Fajitas take the place of animal antics

Hayden van Hooff, manager of Fajitas Mexican Bar and Grill, Clive, pictured with two of his pets - Cuba, a sun conure South American parrot and Charlie, a rook. Photo / Duncan Brown

Hayden van Hooff went from being an animal trainer of 10 years one day to general manager of a Mexican Restaurant the next.

Originally from Wellington, Mr van Hooff moved to Hawke's Bay in August last year, accepting the job as general manager of Fajitas Bar and Grill in Clive.

Ten years before coming here, Mr van Hooff lived a very different life, being an animal trainer. He got into the animal training business at the age of 18, as the company noticed how good Mr van Hooff was with animals while he was working at an animal park.

He was offered a job as assistant trainer and accepted the opportunity straight away.

Mr van Hooff started out by training animals such as cattle, turkeys and rooks for advertisements worldwide.

One of his top commercials was a milk chocolate advertisement in Queenstown.

They had to train 100 cattle in three weeks and the cattle had no previous interaction with humans except for the occasional drenching period.

By the end of the three weeks the cattle were able to be led around with a collar and fishing line.

"It's such a thrill when you see the final product," Mr van Hooff said.

He also engaged in animal training for films. His favourite film was Black Sheep.

They had to train the sheep to stay, march and even act like rottweilers. He said it was a fun experience, as all animals were different: some were easy to train and others much harder.

"Animal training took a lot of patience. Often trust was earned by feeding them their favourite treat and once they realised it came from you, you earned their trust."

That was evident in one of the commercials where they had to train a turkey to gobble on cue. Turkeys are naturally a nervous bird, so it took Mr van Hooff four hours waiting for the turkey to relax. "You had to push and wait but it's all part of the game."

After almost 10 years as an animal trainer, Mr van Hooff's boss opened up a restaurant in Clive.

Mr van Hooff was offered the position as general manager. He had worked in hospitality only as a chef and kitchen hand, so going to front of house was a completely different ball game.

He is enjoying the new experience.

"The customers are great and we have fantastic regulars."

Mr van Hooff also enjoys living in Hawke's Bay.

"It's a beautiful place with great weather," he said.