UMHLANDLA
Rhodesian Ridgebacks
I was born in Northern Rhodesia, where my father had a Ridgeback called NIP. We left before Zambian independence, staying
in the UK for a while. My parents split up & my mother
took me out to South Africa, where my brother was born.
We settled in Zululand as my mother took the position of
Matron at Luwamba Mission Hospital. I had the adventure
of growing up in the African bush, where snakes & small
game were part of everyday life. On 8 Dec 1975, my brother
was killed on a mountain road, when he was thrown through the windscreen of a speeding car. Seatbelts became compulsory in ZA
in 1976 as a result of our tragedy.
Eventually I was allowed to have horses. In 1979 we moved to the Natal South Coast.
I kept my mare & stabled her in Hillcrest. There I met Hugh, the farrier, who had
a Ridgeback-
I bought my 2nd Ridgeback 10 years later, while in ZA, trying to deal with my first marriage & my father's terminal illness in 1992 (lung cancer). I began showing WHISKY there and gained a few awards with him, including a reserve CC. I imported Whisky in the spring of 1993, but he hated the 6 months in quarantine
as much as Shandy did when I first returned to the UK newly married…
