REGINALD ‘Reg’ Cleland has been rewarded with the highest honour a volunteer can ever ask for, Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his dedication to improving equine sport across 60 years, particularly showjumping.
Naturally shy, Reg said: “[designing show jumping courses] gave me a purpose to travel, brought me out of my shell and I got to meet a lot of people and have a lot of fun.”
At 14, the Cleland family moved from Yackandandah to Ascot Vale and Reg met Murray Wheatley. Reg’s dad, a livestock dealer, purchased for his son a nuggety bay gelding from the North Melbourne pound.
The devil turned out to be impossible to keep in the yard; and thus, they tethered him to a tyre to make him easy to catch. The friends decided to try him over some jumps, he was 14.2 hands high and they named him Doubtful. He came second in his first gymkhana (at the Moonee Valley showgrounds).
There have been many horses since, whereby Wheatley held the reins and Reg picked up the rails and also drove the floats. However, the filly that won Reg’s heart was Francine Cox and ‘Fran’ joined the team.
Married in the sixties, together they have raised two sons, Michael and Jeffrey, and many beloved hounds. The children shared an interest in horses, too, showjumping until their mid-teens. Great-grand-daughter Amy continues the family legacy, showjumping recently in Mauritius.
With every golden light, there’s a shadow, and tragically, the family home was one of many destroyed in the 2014 Mickleham-Kilmore bushfires. The family learnt first-hand the importance of friendship by making new networks in Kilmore.
“We came here because we were burnt out. It’s … different here. You never forget,” Reg said.
Reg joined the men’s shed three years ago for male company, that his wife said saved him.
“Michael, our son, saw the Kilmore Men’s Shed having a barbecue at Bunnings and he came home and said … Dad has to go there. And, it’s been wonderful for Reg. I’m a happy girl when he is at the men’s shed,” Fran said.
Later this year, Reg, 87, will don his suit, and Fran will buy a new frock to attend Government House in Canberra with another Mitchell Shire resident, Christine Welsh (see Page 5) and other Victorians to be met by the Governor-General Sam Mostyn to be presented with the prestigious insignia.
In the meantime, Reg can add the highly prestigious initial OAM to his signature.
