Karaka: Showfields

101 McRobbie Rd, Karaka. 

Bit between their teeth 

Adversity hasn't stopped a horse-loving couple building the equestrian centre of their dreams, writes Robyn Welsh. 

From bare fields to Showfields - paralympian horsewoman Jayne Craike knows every inch of the ground that she and her husband David have nurtured into their dream Olympic-standard equestrian centre at Karaka. 

Together, back in 1992, they dug the footings and built the shell of their little cedar cottage in six weeks, with their only respite from the pouring rain being their tent and the tin shed they had trucked onto the site to do duty as their temporary kitchen. 

As time and money allowed, they built the stables, Jayne's tackroom/office, the covered and uncovered sheds and the wash bay. She and David planted the pine shelter belt and the beautiful trees that now, in their elegant maturity, frame the sheds and define the paddocks. David built the jetty over the picturesque pond that takes the runoff from the double-sized arena (complete with lighting and mirrors) from which Jayne schools riders in the finer points of competition work and trains other people's horses. 

Jayne is best known for her gold and silver medals in dressage and freestyle at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney. 

To her, Showfields represented everything positive in a life that has been a mental and physical endurance test since an horrific riding accident in 1978 at the age of 16. Fourteen years later, following six years in hospital and 54 major, often-experimental operations, Jayne had her right leg amputated. 


The date was 1992, shortly before Jayne and David bought this property and Jayne was not about to let the pain of raw rubbed skin and the frustration of learning to live with a prosthetic limb slow her down, either on a horse or off it. 

"We built everything here except for the tin bits," she recalls with pride. "I could not have done any of this without David, and there's a huge sense of achievement you get when you do it all yourselves." 

Their simple, welcoming cottage is light and comfy. It has open plan living and sliding doors that open to the deep verandah with view of the paddocks, arena, and the stables that are home to Dawn, Cruise and Ernie. 

When the sun rises behind the weather vane on top of the weathered cedar plywood stables, it is Jayne's cue to walk the 30 paces across the sweeping gravel driveway to begin the rural equivalent of a day at the office. With a touch of Cotswold charm about their lines, the outbuildings are close, but not too close. 

Jayne explains, "I wanted this to be a place where people would feel included, where they could relax at the picnic table and watch riders having their lessons, where they could talk without distracting the riders. On show days people just love it here." 

Now, with international dressage championships diaried for October and the 2008 Beijing Paralympics in her sights, Jayne and David plan to begin another operation to provide training and competition facilities at all levels. 

With Showfields as their stepping stone, Jayne has fine-tuned her eye for detail. 

"I want everything to be done perfectly, the way we did with this place," she says.