HAMISH ALSO ENJOYED THE FOLLOWING TITLES
• 1989 Silver Buckle Challenge Cowhorse Cup winner of 2 Divisions
• 1992 VCHA Hi Point Novice Horse
• 1993 VCHA RU Hi Point Open and Novice Horse
• 1993 AQHA Hi Point Cutting Horse of Australia
• 1994 NCHA Derby Co Reserve Champion
• 1994 NCHA $ 1000 Novice Horse RU
• 1994 VCHA Hi Point Novice Horse
• 1996 NCHA Hi Point Open Gelding of Australia
• 1996 NCHA Novice and Open Top Ten Australia
• 1996 Hi Point Open Horse of Victoria RU
• 1992 , 1995 & 1996 Hi Point Open Horse of Victoria
• 1995 , 1996 & 1997 VQHA Australian Invitational Cutting Champion
Hamish had a great ability to really understand horses , ‘ Not to be harsh and make them learn to be trained , but rather work with each horse as an individual and understand how they think and make learning fun and good for them . He also had the most tremendous hands of any trainer that I had ever seen at that time . I have never seen anyone yet in Australia with the same gift of great hands that Hamish had . Those two elements made Hamish stand out from the rest and made him so successful ,’ commented Denise .
Watching Hamish train horses was a great learning experience for Denise , ‘ It was great for me as a non pro at the time to watch him with horses . He did everything from breaking , to the finished horse , and he was exceptional . I have been the most fortunate of people being able to be around and watch and learn for seventeen years from a person that had an incredible talent . What Hamish had was special in his approach to training and you don ’ t learn that , you just are .’
Hamish had a tremendous amount of influence on Denise ’ s horse training , ‘ I was extremely lucky to have had parents that supported my love of training early on and so for four years from when I was 15 to 18 years old , sent me to different trainers in the USA for a few months . First Richard Shrake in Oregon for two months who is one of the top youth trainers for showing in the world , then to Kenneth Galyean in Arkansas for Cutting the following year , then David James in Seattle for Western Riding and Trail class the following year , then Tom Lyons . So I had many years in youth where I showed and learnt from some of the greatest trainers in the world . Then of course to meet Hamish and have so much respect for his training , I had seventeen years of constant learning . I would have to say that Richard Shrake and Hamish were the two major influences in my training , Richard for showing and understanding how to teach and treat clients and Hamish for his horsemanship ’.
Hamish sadly passed away on the 13th of January , 1998 . ‘ On the 5th of January Hamish came home from a show on a very hot day and had a terrible headache . He had a hot shower and it got much worse . He sat on the couch for the night as the headache was quite bad . We went to the doctor on the 6th and I asked the doctor if he could possibly have a brain tumour or meningitis and the doctor laughed at me and advised Hamish that he had a migraine and to take Panadol . By our wedding anniversary the 8th of January Hamish ’ s headache had lessoned but I took him to another doctor who advised us to go up to the hospital in Bendigo and have a brain scan . Although the scan looked quite good they advised Hamish to have a spinal tap to check that he did not have an aneurism . They did the spinal tap and found that he did have an aneurism and they put him in an ambulance . Hamish went to St Vincent ’ s Hospital in Melbourne . Upon arrival at 2am the doctor told Hamish that he had a leaking aneurism and that if he did not get operated on it would burst , and that could happen within the next two weeks . The doctors could not say when exactly it would burst but when it did , it would be fatal . The operation would give him a 20 % chance of survival . Hamish agreed to the operation which was done on the 9th . During the operation the aneurism burst and Hamish was without oxygen for 27 minutes . He did wake up a few hours after the operation , which was not anticipated by the doctors , he was awake for around three hours , however he was unable to move or speak and could only move his eyes . He went into a coma shortly after and became progressively worse . On the 12th at 2.37am his brain stem died and I made the decision that I knew Hamish would have wanted completely and that was to donate his organs . Hamish was pronounced dead on the 13th of January , 1998 .’
Because of the donation of his organs a 37 year old father of two , who had two weeks to live , received Hamish ’ s heart and lives healthily and happy with his family . A university student who was on dialysis has Hamish ’ s kidney . A mother of three received Hamish ’ s corneas and was able to see her children for the first time . Brain injury deaths are ideal for organ donations and Hamish ’ s death helped many people .
Nothing good comes from death for the immediate family of the deceased however a great deal of happiness comes to those on the waiting list and their families . What a great gift for a deceased person to be able to give ,’ said Denise on the importance of organ donation .
During the 1999 AQHA Hall of Fame Inductee presentation at the Australian Quarter Horse Championships 21st Anniversary Show Denise MacCallum proudly accepted the award on behalf of her husband Hamish , ‘ It was extremely emotional for me to accept the AQHA Hall of Fame Award for Hamish . It really was an honour and tribute to a great man for all he had done and I was obviously saddened that he couldn ’ t accept it himself . His children and I are very proud of that achievement and the award will always have a special place in our hearts and house ,’ commented Denise .
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AQHA JULY / AUGUST ISSUE 2023