Show President

Press, 5 March 1982, Page 8

Show President

The name of Polo Hill, for the Waiau property owned by Mr Stuart McLean, is befitting for a family so keenly involved with horses. Mr McLean, who is president of the sixty-sixth Amuri Agricultural and Pastoral Association, has ridden since a young child and still uses the horses for mustering. He and his wife, Jan. and their three children have .lived at Polo Hill for the last five years. Prior to that they farmed another Waiau property for 13 years. Polo Hill is part of the Mt Paul farm. In 1947, Mt Paul was purchased for returned soldier settlements and split up in to several farms. The farm was settled by Mr George Smith, who called the property Polo Hill because the original owner (Mr C. Macfarlane) kept polo ponies on a hill above the house. The McLeans have also carried on the tradition and have six horses on the farm. Three of the horses are used for mustering, one is a thoroughbred mare and there are two young horses. Although many farmers opt to use farm bikes, for mustering, Mr McLean prefers using horses for this job. The farm, consisting of 1270 hectares, supports 4000 ewes and 120 cows. This season’s late drought has caused a shortage of feed and stock water but this is not the only problem facing farmers in this area. Piniic niorn /vprv similar

to Pinus radiata) is a problem for the McLeans and for neighbouring properties. The seeds of the tree have fertilised in good grazing land and to stop their growth the trees have to be burned and cut back.

Although the farmers receive a 50 per cent subsidy from the • noxious weeds council, keeping the trees under control takes considerable time.

“Despite these problems, there has been a lot of

development in the Waiau area in the last three to four years and as a result stock numbers have doubled,” Mr McLean said. The McLeans have three children — Virginia. 20, who is a third-year Teachers’ College student' living in Christchurch, Katherine, 17, a first-year student at Lincoln College is studying for a Bachelor of Agricultural Science, and Donald, 15. a fifth-former at St Andrew's College. Both girls will be riding at the show, competing in the Western Riding event and the F.E.I. jumping classes. Mr McLean’s interest in horses extends to judging F.E.I. jumping and he is a past president of the Waiau Pony Club. He also takes an active interest in dog trials both as a competitor and judge. In addition, Mr McLean is a member of the Waiau Lions Club and a past chairman of the Waiau School committee and past president of the Amuri St Johns Association. Mrs McLean takes a strong part in community activities. She is a volunteer worker at the Queen Mary Hospital at Hanmer, secretary of the Waiau School committee and a past secretary of the Hurunui Pony Club. Gardening is also a keen hobby and Mrs McLean is a past secretary and now vice-president of the Leslie Hills-Amuri Garden Club.