Taupō Racing Club and RDA stalwart Julia Wilding honoured with a race named in her honour

A driving force behind Taupō Riding for Development (formerly Riding for Disabled) and a former vice-president of the Taupō Racing Club, Julia (Julie) Wilding died suddenly at her home in Taupō on August 11.

A driving force behind Taupō Riding for Development (formerly Riding for Disabled) and a former vice-president of the Taupō Racing Club, Julia (Julie) Wilding died suddenly at her home in Taupō on August 11.

The 91-year-old former patron and past president of Taupō RDA and long serving committee member of the Taupō Racing Club was known as a dedicated and enthusiastic volunteer with a “can-do-anything” approach to all tasks big or small. A race at the Taupō Racing Club’s Ladies Day meeting on September 15 is being named in her honour to mark her association with the club.

Close friend Marie Leicester said Julie was a remarkable woman who remained interested in all her volunteer groups – particularly those that involved horses – up until her death.

“Julie loved and breathed horses. Race day at Taupō was her day and she missed very few, if any, meetings during her time here.”

Julia Norah Wilding was born in the South Island in 1931 and grew up on the family farm, Te Mania, at Conway Flat North Canterbury. Her mother was an accomplished horsewoman and she learned to ride from an early age, developing a life-long love of horses. After finishing secondary school, she travelled extensively, working in the United Kingdom and the United States grooming polo ponies and on a small horse stud near Washington. In the 1950s Julie and her sister-in-law Jo Wilding set up Te Mania bloodstock breeding a number of successful horses.

In 1959 she took up an offer to work at Government House as Lady-in-Waiting to the wife of Governor-General Lord Cobham where she remained for three years before branching into a 14-year career in the travel industry. Her love of travel and knowledge of the thoroughbred industry led to her developing and guiding tours to well-known horse studs in the United States, Northern Ireland, and England. When Julie left the travel industry she set up her own horse stud at Leithfield, south of Amberly in the South Island.

In 1990, she sold the stud and retired to Taupō where she became actively involved in the local community. She signed up as a volunteer with the then Riding for the Disabled (RDA), thinking her horse knowledge might come in handy.

She became committed to the cause after seeing the benefits and confidence participants gained from riding the horses - taking on the role as president for the next decade.

Julie and a small group of dedicated volunteers raised funds to buy land for RDA’s original base at Broadlands Rd, completing a covered arena for riders in 1999.

Julie stood down as president and stayed on the committee for a further two years before becoming patron.

She retained a keen interest in RDA affairs during the sale of the Broadlands Rd property and subsequent redevelopment of a state-of-the-art facility in Poihipi Rd which opened in 2010 and is fondly remembered for turning up regularly at morning tea time with home-made scones for riders and helpers.

Her volunteer work included 15 years as a helper for Taupō Hospice and seven years with the community Night Owl Patrol group. In 2017 Julie, a passionate gardener, was instrumental in ensuring residents in Botanical Heights Drive retained walking access to the Taupō Botanical Gardens through a council residential subdivision being developed beside the gardens. Thanks to her efforts, local authorities agreed to install a permanent entry gate on a new boundary fence between the subdivision and the gardens. She continued to use the accessway to the gardens up until her death.

A celebration of Julie Wilding’s life is being held in Taupō on Saturday, September 16.