Extreme weather conditions put a halt to Seahorse Riding Centre

By Sarah Waters

From floods to bushfires, extreme weather events have caused Byron Bay business owner Jo-Ann Allchin to close her much-loved horse riding business, Seahorses Riding Centre, after 35 years.

The flooding which has devastated much of the Byron Shire over the past few years forced Ms Allchin to relocate her 10 horses three times.

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Last year, she waded through waist deep water to get her horses out of their Tyagarah location and onto a safer property at a near-by farm.

She continued to take guided horse rides through the bush and along the beach, but the farm she moved her horses to also flooded not long after.

The well-known local personality was able to find another home in Newrybar for her horses, until drought caused a feed shortage.

Eventually Ms Allchin decided the safest option was to permanently move them to higher ground at Clunes where they were safe from floods and there was a good supply of grass.

Ms Allchin has been based in Clunes for the past year but said she has not continued with Seahorses Riding Centre due to the unpredictable weather conditions.

That decision was only reinforced by last week’s fire which swept through Tyagarah Nature Reserve, destroying the trail she guided many horse rides along over the past 35 years.

“I had to move my horses, because of course it all went under with the floods, so I’ve got them up in the hills now,” Ms Allchin said.

“The floods just broke me, I had to get my horses off the property in low-land Tyagarah, but thankfully I got them out of there because now there’s the fire there.

“The access track where I would ride up from the surf club and do the beach rides is now all burnt – I guess I have to thank the good lord that I wasn’t down there.

Jo-Ann Allchin has offered beautiful beach and bush rides through her Byron Bay business Seahorses for 35 years, but recent extreme weather events have prevented her from continuing.

“I’ve decided I just won’t continue with the business (Seahorse Riding Centre) now after 35 years, because we just have these extreme conditions,” she said.

Ms Allchin also had to contend with an injured knee each time she evacuated her horses.

Now she is going to get much-needed surgery on it.

She still receives 15 to 20 phone calls a day from people who want to ride her horses along the beach or in the bush.

Despite the strong interest, she has stopped the trail rides and changed her focus.

She will instead use her horses for her new business venture, Equine Assisted Learning.

“You have to be ready to change because of all these extreme conditions – like what has happened in Tyagarah – it’s so dry that area, it’s just fuel for the fire.

“It’s also hard with the cost of insurance, I pay $1500 a month for public liability insurance and then you’ve got these extreme weather conditions and you still have to pay for your insurance whether you do a ride or not – it’s a hard one.

“We’ve had floods, then fires, I’m 59 now and I’ve loved every minute, but I’m just ready to do something different,” she said.

The bushfire that swept through Tyagarah Nature Reserve, started on Saturday, October 14, near Bayshore Drive at Byron Bay and moved north to Tyagarah and close to Brunswick Heads.

Another well-known horse riding business Zephyr Horses is located at Bayshore Drive and had to evacuate its horses during the fire.

Last year it evacuated its horses due to the floods.

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