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The outlook from Ken and Kim Moir’s home at Chatsworth.
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A Taste of the Highlands: The view to the west from Ken and Kim Moir’s property at Chatsworth.
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From milk cart horses in Scotland to mustering in the Australian bush, Ken and Kim Moir have travelled together on life’s journey, as ERLE LEVEY discovers.
Putting pieces together He grew up with horses. She worked in welfare. Through time, they both realised they had different talents but were able to use them to help each other. He with horses that had been harshly cared for; she with children from broken homes. It was like putting the pieces of a jigsaw together again. By placing horses and young people together Ken and Kim Moir have been able to make some remarkable breakthroughs. Most significantly with the turn-around in the lives of those impacted. Yet in doing so it unearthed talents in Ken and Kim they had learned earlier in life - he became known for his ability to calm horses. Horse whisperer if you like. Yet he doesn’t go by that. Kim has become an integral part of endurance riding administration, not just in the Gympie region but for Queensland and Australia. I am speaking with them over a cup of tea - leaf tea, from a pot - a glass of filtered rain water and biscuits at their Chatsworth property. The outlook reminds me of the Scottish Highlands, especially the view to the south west. I suspect that’s why they chose the 100 acres initially. It reminded them of where they were both born. I knew Ken rode in endurance events but something played out earlier this year that sat me back. It was at Stirlings Crossing Equestrian Centre at Imbil and riders in the shorter events were breaking camp, getting their horses into trailers, trucks or floats. One rider was really having an issue getting the horse up the ramp and into the float. It seemed the harder she tried the more skittish the horse became. We were watching from the deck of the ride base and Ken was getting concerned. That’s when he walked over. He had seen enough. It was time to put his knowledge of how to naturally handle horses to good use. For perhaps 20 minutes he stood with the horse, twirling rope much like a stockman would a lasso. He would lead the horse forward a step, then let it retreat. Two steps forward, one step back. He would even get the horse to place its two front feet in the float ... and then let it back away again. Then the process would start all over. When the horse had complete trust in Ken, and that he wasn’t going to force the process, it walked straight in. It was a magical experience to watch. Yet to Ken, it was simply what you do - every day. It’s a matter of understanding the horse, and gaining its trust. They say when you breathe the same air as a horse - face to face - it’s similar. Gaining trust in each other. That’s when Kim tells me about one of the first times Ken tried his natural approach with horses. 20 TODAY December 2021
Ken and Kim Moir at their Chatsworth property with the Anne Jones Award for winning the 2013 QERA State Championship. 256021
We would ride them bareback to the beach, over the sand dunes and let them roll in the dunes. That’s how we trained them. It was about letting the horses have fun.’’ Except he was riding the horse up the ramp into the float. Kim half expected the horse to rear up and take Ken’s head off - it was that dangerous. Yet it didn’t. That was the starting point. Trust. Just like with children. “As you become more aware, you get a bigger understanding,’’ Ken said. “Horse behaviour comes not just from what they have experienced in life but what they have built into them - a sense of what might happen.’’ Sitting with Ken and Kim you quickly sense both have known what it is like to struggle in life. The words of the Crosby, Stills and Nash song Helplessly Hoping could not be more appropriate. One person, two alone, three together, for each other. Both were born in the north east of Scotland, near Aberdeen. Ken’s father was a farmer. Kim’s was a milkman. “I can remember the clip-clop of the horses,’’ she said. “He would milk the cows and then deliver the milk. “When we came to Australia the horses were used for mustering. “It was one of the many changes we had to get used to.’’ Sitting with them, you soon appreciate Ken and Kim’s acknowledgement of the poignant moments in their life ... the pivotal milestones that changed them. And he seems very aware of the sacrifices she’s made over the years, especially coming to a new life on the other side of the world.
And while there are similarities, Australia even in the 1980s was a foreign country. So remote and disconnected from family and friends. Instead of being caught in snow storms on the way to work there was the intense heat of the dry grazing country, first in New South Wales and then in Queensland. They had met at school in a Scottish village and both went to university in Aberdeen. Ken studied geography and geology. Kim social welfare. He actually spent more time on the neighbouring golf course and his love of geography inspired thoughts of what happens around the world. “It was the same with geology,’’ he said. “I was really interested in why things happened. Why did Gympie start? “History and geography. I thought I may have been a town planner … it’s interesting how things develop.’’ Ken started riding when he was four. There were four boys in the family - Alex, Eddy, Ken then Andrew. His father always had horses that he was buying and selling. “We were all riding ponies, especially in the summer holidays. “We would take them to the shows and race them - there was prize money and bookies. “Our father would go away with his truck and come back with horses. “He would come back from Wales with welsh mares, so we started breeding our own ponies. “They were unbeatable due to their speed and stamina. We were hooked. “We watched jockeys such as Lester Piggott,
Scobie Breasley, and George Moore. “We practised on the backs of lounge chairs and would get up on our knees to get past the finish line. “By the time we were five or six, we were saddled up ready to go.’’ That was the start of the horse whisperer in Ken. The horses got so fit towards the end of the season they couldn’t hold them. “We would ride them bareback to the beach, over the sand dunes and let them roll in the dunes. “That’s how we trained them. It was about letting the horses have fun.’’ When Kim first went to university it was to do maths and become an accountant. Yet she found people and their problems more interesting so switched to sociology and psychology, and graduated in social work. “When I started it was a new profession,’’ she said. “We covered a wide area - aged care, child protection, probation, mental health. “They all came together under this banner. “It was interesting that the world was a big place then. “The drive to work was significant - 15 miles. Driving in the snow was normal. “It’s interesting that the experiences you had were thought to be normal.’’ Kim was eventually able to complete her Bachelor of Accountancy ... by long distance education here in Australia. After Ken graduated he returned to the farm as part of the family business. Yet it was the Margaret Thatcher years of government and the financial recovery meant interest rates went from six to 22 percent. Retrospective tax laws on capital gains as well as capital transfer saw the business severely compromised. So he decided they should make a big move and come to Australia. From running four farms to carrying a couple of suit cases, they arrived at Melbourne first then he secured a role on a large property at Trangi, west of Dubbo. Ken was overseer at Old Bundemar, a famous merino and hereford stud dating back to 1883. It comprised 20,000 acres divided off about 80,000 acres and was still 15-20km from town. “I thought I’d gone to the end of Earth,’’ Kim said. “Still, we’d made the decision so may as well make it a five-year plan. “The people were very friendly, welcoming. “We were there in January 1982 and it was 46 degrees. “It was a country of extremes. I was never as cold as I was there. “The houses were designed for hot weather, not the cold of winter.’’ In 1985 they moved to Thangool, south of Biloela in Central Queensland. They started share farming before buying 160 acres and the long road back to the family tradition. By 1987 they had two daughters and Kim started work again in 1992, with the social services section of the Anglican Church.
