Chester

Chester is one of the smartest and funniest horse I have ever known. He is a big liver chestnut Australian Stock Horse stallion and he will always be a very special horse to me.

He is owned by a friend of mine, Graham Allen, who has always been kind enough to let me campdraft on him from time to time. Chester is by the great campdrafting sire, Romeo's Repeat, who won the stallion draft at Warwick several years ago - a most prestigious event and a kind of a rite of passage for serious campdraft competitors. Repeat's dad, was the legendary stallion, Warenbri Romeo.

Chester has always greeted me with much head shaking, cavorting and carry on. It is an indescribable joy to know that a horse is so happy to see you.

The funniest, and probaly the smartest thing Chester ever did was poop in Graham's hat.

We were at a coaching school and for some reason, Graham got angry with Chester and bawled him out while he was tied to the side of the truck. He gave him a whack across the rump, threw his hat and spurs down on the ground in disgust and stalked off. Chester pinned his ears back, screwed up his nose and sulked for a while, while Graham plonked himself on the tail gate and had a grumble.

While Graham was grumbling, Chester spied Graham's hat lying face up on the ground. I watched him run his beady eyes over it, glance quickly at Graham and then shift his bum around.

"Is that your hat on the ground over there," I asked Graham, interrupting his grumbling.

"Yeah," said Graham, not taking much notice. He took a quick glance over his shoulder and saw Chester lifting his tail.

I have never seen Graham move so fast in all my life.

"I think he's going to..."

But it was too late. Chester had shown Graham exactly what he thought of him, in front of the whole coaching school and the moment is still laughed about at Campdrafting bars to this day.

It has been ten years since Chester defiled Graham's hat. I have moved interstate. But I recently went back to Queensland to visit Chester, who is now 19 years old and gave him a run in the ladies at Burrendowen. He's a bit slower these days, but he's still magnificent. Every lady I rode past at the draft, stopped and gave Chester a tickle behind his lovely golden silky ears (he has an exceptionally cute crinkle there). He has won many other women's hearts since our days together it seems.

A couple of months ago a 4 year old gelding by Romeo's Repeat came up for sale. I nearly fell over myself to get to the phone and within ten minutes I had bought him. I now feel like I have a little slice of Chester back again. He is young and wary, but just as smart and honest. And I'm sure in time he will build legends of his own. I've called him Reo.

And yes, I keep my hat well away from him.

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