Mctavish Horsemanship

01/12/2025

Nothing like a solid day on the computer, probably done what a decent operator could do in 30 mins..

30/11/2025

I have 1 spot left for this coming weekend.

Here we go, lets get this party started - msg this page for more info.

26/11/2025

And then headed up to Blenheim/ Nelson on the week of December 8th,
Should add that I’m working out clinic dates and destinations atm for Dec/jan/feb.
But anyway - weathers good, summers here, let’s get it on!!

26/11/2025

Also -
I’m going down to St Andrew’s next week to work some young horses and teach one to load…
I know there some more customers down there wanting loading training and more youngsters handled - please save me going through my msgs and remind me again 🤣
Also - don’t be shy to jump on board if you’re interested in me stopping bye, drop me a msg.

26/11/2025

Here we go, lets get this party started - msg this page for more info.

22/11/2025

Well - finally back on line again!
got a new computer yesterday..
now I need to plan several road trips and a clinic schedule.
Im thinking clinics in -
Blenheim/Nelson
Westport
Hokitika
Dunedin
Wanaka
Waikuku
And Bill, you serious about a trip to Auckland?

Trip 1 will be top of the south and west coast.
Trip 2 will be eastcoast and central.

Lets bounce some ideas around.

05/11/2025

03/11/2025

Well hello , it’s been pretty quiet on the FB page hasn’t it, not good when it’s really my only point of contact with the horse world!
I even had a friend get hold of to see if I wasn’t laid up somewhere 😆

The issue is that my MacBook has given up the ghost, at the time I thought no worries I’ll keep things rolling on my phone.. well seems that’s not so easy to do, that morning coffee/computer time is what seems to work for me.
I’d hoped to have a bunch of clinics organised and some road trips doing the traveling horseman thing, but instead - I got nothing!
Anyhow I’ve got onto another computer so I hope to be back into the swing of it in a week or so 🙏

14/09/2025

Morning all, I’ve spent the weekend in Blenheim visiting and am staying for a few days to do some hoof trims around the area so flick me a msg if you want to get on that list, I could also do a couple of horsemanship appointments if there was a demand - flick me a msg to this page 🙂

25/08/2025

CLINICS - Well the days are getting longer now and I’m planning the next few months work, I have some horses to start and my travelling horseman trips the keep me busy but I’ve also been asked about workshops and clinics lately, i have one in QT for film and a workshop in Hanmer so i know theres some interest.
I’ve steered away from clinics (other than going on them myself) for a fair few years now other than stunt riding clinics for the film industry, but things change and I’m interested in running clinics for the public again if their is demand - North or South, I do love getting on the road.
So give me some feedback, let’s kick this idea around 😉

06/08/2025

They first met in the 1950s. Zip wasn’t an easy horse.

He had thrown a stuntman clean off his back on a previous set, leaving the crew wary and whispering. No one could get near him without a fight. He was wild, proud, untamed—exactly the kind of horse John Wayne would ride.

But when Wayne walked up to him, there was no whip, no harsh command—just a gentle pat on the shoulder and that calm, gravel-deep voice saying:

“Partner, if you ride with me… we’re gonna make something great together.”

From that moment on, Zip followed Wayne like he’d been waiting for him his whole life.

During the filming of El Dorado (1966), under the blistering sun and a haze of red dust, there was one quiet scene. Wayne, as Cole Thornton, rode Zip slowly through a dusty town—no dialogue, just his eyes, his posture, and the weary silence of a man carrying the weight of too many years.

The crew fell silent.

Because what they saw wasn’t acting anymore—it was one soul riding another.
A man and a horse, perfectly in sync.
No one told Zip what to do.
He just knew.
As if he could feel the heartbeat of the cowboy on his back.

Years later, when cancer began to break Wayne’s body, he stopped making movies. But Zip stayed—still strong, still calm—living on the ranch in Arizona.

Wayne would sit with him often, one hand resting on the saddle, eyes fixed on the horizon where the sun bled gold across the sky. The two of them, quiet in each other’s company, like old soldiers who had seen too much together.

In those final days, Wayne was said to have whispered softly:

“If I’ve got to ride off into the sunset one last time… I want Zip to take me.”

Not long after Wayne passed in 1979, Zip grew old and quietly followed. They buried him not as a horse—but as a brother-in-arms.

They laid Zip to rest with the very saddle Wayne had ridden in El Dorado, under the pine trees at the edge of the ranch. And every sunset since, the wind seems to carry the faint echo of hoofbeats—riding slow, steady, into the light.