Equestrian Legends - Ron & Val Males

This article is from the January 2021 Horse Deals magazine.

Article: Anna Sharpley.

Ten years ago, Horse Deals did a feature on the founders of the famous Ralvon Arabian Stud and we remarked then that Ron and Val, both closing in on fourscore years, had tapped into the fountain of youth as their active life had not taken a check for 50 years. Now it is clear that they have continued on the good stuff and we were delighted to catch up with the energetic couple, that if there is nothing to do, they will always find something. Perhaps that is the secret of their current health and well being at nearly fourscore and ten, loving who you are and what you are doing and caring for people. Ron and Val have a passion for family, they have three children, nine grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren, “and they all live in the area near us,” says Ron. They also have a passion for horses, all horses, but Arabians in particular.

Ron and Val met in 1950 and married in 1954 when Val was just 18.

“I was a horse mad girl,” says Val, “and Ron always had horses one way or another. Max Kantwell helped us in the early days and said we needed a stud name and came up with Ralvon, a combination of our names, just like that. We began breeding in 1955 with the Part Bred Arabian, Springmead Apollo. I always wanted to breed Arabians, ever since I saw the stallions, Zadaran and Darinth at Sydney Royal as a girl.”

“The first thing I bought when I left school was a horse,” says Ron. “He was an Anglo Arabian and I valued the Arabians because they had something about them. We had the goal when we first started that we wanted to breed a beautiful horse and one that could perform well. Edward Hirst imported the purebred stallion, Rikham from the UK, and when he died in 1962 his son, Dick, offered the horse to us. We could not afford him, but he allowed us to pay him off and he was our first purebred stallion. We leased a property in Windsor and gave pony rides and ran holiday camps for girls to make ends meet. Eventually Arabians became popular and we did very well out of them. When we got going with the stud, we were in a boom time when everyone wanted horses and were prepared to pay big money for them.

“That enabled us to do many things in the early days. We progressed from nothing and the horses bought us all we owned. We have bred probably thousands of horses over the years and we never deviated from our breeding philosophy. It is not worth breeding unless the horse has a purpose — it needs to be sound, functional and beautiful.

“We were on track to being one of the prominent Arabian Studs in the country when Ralvon Pilgrim came along. He was by Rikham out of Trix Silver and we were there when he was born, and as soon as his head appeared Val said, we will call him Pilgrim, because he is going a long way, and he did. Pilgrim was very successful in Australia and we were invited to go to The International Championship Show at Ascot in the UK to celebrate the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977. Michael Pitt-Rivers of Tolland Stud offered to put both Pilgrim and us up in the UK, so we took him out of show retirement at seven years old and flew him over, via New Zealand, the USA and Frankfurt. There were 70 entries from 18 countries and Pilgrim was declared Supreme Exhibit, and suddenly everyone knew about Ralvon Stud. When we came back from the UK we bought our first property at Colo. We kept to our breeding philosophy and in time imported two stallions, The Puritan from the USA that was half Egyptian, and the Polish bred, Milex that we found in Denmark.”

As well as breeding so many outstanding horses, Val, in particular, would leave no stone unturned when it came both to the welfare of her horses and a successful business venture. She created the popular Ralvon Feed mixes, for performance, showing and broodmares etc. Also in the early 1960s, Ralvon was involved with Dr James Steel from Sydney University in measuring horse’s hearts and the relation between heart size and performance. “They have to have a big heart, along with sound lungs and strong legs,” says Val; “the Arabians’ role in life is to be both functional and beautiful.”

“When we were showing horses in the early days, we would ride from Windsor to Penrith to show, a distance of 15 miles,” continues Ron. “We would get there early enough to prepare them for the ring and then when it was all over, we would ride home. So we were very prepared for the sport of endurance when it arrived. We were enthusiasts and very much part of the first Quilty 160k ride in 1966. We were asked to find and plan a course for that first ride. We marked out the course and worked successfully with a strong committee. We were also involved with the 50th Quilty in 2016.

“The Arabian does excel at travelling long distances. It was a warhorse in the desert. It had to go long distances and it had to have stamina. That is why the Arabian horse has the biggest heart and the best stamina. Endurance for me is about achieving something, just proving my horse can do it. It is not always about winning. I wanted to prove I could do the distance and end up with a fit horse. Most of the rides I did, I did on horses we had bred. I have 21 Quilty Buckles for completed rides, which is a record, but I am sure that record will be broken soon.

“When endurance started in the Emirates, we were full-on producing endurance horses and we were lucky enough to sell horses over there for big money, which helped pay for properties and pay off mortgages etc and get us on top. We were very much into halter showing at that stage too. In the summer we would show the halter horses and in winter we would do endurance.

“We have kept that up and in 2016, the same year as the 50th Anniversary Quilty, we exhibited three horses at the National Arabian Championships. We got Reserve Champion Senior Stallion with Ralvon Vintage, Champion Endurance Horse with Ralvon Milan and Reserve Champion Harness with Arabian Pony, Trincada Strike, and all three go back to Rikham.

“I stopped doing the long-distance rides a few years ago and only did the 40kms training rides until I gave up riding in 2018. Val and I have photos of us taken on the horses in 2017, just before we sold the farm. It was hard selling, but our daughter-in-law who lives nearby in Colo has taken a lot of the gear and it all seems familiar when we visit. Ralvon Stud no longer exists and we gave away the horses we had to good homes. My daughter-in-law breeds a bit and she has our stallion, Ralvon Secret.

“Our last judging job was in Queensland at The Top of the Range Show in 2016 where we judged the endurance classes. Over the years we have had many trips as judges and it was great to be paid to travel. Also, whenever we sold horses overseas we would travel with them as grooms, that way they we didn’t have to pay for the return journey. We saw quite a bit of the world like that.

“We are horse lovers and at one time or another, we have had just about every breed there is, but it was not our aim to mix up the breeds, we aimed to breed Arabians. In 2017, we moved into a beautiful retirement village in Richmond. I have a flower garden and I have two vegetable plots that I look after for the tenants here. In 2018, we went on a two week trip to Jordan and Israel and recently went on a trip to Tasmania. We still like to keep up with the shows and did so until Covid stopped that, but we will be out and about again. We love going out and catching up with old friends and meeting new people.

“Val is well and always busy. At the moment she is in the midst of writing 200 Christmas cards. We appreciate people and know that we don’t do anything on our own, it is the people who have helped us along the way that have enabled us to achieve what we have. I am on the committee here at the village and help where I can. We are very close to our family and they are all nearby. We have a great life because we are still involved.”

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