...And back again

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32660, 16 July 1971, Page 3

...And back again

(N.Z. Press Association) CAMBRIDGE, July 15. Mr S. A. Whiteman, of Cambridge, who returned recently from four months in Virginia, will return there late next month.

He has accepted a position as ranch supervisor of the 10,000-arce Addison Land and Cattle Company, Tabewell County, Virginia.

Mr Whiteman took 12 trained New Zealand dogs on his first visit, and demonstrated New Zealand methods of mustering.

“It was a great success,” he said.

“People found it hard to understand that I could send dogs out of sight, and that they would respond to different whistles and come back with cattle.

“The sight of a dog heading a bull or catching a calf which had strayed from the mob also amazed them. People came in carloads to watch,” he said.

The dogs all stayed in the United States, and were working. Mr Whiteman began handling dogs as a schoolboy, and has spent most of his life working on, and managing sheep and cattle stations at Taihape, Mangaweka and Waiouru. He is a skilled horseman who, as an amateur rider, won races with Ballador, Sporting Cap and Battle Fort.

Mr Whiteman is impressed with the potential of the farming country in Virginia. “It is easy country by New Zealand hill standards, drains well and has a good rainfall. If circumstances permit I would like to experiment with,New Zealand cropping and pastoral seeds, as I feel

they would do well there and add variety,” he said. Mr Whiteman said hej would be away for anything between two and 10 years. His wife and 17-year-old son, Adrian, will accompany him. His skills in handling stock have been passed on to his family. A son, Mr A. D. Whiteman, ! after success as a rodeo rider in New Zealand and Australia, did well as private trainer for Mr A. H. J. Gudsell, of Wanganui, winning the Great Northern Hurdles with Beyond. He is now a public trainer at Cambridge. Another son, Mr S. Whiteman, of Taihape, is a successful amateur rider, and a daughter, Mrs G. Park, of Taihape, has had considerable success as a show rider. Adrian Whiteman, who is also an amateur rider, will travel on to Potomac after arrival in the United States, and will gain experience in horse training.