of Toby
“ It was one of those pivotal moments , that moment of OMG this story IS incredible . So I spoke to Tiff the very next day and said I wanted to write a book about it .
“ Tiff is an amazing storyteller and her life is just a series of crazy events one after the other . She ’ s hilarious and would tell me her story [ in bits and pieces ] … I ’ d tape it and type it up … soon it was 35,000 words !
“ She read it and loved it . My family loved it and kept asking me if I was going to do anything with it . Zoe and Aaron read the manuscript and loved it , I added another seven years to it from 2010 to 2016 into Toby ’ s retirement .
“ I looked around and didn ’ t have an agent , I didn ’ t want to self-publish again and I ’ m a crap marketer , so I sent it as an unsolicited manuscript to Allen & Unwin … and it was picked up just like that – it ’ s like the story needed to be told and it was meant to happen .”
Couple Zoe ( Naylor ) and Aaron ( Jefferies ) whom Di is referring to are the actors from the hit TV series McLeod ’ s Daughters .
The Hawkesbury residents , who own Eagle Rose Productions , took horse-riding lessons with the now retired police officer Tiffany , at the Bilpin property she shares with husband Col and their children . It ’ s how they came across her manuscript Di explained .
DIANA THURGOOD THE AUTHOR : Di self-published a book in 2010-11 , explaining what it means to be an animal lover and why ? She has authored a blog on her animals and written about environmental issues for conservation groups .
“ This book gave me the confidence to write Second Chance ,” she said .
She has a 30-year career as an Instructional Designer in the education sector , designing and writing training materials for e-learning , video scripts and editing . Her website is dianathurgood . com and she ’ s also on Facebook .
SECOND CHANCE THE BOOK :
Second Chance is the heartwarming true story of a neglected horse who became a NSW Mounted Police hero .
In 2001 Tiff , a mounted policewoman , rescued Toby , an ungainly , severely neglected horse and nursed him back to health . He was literally minutes away from being loaded onto a truck bound for the knackery . Tiff left him on her mother ’ s farm on the NSW mid north coast for a couple of years , breaking him in and visiting him regularly . After a bad fall where she suffered a serious head injury at the 2004 Sydney Easter Show ( during the famous Police Musical Ride ) Tiff lost her nerve and wondered whether she could ever return to her job .
She knew there was only one horse who could restore her confidence , however Toby didn ’ t have the ‘ looks ’ to be a police horse as they have very high physical standards . Somehow though , she managed to get him a trial and the rest is history .
Toby served with the NSW Mounted Police for 13 years , rising through the ranks to be one of the top horses in the troop and one of the first two equine responders to the Cronulla riots .
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Second Chance , a remarkable story of kindness , written by Berambing ’ s Diana Thurgood and released by Allen & Unwin on 30 January at Richmond Club , is available to purchase online and in bookstores . It is also being considered for a feature film .
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Toby ( pictured right with Tiffany ) is now a retired , greying 25-year-old . He is living ‘ his best life ’ on a Mudgee property with his brother Bundy ( pictured left ) and being held by author Diana Thurgood .
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THE HAWKESBURY INDEPENDENT theindependentmagazine . com . au ISSUE 167 // APRIL 2024 9