LOCAL LIFE
Second Chance : for the love
A handsome Toby and proud mounted police officer Tiffany Williams on the job in June 2004 .
Chance plays a pivotal role in the telling of this remarkable story of how a neglected Clydesdale-cross stock horse was saved from the knackery in a split-second decision , capturing the heart and connecting with the soul of a Hawkesbury-Hills horsewoman , to become a distinguished , and cheeky , member of the NSW Mounted Police .
by Maryann Callaghan
“ It ’ s a story that needed to be told … it ’ s just that incredible and important ,” author and Berambing animal-lover Diana Thurgood said with a genuine depth of warmth and feeling in her voice .
And true to those words , her manuscript Second Chance , which chronicles the unlikely matching of a neglected horse with a former mounted police officer , is full of inspiration and what Di calls a ‘ series of pivotal OMG life moments ’.
Second Chance , published by Allen & Unwin and launched at Richmond Club on 30 January , is already in its second print run and has garnered strong interest in being optioned as a feature film by Hawkesburybased Eagle Rose Productions .
“ The main reason I wrote it is because it ’ s such a beautiful story . True stories have a lot of power to inspire people ,” Di told the Independent .
“ Yes , there are sad moments through it , but overall it ’ s a happy and uplifting story . It has a strong female main character who stands up for what she believes in and importantly , acts upon it .”
Described as an animal-lover from birth , Di , 58 , who lives with her three adult children and half-dozen horses , various dogs , cats and rabbits on a 40-acre ‘ sanctuary ’ at Berambing , said you should never judge an animal by its looks .
“ It ’ s an animal ’ s character and what ’ s inside … it ’ s that connection and bond that interests me ,” she said .
“ I write about animals and the human bond and I want to continue on that journey . I write about it for people who haven ’ t experienced this kind of bond before .”
And the story of how Second Chance came to be written is another rollicking Hawkesbury story of its own .
Di was initially introduced to Tiffany at Bilpin Playgroup because ‘ they both had horses and young children and might hit it off ’ together .
Di , whose family moved out to the Hawkesbury in 1984 , attended both James Ruse Agricultural College and Hawkesbury Ag College . Tiffany and her husband Col lived in Dural and Marayong before moving into the Hawkesbury and running horse riding lessons .
“ We quickly bonded as friends and while in the car on a shopping trip to Lithgow to get groceries Tiff got talking and told me this story about going out to a farm on a chance to buy a beautiful bargain horse called Bundy , seeing again by chance , his neglected brother Toby on the drought-stricken derelict property and their lives together ,” Di said .
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8 ISSUE 167 // APRIL 2024 theindependentmagazine . com . au THE HAWKESBURY INDEPENDENT