Statene Park History | Statene Park History |
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 Granada & Kilof McOhl with Gert and Mary Mary came to the city to further her studies to become a school teacher. After she graduated and took up a teaching post, Mary rode and kept her horse at the Oaklands Hunt Club where she enjoyed showjumping, eventing and hunting. At the Hunt Club She met a young Dane, Gert Donvig who was in Australia working at the famed Stockwell Stud in Diggers Rest where the legendary stallion Showdown stood at Stud. Although thoroughbred horses brought Gert to Australia, his passion was with Warmblood horses and his early riding had been what we now call ‘classical dressage’. Gert was a talented rider and his early competition achievements included a Danish Junior title. A common interest in horses grew and in 1975 the pair made plans to marry and start a horse stud and teaching establishment modelled on the professional barns that were very successful in Europe.  Gert Donvig riding Valuta at Melbourne Royal Show The newly weds returned to Australia with plans to buy and set up a property and import the best stallions they could. Mary recalls that the early days were very tough. The business would be called Statene Park to reflect the Danish influence and the early days began working from a friend’s property and Gitte came along. Mary reflects, “We did not have much money and purchased 50 acres of remote bare land at Macedon and then had the huge job of building a house, stables, fencing and other facilities in order to get Statene Park started. Gert and Mary were early innovators and knew that the quality of stallions that they needed to get the Australian warmblood breeding industry going in the right way were out of their financial reach and so they put together stallion syndications which meant that the purchase price would be shared by a number of people interested in getting into breeding these special horses with generations of performance bloodlines behind their pedigrees.  Mary with Gitte as a baby on Valuta There was a great deal of interest in the horse from Australian enthusiasts for whom participation in a Statene Park Stallion Syndication was a way to invest in a long term breeding strategy and be part of the blossoming interest in purpose bred performance horses. Kilof McOhl was very well accepted and proved himself a versatile sire winning his fair share of dressage competitions.  Original house at Macedon Kilof was highly successful and also confirmed his trainability, flair and athleticism when later in his career (1982) he partnered Lucinda Green (nee Prior-Palmer) at the prestigious Gawler International 3 Day Event in the Intermediate class, finishing in 9th place … having had a convincing lead after the dressage phase with a score of 45.2. Kilof McOhl cemented Statene Park as an innovative and progressive stud with much needed experience in international performance horse breeding and a view to the future for Australian studs and competition riders. Gert Donvig was a talented and popular dressage coach and in the late 1970’s an indoor arena was erected to provide European styled facilities for riding instruction, breaking in horses and the early training of the youngsters bred by Statene Park and clients.  Kilof McOhl Valuta won a long list of ridden and led show classes including Champion Warmblood Stallion at Royal Shows and was campaigned right up to Grand Prix Dressage. In 1988 Valuta and Gert were long listed for the team to the Seoul Olympics. Throughout his career, International Dressage judges commended Valuta as a truly worthy stallion with the looks, movement and trainability to make an impact on Australia’s fledgling warmblood breeding program, and he proved himself to be the perfect choice to improve the colonial gene pool.  Valuta in his stable Statene Park succumbed to the flames of the worst bushfires since the devastating blazes of the 1930’s and in the charred aftermath, Gert and Mary had lost everything that they had worked for but were thankful that they had been able to save the horses. Their modest insurance cover would help with the costs of rebuilding the improvements that were lost. Mary recalls that the early days meant hard work and long hours with most of this was done by her and Gert. The main focus was building the business by returning as much of the income as they could into the improvement of facilities and promotion of the stallions.  Wunder Australian equestrians embraced the benefits of riding a Warmblood horse and Gert’s glorious victories on his leggy partner Valuta, earned them a following which saw Statene Park as the highly respected industry leader. Mary says,”it seems that everyone wanted to breed a Warmblood horse, the temperament and trainability of the breed was no longer a secret and Australian riders wanted to ride horses that gave the leading European riders their edge.” Mary and Gert were founding members of the Australian Warmblood Horse Association and were instrumental in helping to establish the early breeding guidelines. The family connection with the Danish breed society was of great assistance to the early pioneers in Australia and the legacy of this connection is still in many of the policies and procedures of today.  House and indoor arena Statene Park became a leading training centre and Gert and Mary were early practitioners of the ‘classical and systematic’ training methods we know call correct basic training. Many open days and demonstration days allowed Statene park to showcase stallions and demonstrate the movements of the Grand Prix dressage test. These were times of learning, change, great fun and friendship. Gert and Mary were assisted by working pupils and many have gone on to achieve their personal goals and establish themselves as first class riders and trainers. Sadly on 2nd May 1988 Gert Donvig was killed in a car accident and so much of his early contribution could have been lost. However, Mary threw herself into the activities at Statene Park … the stallions, young stock, her riding, teaching and competition activities and this focus helped her to get through the loss that she and her young daughter Gitte had suffered. Mary acknowledges the support and help of her many friends who rallied and helped them get through the difficulties of 1988. Mary met a keen and bold South Australian Eventing rider named Rob Hanna in 1989 when he came for lessons to sharpen up his dressage skills. Mary and Rob shared a strong interest in Australian equestrian sport and a vision for the future. |