Blake was tragically murdered by a dog bait in 1996 shortly before the Hasko-Stewarts acquired the Jerrawa property. They named it, in his honour, Blake’s Heaven – another allusion to William Blake’s poetry and philosophy. The name can also be a pun on the cult science fiction TV series, Blake’s Seven. For that reason, the Blake’s Heaven brand is Y (for Yass) B7.

Our Philosophy

At Blake’s Heaven we believe that horses’ minds are as important as their bodies. We believe that when animals are given love and respect, they pay it back. This applies to our dogs, our cats, and of course, our wonderful horses.

When Blake’s Heaven began, our specialty was taking horses that no one else wanted, and turning them into horses that were high achievers.
We also bought a lovely colt and started a small breeding program. As this has evolved, our emphasis is on creating a tough, truly Australian Arabian derivative horse, using a combination of Arabian and Brumby/Waler bloodlines.

Our home bred horses carry the genes of most of our currently performing horses. They come in a range of shapes and sizes but all reflect our motto – pretty, tough – and all are soft, kind horses.

What we aim for above all is to raise and train horses that have genuine affection for their people. This makes them safe to handle and to ride. We expect our horses to have good sense and to be able to deal with obstacles on the trail and in the paddock.

We also want them to be tough so the young ones are raised on our Jerrawa farm, 216 acres most of it bush. They roam over the mountain and down into the gullies, like wild horses, self-trimming their hooves on the shale. They are wise about fences and fallen trees and avoid trouble even while galloping freely. They live on the native pasture, with some supplementation as necessary, which allows them to grow slowly and surely and develop strong bones and tendons.

The Beginnings

The family’s involvement with endurance began in 1999 with some social rides but started seriously in 2000 when Adeline and Fia did their first trainer. It was 45kms at Burra and was hard, cold and rainy, and they hated it. But they forgot all of that when they vetted through and even won the prize for “first bear over the line” as it was the Bring a Bear Bash”.

This is a hard sport, but it was great as a family experience. When times at home got tough, Fia hit the road with the kids and the horses. At times we did the impossible, as Fia worked Tuesday to Saturday every week as a press gallery journalist and often this meant arriving at rides late.

A major crash while towing 3 horses in November 2002 convinced Fia that change was needed. Although she had been a senior political correspondent for 2 decades, she quit and looked for a job that allowed her to have Saturdays off.

Barefooting

In 2005 we made the transition to barefoot (not shod) horses. All of our younger horses have been brought on under saddle and in endurance, without shoes.
Dubonnet and Ventura are our only remaining horses who have been shod more than a few times.
Both made the transition from shoes to barefoot without major issues.