I have made a new catalogue of some DVDs and games that will be on sale until the end of June. The catalogue is now live on the website and you can look at it there or print it out using the below PDF attachment at your own convenience.

I will add a book one in the next few days, and will send an email as soon as it's ready.

As usual I had the best of intentions to be ready at the beginning of the month, but time disappeared (again) and I'm already a week late.

The dreaded time thief has struck again!

 2011JuneSale-DVDs.pdf

One of the kings of Australian sport, champion equestrian Bill Roycroft has passed away aged 96.

There aren't too many Aussie's who don't know the name Roycroft, whether or not they're a fan of equestrian sports. As our oldest living Olympian, Bill Roycroft was head of an equestrian dynasty, and will forever go down in our sporting history.

All three of his sons Barry, Wayne and Clarke plus his daughter-in-law Vicki have competed at various Olympic Games, plus Wayne was the eventing coach during the 1990's when Australia won three consecutive Gold Medals.

Not only that, 24 of the horses who have represented Australia at Olympic Games over the years, have been produced at the Roycroft's Victorian property.

Bill competed at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1960 to 1976, winning Bronze medals at two of them. He is however, most famous for his Gold medal performance at his first Olympic appearance aged 45 at Rome in 1960.

After a shocking fall across country (which knocked him unconscious) he remounted his horse and finished the course with a broken collar bone and a severe concussion. As soon as he finished the course, he was flown to hospital by helicopter, barely coherant or able to stand on his own.

On learning early the next morning that the fourth team member had been eliminated, he checked himself out of hospital to ride a brilliant clear round in the jumping, one handed and with concussion, to help win the team Gold Medal.

You may not know, but this incredible Gold Medal win in 1960 was achieved at only Australia's second ever appearance in Eventing at an Olympic Games.

Competing against countries who have had decades of Olympic experience on purpose bred horses, the original 1956 pioneering team made a spectacular showing at Stockholm (including a jump over a fallen horse and rider) only narrowly missing out on winning a Bronze medal.

If you're interested in learning more about the history of Eventing in Australia, then do try and get a copy of TRAILBLAZERS by Wyatt (Bunty) Thompson. It's now sadly out of print, but I do have a few copies left. It's a terrific read and if it doesn't put a proud Aussie tear in your eye, then nothing will :-)

www.standard.net.au/news/local/news/general/friends-farewell-bill-roycroft/2184714.aspx?storypage=0

 www.theaustralian.com.au/news/hero-of-rome-our-greatest-olympic-horseman-dies-aged-96/story-e6frg6n6-1226065960926

JON BLAKE 26/06/1958 TO 29/5/2011

The brilliant Australian actor Jon Blake has passed away 25 years after the tragic car accident that left him brain damaged and quadraplegic, on his way home from the final day of shooting THE LIGHTHORSEMEN in 1986.

Born in 1958 in New Zealand and immigrating to Australia with his parents at age 13, the very talented and good looking Jon Blake was one of Australia's shooting stars of the TV and film world of the 1980's.

As a young man he trained as a professional boxer with his big acting break arriving with the role of Alan Archer in the Australian TV soap THE RESTLESS YEARS, a role in which he was billed as "Sony Blake".

After several more TV appearances in the early 1980's, his first movie break was in the TV mini-series BOY IN THE BUSH in 1984, followed by ANZACS starring Paul Hogan and Andrew Clarke and THE SLIM DUSTY MOVIE where he portrayed the young Slim.

Possibly his best known role was of Scotty in THE LIGHTHORSEMAN in 1986, which also proved to be his last. Sadly, he had a tragic car accident on the way home from the final day's filming from the South Australian desert. Although he suffered nothing but a small scratch externally, his internal injurys was so great he wasn't expected to survive the accident.

Under the great care of his mother and against all odds he did live on, although he never again spoke and regained only the bare minimum of movement.

DVD'S AVAILABLE FROM EQUITAINMENT

The Lighthorsemen
ANZACS
The Slim Dusty Movie

 youtu.be/FiQH5BUzwcY