Culture Corner: For the love of words

Anne and Poppy, a small horse with a lot of attitude. INSET: Great Australian Horse Stories, recounting the tales of horses and their owners. RIGHT: After a long day’s ride through the desert, a comfortable camp is a welcome sight. (All images courtesy Anne Crawford)

CULTURE CORNER

For the love of words and horses

A love of words and a passion for horses turned out to be a productive mix for Anne Crawford, author of Great Australian Horse Stories, writes MARISA KUHLEWEIN.

Anne Crawford can still recall the exact sensation she experienced that spring day while she was minding a house for a friend travelling overseas. As she sat at a desk, warmed by gentle sunlight, she glanced out at the garden. Suddenly, it felt as if something had fluttered down from the sky and she’d caught it in both hands. “I’d like to write books” – it was a striking moment of clarity. Something that had been sleeping curled inside since childhood was nudged and awakened. Later, when Anne told her father about her epiphany, he wasn’t surprised, commenting: “Oh, I always knew you’d write books.”

For this successful Australian author, her first love was – and remains – words. “Even from when I was young, I loved writing,” she says. In her early teens Anne, along with a group of friends, created a horse magazine called Stables and Stirrups just for fun. “There were

five of us. We all put in pictures of our horses and we made up stories. We only had one copy of the magazine and it would go from one person to the next. It wasn’t a very sophisticated operation,” Anne laughs. “One of my friends was recently doing a COVID clean up and she actually came across the magazine!”

Anne’s passion for writing led her to work as a feature writer for The Age and The Sunday Age for over 10 years. It was there that she honed her craft and learnt how to construct compelling narratives. However, it wasn’t until she had received her house-sitting revelation that she realised her true calling was to write books. Deciding to pursue her childhood dream of becoming an author, Anne left the world of newspapers in 2009, and hasn’t looked back.

One of her first books was Doctor Hugh, a memoir co-written with Dr Hugh Wirth AM, an iconic Australian vet and former RSPCA president. Dr Hugh had his own radio show and was well known for being controversial and at times, feisty. He took on everyone: from people acting cruelly towards animals to animal rights activists, politicians, and even people in his own profession. “I was listening to him on the radio one day when the announcer suggested that he should write a memoir, and he replied, ‘If only I had someone to do it for me,’” Anne recalls. On the spur of the moment, she rang the radio station, and asked to be put in touch with Dr Hugh’s producer. “It was completely spontaneous,” she laughs, “even after I had sent off my email to him, I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, what have I done? This man is fierce,’ but actually he was really nice.”

Over the course of the following two years, Anne spent many enjoyable

It's important for you and your mount to be colour co-ordinated, even when riding through the Moroccan desert.

afternoons with Dr Hugh. Woven through his memoir, which is written in his unmistakeable tell-it-as-it-is voice, are his thoughts regarding the proper care of animals, and his views on the best approach to animal rights in contemporary society.

With three books to her name, Anne was building a reputation as an author who could craft words into colourful tapestries that brought people’s stories to life. Her powerful writing and vivid imagery captivated readers, taking them along with her for the journey. Following Doctor Hugh, Anne’s publisher approached her and asked her what she’d like to write about next. “Horses

There was a small scholarship available. My father said that if I won it, I could buy a pony. Well, I did win the scholarship and with it I managed to get a $350 pony.

were the first thing that came to my mind,” Anne says.

If writing is Anne’s first passion, then her second is horses. After pestering her parents incessantly for a horse, she bought her first pony Pepe at the age of 12. “There was a small scholarship available. My father said that if I won it, I could buy a pony. Well, I did win the scholarship and with it I managed to get a $350 pony,” Anne recalls.

It’s certainly an exhilarating feeling to ride a horse, and to hear their welcoming nicker as they see you approaching is always heart-warming. Time spent with horses can be both relaxing and restorative, and the very

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TOP: One of the Moroccan Barb stallions Anne met on her desert adventure beneath the High Atlas Mountains ABOVE: Anne’s exciting 2009 adventure in Morocco helped bring horses back into her life again.

special bond humans and horses often share was something Anne thought would make for fascinating reading. And with that, the idea for Great Australian Horse Stories was birthed and Anne began her research.

Anne’s background in journalism was more than useful as she began to gather stories, seeking out the hidden treasures in people’s lives. She prides herself on being able to interview people and draw out their stories and idiosyncrasies. “A lot of people think ‘Why me?’ They might have the most amazing stories, but most people are quite modest,” she says.

Many of the people interviewed for Great Australian Horse Stories are from the Gippsland area in Victoria, where Anne herself lives. “It’s because I knew a lot of people there, and then they knew people, so the book grew from that. For example, the lady who lives across the road from me, her mother, Beth, grew up in the days when you rode a pony to school and parked it in the pony paddock next door. So I talked with her about that.”

Further along the road from Anne’s home the Horse Workshop offers Equine Facilitated Learning, which encourages the interaction between horses and humans, an interaction that’s been found to benefit both people with disabilities, and those suffering from maladies such as depression or anger. “I’ve watched a session in progress,” she says, “and it was a really beautiful thing to see. So of course, I wrote about them and what they’re doing.”

Infused with heart, wit and drama, Great Australian Horse Stories brings to life stories of horses from all over Australia. “It was just fantastic talking about horses with people for months on end,” Anne says smiling.

One of Anne’s own experiences with horses, which she holds close to her heart, was thanks to a Zouina Cheval riding trek. The tour included a week’s ride through the stony desert below the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco. At this point in her life, she hadn’t owned

a horse for years, but had never lost her love for them. “It was a chance of a lifetime thing. I specifically travelled to Morocco to do the tour,” she says.

Each day, the small group of riders mounted their Moroccan Barb stallions, ready for a long day’s ride through the stony terrain and sweltering heat. High valleys above them were splashed with patches of river-fed green, and the villages nestled on the mountainsides looked down over almond orchards and palm groves. Occasionally the riders came across a lush oasis framed by date palms offering shade and rest. For Anne, riding through the desert was both a thrilling and an unforgettable experience.

Arriving back in Australia after her Moroccan adventure, Anne decided that she’d like to own a horse again. “That trip really got me back into horses – now I’m more horse mad than when I was a young girl,” she laughs. And these days she has three: Poppy, a beautiful chestnut pony who’s been with her for 10 years; Harry, a chestnut Stockhorse colt bought for her by her partner in a “wildly romantic gesture”; and Angel, a liver chestnut on lease from Project Hope Horse Welfare Victoria. “Project Hope do fantastic work identifying horses that have been neglected and abused and finding new homes for them,” Anne explains. “Angel loves doing things with you, but she can be a little naughty sometimes and occasionally she can test you – but she’s a really lovely horse,” she adds, with real fondness creeping into her voice.

On being asked for her opinion on what it takes to be a good writer, Anne pauses for a moment and then says: “You have to be good with words and have a real love for them. And you have to re-read and examine every word you write. Obviously it helps be creative, but you also have to be accurate. Perhaps the main thing is to stick with it – and for that you have to be dedicated.”

A favourite place: Digger's Rest Station in the Kimberley, Western Australia.