Jonny Simpson

Jonny Simpson lives right next door to Ryans and when he was 12 years of age he started coming over to Ryans to help sweep the stables with his sister, Sheridan. That was back in 2018. Well five years maybe six years is a long time and Sheridan has grown up and no longer sweeps the stables at Ryans.

Jonny was different.

Jonny was born skinny and very active. He was very well recieved by all the girls who work at Ryans and so when we were coming home from competitions and pulling into our own driveway at 2am on a Monday morning, it would amaze me that there was this skinny little boy opening the Ryans front gate for the truck. We will have been sometimes travelling for 5 to 9 hours depending how far away the competition was. How did Jonny know we were about to turn up and how did a little boy not be fast asleep at home? Of course the girls are continuously messaging each other and Jonny is included in their group chat. Amazing. 

Over the years Jonny has changed in lots of ways however, he is still very skinny and still over active! Jonny is born with an interest in motors and building and repairing and fencing and mending water pipes and also to a certain extent, bossing everyone around when it comes to using the tractor to unload 500kg bulk bags of oats or transporting round bales to the two stable blocks on the front end forks of the tractor. Quite frankly, I think Ryans would nearly grind to a halt without Jonny. 

These days Jonny also comes to the competitions which are very much part of the Ryan adventure. The girls call him the 'Super Groom'. I don't know how he got that name because he doesn't plait and he is not great at putting saddles and boots on although in an emergency, he does help lots. Jonny does however keep a fleet of three ebikes fully charged so when we are eventing we can get around the cross country course between dressage tests and also walk show jumping courses which are often built some distance away from where we are parked and stabled. The ebikes are also used so that staff members can also act as support grooms to each other and then fly back to the stables to get ready for the next dressage test or show jumping round or whatever. Jonny is also chief cameraman. Jonny will video most of the dressage tests done on each day, he will video most of the show jumping rounds and will usually video the water jump on the cross country course. 

For some peculiar reason, Jonny has appointed himself as the passenger designated to stay awake and keep me, the truck driver awake on the trip to the competition and the trip home. The girls leave him to it and can be heard snoring their heads off within two minutes of leaving Ryans or leaving the comptetitions to come home. These trips can vary from between half an hour to 9 hours. It is a pretty tough gig, driving through the middle of the night supplying me with cold drinks and coffee and snacks. Interestingly, Jonny doesn't really eat or drink all that much himself. 

Jonny works these days at the Raymond Terrace CRT Feed Store. So that means during the week he usually appears at Ryans around 4.30pm. Mostly he is picked up from work by Mary or else one of the other girls. Jonny then does any repairs that need to be done and then normally has dinner with Rozzie, all the girls and me. Then off Jonny goes, back home to bed. However, when there are on going difficulties like orphan foals or early morning packing before heading out, Jonny is always there. Over the years Jonny has connected and made friends with lots of people who were staff or clients here at Ryans and he is always welcomed like family by these people when reunited. When Santa visits the Ryan girls, there is also always a Christmas stocking left for Jonny. This is a mighty unusual story and all of us at Ryans are enjoying it whilst it lasts. Jonny is very miuch a part of the Ryan family.