Gordon Bishop

Gordon is in actual fact an independant operator at Ryans however he has off and on been based with Heath and Rozzie for the past 30 years and is considered part of the team. Gordon has produced a number of horses to 3*** eventing level and has on numerous occasions been in final Olympic trials here in Australia in contention for Olympic selection. Most of Gordon's horses have been very honest but perhaps will not be remembered by history as being the most talented horses on the scene at the time. Currently Gordon has some young horses which are purpose bred, one for eventing, and one for straight dressage. This is the first time Gordon has prepared a campaign as carefully as this and he is hoping that the highlights of his career are just around the corner in the not too distant Olympics.

In between competing Gordon has developed great skills in the "breaking in" arena. Gordon breaks in all the young horses for Heath and Rozzie and is sought after by outside clients as a breaker. Gordon initially studied the Jefferies method of breaking under Maurice Wright and from there has evolved a system which is completely free of confrontation. The focus of Gordon's system is on the horse's confidence and as a result, Gordon produces horses free of injury or trauma. Most breaking in processes involve tying up lessons which can be quite confrontational and this sort of thing is responsible for something like 90% of horses straining their sacro-illiac ligament which gives the horse low grade back pain for the rest of their life. Nothing anyone can do about that once the horse has sustained this injury. In avoiding this almost inevitable "breaking in" injury Gordon is able to give Heath and Rozzie youngsters who are much more likely to achieve their potential than would otherwise be the case.

Gordon is also sought after by people who have high quality horses that have developed bad habits or horses that are somewhat short on a natural level of confidence. These horses are trained by Gordon and often will have their first competition starts whilst based with Gordon.

Teaching is also one of Gordon's passions and he is a Level 2 NCAS accredited riding coach. Gordon travels around the countryside from time to time coaching at riding clubs and pony clubs from Sydney to the Western regions of NSW.

Gordon will go hiking on his holidays and is something of a "greeny" and is a hopeless business person. His phone number is 0409 467 657 and good luck to you if he actually is carrying his phone on him!