VETERAN SHOW HORSEMAN

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20087, 6 November 1939, Page 5 (Supplement)

VETERAN SHOW HORSEMAN

COMPETITOR FOR 59 YEARS IN HORSE SECTION

A veteran Show horseman who has been present at every A. and P. Show held in the Gisborne district and who has competed in all but one of them is Mr. Otto Hansen, Kaitaratahi. who will be represented in the diamond jubilee effort this week.

occasion 60 years ago when he led his Matua all the way lo New Plymouth and won the Taranaki Cup. Although he retains piles of prizetickets ho has won at the Gisborne Show, Mr. Hansen shows no greater pride in any but one he secured in 1896 for the best vehicle locally made. He had a pony for winch lie could not secure a suitable vehicle, so lie made one himself. He was persuaded

•Mr. Hansen has been one of the prominent competitors in the horse section right from the time of the second Show,“and secured an unusual degree of success, always being to the lore in the prize lists. He has the distinction of having won every class of the light horse section, including harness horses, hacks, hunters and ponies.

There are few men in the district who can lay claim to such a long career of Show competition and of doing it so successfully. Hot only was Mr. Hansen represented with entries in the horse section throughout this long time, but he also rode his mounts himself until a few years ago, when an accident prevented his active participation.

Unfortunately Mr. Hansen's early Show tickets have been destroyed, but his successes are on record in the files of the early newspapers. He retains a quotation from The Standard, a long-defunct Gisborne newspaper, which refers to his win in the leaping match over the triple jumps as one of the features of the 1881 Show, which was held at the Patutahi Domain. The triple jump on that occasion comprised a hedge, ditch and hurdle, and Mr. Hans*n states that the old ditch is still to be seen on the Patutahi Domain. The late Mr. W. D. S. Macdonald rode in the same event. Mr. Hansen’s first horse was The Doctor, which won many of the prizes in the early Shows. He was the owner of other well-known horses in later years, including Yaba Yaba. winner of nine championships at

to enter the vehicle in tin class for those of local manufacture, and he was awarded first prize against seven professional wheelwrights of the town.

number in the same localities to-day

district shows, which he brought from Christchurch in 1920 and which was never beaten. Later in the same

Coming to Gisborne in 1875. Mr. Hansen found only a few hundred white people in a very scattered district. The result was that there was but a handful of people at the first Show, compared with the many thousands who attend to-day. The site of the first Show was close to where the old Ngatapa railway line crosses the main highway between Makaraka and Waerenga-a-hika. The old orchard which was a little to the left of Steggali's Hotel, one of the two hotels at Makaraka in those days, is still standing on the Wacrenga-a-

decade, up to about 1930, his All Over proved a most formidable competitor, and during four or five years this horse won more than £6OO m prizes at Shows both in and outside the Gisborne district. Lone Star and Queenie were among his other wellknown hacks and jumpers.

In his younger days, Mr. Hansen was also a keen racehorse owner, and he retains vivid recollections of the

hika side of the railway crossing. The Show was held on the Gisborne side of the crossing. Speaking of hotels. Mr. Hansen stated that, despite the very small population in those days, there were more hotels in the district then than there are now. There were 33 then and only 30 to-day. He listed the hotels as shown in the following table, alongside which are shown the

Despite the fact that there was ; j much smaller public to supply patron-j age, most of the hotels in the district | appeared to thrive. hi the old-time list, there were | several hotels that were on the then j main thoroughfares, such as the Ferry I Hotel, at the mouth of the Waip.ao; . River, on the Willows side, • L

Gisborne Sixty Years Ago To-day .. 5 8 Makaraka . . 2 1 Waerenga-a-hika 2 1 Ormond 2 1 Kaitaratahi 1 1 Te Karaka 1 1 Whatatulu 1 1 Matawai — 1 Malawhero 1 2 The Willows .. 1 K a ran a 1 Pakiriki i i 1 Murivvai 1 1 Palutahi . — 1 Tiniroto . — 1 Waerengn-o-kuri 1 Waitotara tPakarae) 1 Tatapouri . -- 1 Whangara . . — 1 Tolaga Bav : J , l Anaura l Tokomaru Bay 1 ! Waipiro Bav . . 1 1 Te Puia . _ ! Rualoria 1 Tuparoa 2 PortAwamii .. .. :i Tikitiki l i Te Araroa ,.i i Totals . . 33 30