as farming, John has a keen interest in horses which was developed early when his youngest daughter Alex was successfully showjumping before having to give it up due to university commitments.  Over the years John has become quite a successful breeder of quality warmblood performance horses and today he is still an active member of the Mt Gambier Showjumping Club.

As an owner, he has had some well-performed competition horses in our yard for most of that period – all of which have been sold on to competition homes both interstate and overseas. We currently have two of John's very nice young horses here (Caveton Park Gambrinus and Caveton Park Galaxy) ready to start their competition careers with several other young ones soon to arrive from Caveton Park ready to start work. In all this time, John has been an absolute pleasure to work with in every respect and John certainly has a good eye for selecting quality horses and we value his expertise and friendship.

NICK RODGERS

Clive first met Nick in Hong Kong many years ago when he was the Chief Riding Instructor at the prestigious Beas River Country Club in Hong Kong and they have since become great friends. Nick is a very competent horseman in every respect, as well as a true gentleman.

Originally trained in the UK, Nick competed with success in all equestrian disciplines and was fortunate to work and train in many professional equestrian yards all over the world. He is a BHS Instructor and was General Manager / Project Manager in RDA Hong Kong for a few years before taking on his latest role as Steward.

General for the FEI Para-Equestrian discipline. Nick’s current appointment takes him all over the world working with competitors, judges and stewards.
As well as being one of the part-owners of the Hanoverian Mare Kinnordy Serena, Nick has just purchased two new exciting performance horses Trax (by Trak) and Deep Creek (by Grippa) who will be out competing in South Australia as soon as the official competitions re-commence in 2008.

JULIE BURRIDGE

Julie started riding as a child in the UK and her first introduction to the “racing world” was at the British Racing School in Newmarket, England.  She has trained under well-known names such as Susan Piggott (wife of the legendary Lester) and Clive Britton. Julie has ridden in the UK, Australia, Japan, Malaysia and New Zealand before finally settling down in Singapore to work in partnership with husband/trainer Steven Burridge.

Julie and husband Steven operate the successful Burridge Racing Stables at Kranji Racecourse in Singapore, with approximately 50 horses in work at one time.  Julie has a keen interest in the well-being of all the thoroughbreds in their care with a particular focus on feeding regimes and physiotherapy programmes to get the very best out of each horse. Julie spends her mornings riding track work and gallops or taking horses through their barrier tests. www.stevenburridgeracing.com   

Not only is Julie an accomplished jockey she is also a competent equestrian rider. We first met Julie in 2006 when she came to Australia to search for a performance horse that she could compete on in Singapore.  We eventually found the grey warmblood Robert Emmitt at Belcam Stud on the Gold Coast. “Robbie” stayed at the NEC for a few months extra training before joining Julie in Singapore at the Bukit Timah Saddle Club. Julie and “Robbie” had instant success at their first competition winning both the dressage and the showjumping.  Julie takes lessons with Clive regularly when he coaches in Singapore and they have just stepped up to the next level. Julie is now one of our owners and often has a young horse here at the NEC to work and compete.

JOHN PRYMMER

John Prymmer is a part-owner of the Hanoverian Showjumping Mare - Kinnordy Serena.

Born in the USA, John currently lives and works in Hong Kong and is the Managing Director of the Hong Kong office for a large US computer component company.

For those who are not aware, John is also a very talented singer and musician – heading two bands. Most evenings John and one of his rock bands can be found performing at some of the major night clubs in Hong Kong. His bands are extremely popular and they are sought out performers with a huge fan base - including me!

VANESSA DAY

Vanessa is now living back in Adelaide after spending more than 20 years living in Hong Kong.  As well as riding and competing she was a qualified instructor employed by the Hong Kong Jockey Club working in their riding schools.  In her earlier years, Vanessa was a talented equestrian competitor and showjumping rider and SA’s prestigious Junior Showjumping award, the Belcrakna Cup is named after Vanessa's showjumper.

Vanessa owned the very successful showjumper “Days Glory” (see photo )who had been with us from 1997 up until his early retirement in 2005.  Vanessa and late husband Phillip were our first owners when we started at the Northern Equestrian Centre and we will be forever grateful to them for giving us such a great start.  Vanessa has been a wonderful friend over the years and we really treasure her friendship.  

Vanessa is a part owner of the young thoroughbred mare Kirkley Hill Dejavu and we are really pleased to have her around at home and the shows when she has time.