Horses drew them together and, after many years, Canterbury dressage duo Gael and Robert Kofoed maintain that their joint passion for the sport is the secret of their longstanding relationship’s success.
Most weekends during the season, the Kofoeds pack up their horse truck and set off from their rural base at Weedons on the outskirts of Christchurch, with two horses and Cody the fox terrier on board, to compete at dressage events across the South Island.
The couple first met at the Brackenfield Hunter Trials in 1978, and coincidentally, both attended the same riding school run by a staunch ex-cavalry captain, near Oxford. After they were married, they moved south to Invercargill with Gael’s son, Jason, from a previous marriage.
They returned to Christchurch more than 20 years ago, and having being brought up on a farm, Robert was keen to find somewhere to live in the country, but close enough to town that commuting to the city was still workable. “I don’t think I could live in town, so I have always tried to have the balance of living in the country. But we didn’t have a lot of options,” he says.
He recalls the first day they looked at their Weedons property. “It was January and there was a howling Norwesterly blowing; it was dusty and barren. There were a lot of large trees over-crowding the house, but no real garden to speak of. We just about turned around and went home,” he says.
However, the property was well set up for horses, with a stable block, an arena, yards and 13 paddocks – it had previously been owned by a racehorse trainer.
In addition, it was handy to the Christchurch International Airport, the National Equestrian Centre at McLeans Island and just minutes off SH1 for ease of travelling south to competitions at Ashburton or Winchester.
While the tired old arena wasn’t where they would have necessarily chosen to put it, the Kofoeds have transformed it, adding lights for riding at night, and surrounding the 60x20m surface with a neatly manicured lawn, garden and hedges.
Gael is a keen gardener and once a lot of the original trees had been removed, with a little help from Robert and aided by the benefits of a reliable water supply, she has worked considerable magic to covert the barren landscape into a magnificent garden laden with roses, hollyhocks, dahlias and delphiniums. Over time, the garden has expanded significantly, incorporating one of the paddocks to create a broad expanse of lawn and trees, which looks spectacular in the spring with daffodils and cherry blossoms in full bloom.
With demand for agistment growing in the area, the Kofoeds have opened their property to grazers.
“We really enjoy having people coming and going. They all become part of the family,” says Gael. And with Robert constantly away through his job as sales and marketing manager for Zilco NZ Ltd, it also means there are other people to step in and help with the horses as required. The couple also host monthly clinics with Wellington-based Andrea Raves, with whom they’ve been training since their days in Southland.
When Robert is at home he opts to ride before he sets off to work in the mornings, usually surfacing about 5.30am. “When you have had a long day in the office it’s always the best feeling to come home and know that you have already ridden.”
Perhaps surprisingly, there was a time when neither Gael nor Robert would have dreamt of doing dressage. Prior to getting married both were into hunting, show jumping and eventing. After moving to Invercargill they continued eventing, with Jason competing too, but Robert’s horse of the time showed a greater aptitude for dressage than jumping, so he switched codes. “He wasn’t that brave on the cross-country. He used to lead the dressage and then stop on the cross-country so I started doing straight dressage.”
For Gael, it was a case of “if you can’t beat him, join him”, she laughs.
That passion was further ignited during a trip to the first FEI World Equestrian Games in Stockholm in 1990, when Robert led a tour group from New Zealand for Thomas Cook Travel. After watching the world’s best dressage horses and riders in action, including double gold medal winners Nicole Uphoff and Rembrandt: “We were hooked,” says Gael.
Robert then purchased his first purpose-bred dressage horse, Glendorian, by Genius, and he hasn’t looked back, devoting the better part of his life to the sport both as a rider and a judge, not to mention as a principal sponsor. Both he and Gael have been judges for more than 25 years, with Gael now a List 3 and Robert a List 4. “Judging is something we feel we should do to give back to the sport but it can be a bit of a juggle with riding as well.”
Usually Gael competes in just one test at shows, so she is free to judge if required. Robert has also given his time to the local Canterbury Dressage committee, spending several years as vice chairman and more as chairman.
By nature, they are both competitive individuals, but enjoy more the thrill comes from bringing young horses on and developing that partnership, rather than from winning titles. “We both enjoy dressage because you start off with a young or inexperienced horse that can only walk, trot and canter, and over time you change it into something that you really enjoy through improved balance,” says Gael. “It begins to get exciting once you start to train the more advanced movements. Starting flying changes can really prove really exciting!”
Although it makes for a busy life, the Kofoeds wouldn’t have it any other way. And what’s more,in what sometimes is perceived as an intensely selfish and expensive sport, they have each other for constant help and support, whether it’s at home, on the ground, as groom or as videographers. “We really don’t like competing on our own, because we are so used to doing it together. We always try to set it up so we can help each other out,” says Gael.
While there are definitely moments of frustration from both sides when things don’t quite go according to plan, any disputes are quickly forgotten. “There can be stress but at the end of the day, we are the best of friends. I really don’t know if I would keep going if Robert wasn’t around,” says Gael. “We just love working together as a team.”
Robert says the couple are grateful for all they have. “We do appreciate that we are very fortunate to have the house, the property, two good horses, each other and our health.
“Horse brought us together and probably what has kept us together all these years, and hopefully for many years to come.”
The Zilco story
The Zilco story started in the early 1960s as a small factory in Sydney, Australia, making lightweight racing products from revolutionary new synthetic materials, as well as importing general saddlery items to wholesale.
Since the 1970s Zilco NZ Ltd has been general wholesalers as well as selling its own and other products, including representing some leading European manufacturers such as Amerigo Saddles, Myler Bits, and Woof Wear.
A joint venture with Christchurch company, Trist & Small Ltd, who had been making harness since 1872, led to the Sydney factory moving operations across the Tasman in the early 1980s. Zilco’s Christchurch operations were gradually extended until the company became a world leader in the design and production of synthetic harness and saddlery, exporting to all major equestrian markets.
Although production of its own branded products, which include the very popular range of rugs and saddlecloths, has since moved to Vietnam and China, Zilco NZ still has its warehouse and sales office located in Christchurch, with the old factory now used for packing and storage.
Robert is not only the company’s New Zealand sales and marketing manager, but is also the sales manager for Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia, and the business development manager for North America. As can be imagined, the positions involve a lot of travel, which is why he needs a very special horse that “doesn’t require breaking-in” each time he returns from a trip.
Robert has been with the company for more than 15 years and says he enjoys it so much that it really doesn’t feel like work to him at all.
- This article was first published in the December 2015 issue of NZ Horse & Pony
