Story & Photos by Shannan Makauskas
As I drive into the Kelecyn Equestrian Centre I’m not blinded by huge signage declaring its name and the many achievements of talented riders within it, instead I’m guided by neat, white post and rail fencing with mares and foals grazing quietly in the paddock beside it. Like the property itself, I’m soon to find, Kevin McNab and his dedicated team of riders prove simple methods and hard work pay off.
At only two years of age Kevin begged his parents for his first pony. Len and Cynthia McNab willingly bought him one. They have proudly supported all their kids fleeting interests ranging from motor cross to ballet. Kevin, now 31, decided to stick with horse riding. He confirms, “I never wanted to do anything else.”
In fact, every decision he’s made reflects his lifelong passion. Even his choice of school, Kooralbyn International, was chosen because they were the only one with an equestrian team. There is a strong sense of family at the property. Whether it’s the camaraderie between the riders, pupils, Kevin, Cynthia and his brother, who all live in the one house – or the name given to the Kelecyn team; ‘ke’ stands for Kevin, ‘le’ stands for his father Len and ‘cyn’ for his mother Cynthia. Whatever you attribute it to, one thing is certain, they are a team in every way.
The Kelecyn Team
Situated on 50 acres in Tamborine with around 55 horses (no one’s exactly sure how many there are because it changes every day) they manage to keep things running smoothly as well as improving the facilities.
Kevin says, “It took us a while after EI to get things back up to speed but we’ve been adding to the cross country course over the last couple of years, built sand and grass arenas, a sand showjumping arena, a horse swim and we’re always planting the gardens up.” All the workers, Kevin included, don’t waste any time in taking up the reins of a horse or the steering wheel of a heavy piece of machinery.
Kevin’s day begins at around 6.30 am, depending on the weather, usually with riding one of the 45 horses in full work here. Today Kevin starts with a cross country lesson to prepare one of his many talented students, Amy Abrahams, for their first competition of the year at Sydney’s Horsley Park. Although 16 year old Amy didn’t start riding till she was 11 she already exhibits the successful hallmarks of Kevin’s training: a natural balance, soft hands and a calm disposition that gives her a quiet confidence over any cross country fence Kevin puts in front of her.
Amy Abrahams and Switch
Amy’s father, Mike, has ensured her success by putting her aboard the 12 year old bay gelding, Switch. Formerly owned by Heelan Tomkins in New Zealand, Switch was purchased by Kevin and brought over to Australia. Amy and Switch are beginning pre-novice this year and will certainly be a combination to watch on the eventing circuit. Then it’s on to Gameplay, Kevin’s World Cup hopeful. Oscar, as he is affectionately known, works on his dressage with Kevin four to five times a week as well as one day of jumping and fitness training. He begins on a long rein in walk, stretching and warming up. After 20 minutes of light work he progresses seamlessly into half pass left and right, counter canter, flying changes and working pirouettes.
Kevin uses a lot of flexing, leg yields, shoulder fore and transitions between collected and extended paces. Always keeping the horse in total concentration of what he’s going to ask next. There’s never a moment of pressure or anxiety, just a picture of perfect harmony. Kevin plans to compete Gameplay lightly this year, “I’ll aim him at the Adelaide four star but I’m going to concentrate on doing lots of showjumping and dressage. I’m planning a pretty cruisey year for him and if everything goes to plan we’ll go to America in 2010.”
For the first time, only one World Cup qualifier will be run in each of nine countries. Previously, Australia’s two qualifiers were held at Melbourne and Warwick but this year will see all the action unfolding in Sydney. Kevin says, “It’ll make a difference only having one qualifier but in some ways it’ll be better this year because they won’t be running it against a CIC three star which is how they’ve done it in the past.”
Kevin and Gameplay
This will no doubt allow Kevin to concentrate more on his ride with Gameplay as the usual competition sees a round-up of fifteen horses from the Kelecyn team spread throughout the classes. Kevin is hoping to represent Australia for a second time, “It puts a lot of financial strain on the business but you get to a point in your career when you say I’m going to take the next step and compete overseas. Otherwise you just stay where you’re at and nothing changes.”
With a team of six riders and working pupils they always manage to keep Kevin on schedule. Even putting the horses into their paddocks has become a quick task by towing them off a four wheeler. Kevin says, “The property’s come a long way since I moved here five years ago. Back then we had to get water by bucketing it out of the dam and leading the horses to their paddocks. Which, when you live on 50 acres, makes for long days. When it rained all the laneways would be a foot deep in mud.”
Kevin’s next ride, Khan, is a beautifully put together nine year old Thoroughbred owned by Gendy Parry-Okeden. Khan will be beginning one star this year and judging by his lovely outline and scope over a jump it won’t take him long to move up the ranks. They begin with some light flatwork to warm up and then it’s over to the cross country course for a refresher before next weekend’s competition. Kevin says, “I usually put them through the cross country once a week but sometimes more in the lead up to a competition. It’s good for keeping their confidence up. Khan sometimes gets a little sticky with the water but it’s just a matter of keeping him used to it.”
Kevin and Khan
It’s back to the arena for his next two rides. Kelecyn Divergence is a six year old chestnut gelding with 30 owners behind him and an eventing career boasting four wins and a third from five starts. Kwin, a 12 year old thoroughbred owned by the Oppermann family is another one star horse Kevin will be campaigning this year.
Last year Kevin had five three star horses to choose from but the sale of Stiff Drinks to England and Major James to a local buyer has left him with a large group of pre-novice and one star horses. Kevin’s other three star mounts, Kinnordy Galera and Belcam Caesar, are not in full work. He may be selling horses to clients all over the world but he assures me he will always live in Queensland.
At 16 years of age Kevin first cast his eyes over The Horse Magazine and noticed a lack of Queensland eventing riders making it onto the pages. He then decided to base himself in south-east Queensland. This decision has remained unaltered despite assurances from fellow competitors in New South Wales and Victoria saying he won’t get the support or facilities he needs to make it… Not to mention the very generous offers made by the NSW State Squad.
Kevin says, “If we don’t have top eventing riders choosing to stay in Queensland then nothing will change. I’m going to stay here and hopefully I can get a few more riders to do the same. Ideally I’d like four top riders all at Kelecyn with their own clients and horses. It’s more fun and beneficial if you all work together.”
Kevin’s well on the way to achieving that goal with his first student turned professional trainer to base at Kelecyn, Emma Dougall. She started working at Kevin’s in 2005 and now, after being a working pupil for three years, Emma is forming her own list of clientele. Kevin talks about her like a proud parent and thinks it will make the transition into starting her own business easier if she doesn’t have to worry about building her own facilities. “Emma’s been a very successful rider and she’s won a lot of classes, particularly when Dot.com was at his best.”
Emma’s up and coming star, who she hopes will continue the success of Dot.com, is the athletic dapple grey Axle. He’s a five year old gelding bought by Kevin as a two year old. But it certainly wasn’t love at first sight for Emma. Kevin broke Axle in and rode him for a week which gave him plenty of time to showcase his bucking abilities. It therefore took a lot of convincing on Kevin’s behalf to get Emma to ride the horse.
It’s a decision he now regrets: “I told her not to get attached to him because he’s mine and she’s never having him.” Before you know it she’d fallen head over heels for Axle and started dropping hints as to who should own the horse. The least subtle of which involved Kevin finding her contact name in his phone changed to ‘Axle’s owner’. After two years Kevin reluctantly accepted Emma’s proposal to trade Axle for Gameplay.
Emma Dougall and Axle
Kevin’s next two rides are both by Vivant and out of his beloved broodmare Taj Mirage. It was the grey mare who first took Kevin into the limelight on the eventing stage… When I ask after Taj’s foal that was to be due this year, Kevin’s face, once animated, immediately drops. “We don’t talk about that anymore. We lost her and the foal a couple of weeks ago.” Her first two babies now hold a special place in Kevin’s heart.
Although three year old Tia and four year old Celeste are small and not Kevin’s usual lean, mean, cross country machines they are of sentimental value to the trainer, “I’ll keep them both just for fun and mucking around on.”
The pair of them seem unrelated in both appearance and temperament. Celeste is a petite grey who Kevin fondly remembers didn’t like to do what she was told from the beginning: “She wouldn’t even follow her own mother. We had to move them to another paddock and as soon as we got them out Celeste just turned and went the other way.”
Tia on the other hand is as solid as they come and after only two rides under saddle was jumping her first cross, “I don’t think I even needed to break Tia in, I could’ve just jumped on her in the paddock and she wouldn’t have minded.”
The day’s not over for Kevin who, after entertaining me, is off to give some more lessons. I’m left with the impression he cares just as much about his student’s success as he does his own: “My main goal is to not only keep producing horses at the top level but to train riders who will go on to be professionals and help me grow the sport in Queensland. Fingers crossed I’ll be in with a chance on Gameplay at Kentucky and London.”
Kevin and Kelecyn Divergence
The whole Kelecyn team sits down to a beautifully prepared lunch, thanks to Cynthia, and after she fondly goes through the family album I question Kevin about his riding tactics:
You seem to take a very straightforward approach to your training…
“With dressage, showjumping and cross country I like to keep things simple. Even if it takes longer I don’t like to pressure them so that they still enjoy their work. That way they’ll try a little bit more.”
How do you train them to showjump clean?
“If they knock a rail I’ll bring them around to jump it again until they do it clean. Sometimes I’ll move the ground rail out to stop them coming in too deep. But if they’ve tried hard and didn’t knock it because they weren’t concentrating or being slack then I’ll just go onto the next jump.”
And if it’s a refusal…
“The key to stopping a horse from refusing is not getting them in the situation where they’ll refuse in the first place. You need to gradually build their confidence up and only jump them at a height they’re comfortable with ‘til you think you can expand on that.”
What do you think of the ‘Express Eventing’ concept?
“I think it’s a great idea and it would be awesome if someone picked it up and ran with it.”
Your most memorable moment…
“The World Cup final in France last year. It was a great event, I didn’t have a good run but it was fun. It was an amazing experience getting to travel plus the food and wine were good. I went for three weeks. First in London and then when we were in France all the competitors were put up in a five star hotel which was a nice change from camping in the truck.”
Most influential person…
“Tony Manca. He’s been my coach for around 14 years. He’s also been a good friend and somebody who’s been to the top level himself so he’s been able to guide me well through the years.”
Coaching has always been a passion for you…
“What I love most about teaching is when you’re able to see your pupils improve regardless of what level they’re at.”
You’ve already trained some of Queensland’s top eventing riders…
“All my students are talented and dedicated to their sport. A couple that stand out though are Emma Dougall and Jonathan Paget. Chris Burton was another successful rider but he only stayed with me for 12 months. He was my first working pupil.”
Any fond memories of teaching these riders…
“I remember Jock’s (Jonathan Paget’s nickname, although no one knows how he got it) first three star at Melbourne. He’d taken a horse from scratch to three star in only 24 months. We were walking the cross country course together and Jock’s eyes nearly fell out of his head! I told him, ‘Just make sure you ride him all the way home’. So he cleared the course until he flipped him over the fourth last. The rule is that if your horse’s shoulder touches the ground then you have to pull up. But he wasn’t sure if he had so he finished the course. Jock was met by the ground jury at the finish line with mud all the way up the horse’s shoulder. When we asked him why he didn’t stop after the flip he said, ‘Kevin told me to ride him all the way home’.
This article first appeared in the May 2009 issue of THM.