JAMIESON – The horse everyone loves

‘Jamieson’ or ‘Spud’ as he is affectionately known is a black 9 year old Australian Stock horse/ Quarter horse by Murrumbo Dallas from the Straight Lion mare, Jamaica.

Jamieson has real star quality and has impressed and been noticed by both ‘horsey’ and ‘non-horsey’ people alike, making him a wonderful ambassador for the versatile Australian Stock horse breed. He excels in Dressage, Hacking, Eventing, showjumping and working classes as well as having a repertoire of tricks which make him a top class entertainer.

An extremely versatile horse, Spud has shown that he can rise to the top in any event he has been trained for. In the dressage arena he is rarely beaten, his current competition level being Medium/Advanced level and has won hundreds of tests. In his short career on the eventing circuit he has numerous wins to his credit, including Lynton, Silver Hills (for two consecutive years) and a second in the 2001 State Championships at Camden. Because Spud is a stallion he is limited as far as the hack ring goes, but he has to his credit two supreme champion hack awards at the Australian National Stock horse shows at Grafton and Tamworth. He has been awarded the prestigious ‘Commonwealth Bank Star of the Year’ award for the most versatile horse.

When Spud was young it became obvious that he liked to play games, Steve has encouraged this by teaching him a variety of tricks. This has now been developed into a fun program that entertains young and old alike. His audiences contain a wide variety of people, some who have never been near a horse, others who are widely experienced and respected in the horse world. Spud can lie down, bow when spoken to, go after and retrieve a ball, pick up a stock whip and crack it, push a barrel into place between two others and then jump it, rear up on command and “talk” with Steve about what is going to happen next. He responds to barely visible cues and really connects with his audience.

Spud and Steve have become sought after as entertainers and have appeared at some of Australia’s most prestigious events. Steve lists entertaining at the Olympic games as one of his most memorable, in front of a crowd of 30,000 people Spud and Steve along with Jana the Border Collie dog delighted them with a new invention, the steering wheel, complete with computer to get those ‘free rein walks’ just perfect!. This act was unforgettable and overseas competitors and visitors alike were overawed at what this horse could do!

The Mane event at Equitana has been a fun venue to entertain at. In 1999, Steve and Spud depicted “Mans First Ride”, where the caveman met the wild black stallion and tamed him, after playing together, the caveman finally rides him with a piece of string around his neck. In 2001, the theme was “Dancing with horses” and the pair teamed up with Steve’s daughter Ashleigh to perform a beautiful ballet theme, ‘fantasy’ about toys coming to life and playing with each other.

He has also performed at the Royal Easter show, ‘The Man from Snowy River’ bush festival, Spray Farm International Horse trials, Diana Ferrari dressage championships, National dressage champs to name a few.

Many people would recognize Jamieson as the horse that ran free beside the Jeep in the Cherokee advertisement or the horse that jumps over the box in the Equimax Advertisements. You may have seen him on National television shows such as ‘Burkes Backyard’, ‘Today tonight’, ‘Current affair’, ‘Totally wild’ or ‘Extreme sports’.

As well as Steve and Jamieson’s busy entertainment and competition schedule, Steve still finds time to teach pupils and train clients horses at his Ingleside home on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Steven’s clinics have become sought after throughout Australia, because he is a very good communicator and his pupils achieve excellent results his teaching skills are very popular.