About
Us
Fred and Rachel Watkins have shared their
love and fascination for horses for 11 years. The pair met
while working for Bruce Watkins who is considered one of the
state’s best horse breakers, and now trains racehorses
with great success. Fred had come to WA from rural Queensland
for six months to help Bruce, his uncle, start some horses.
He met Rach and decided to extend his holiday, despite Rachel's
protestations of him being far too young for her (six years
younger…..cradle snatcher!)
Prior to coming to W.A. Fred had lived
and worked on various cattle properties around Queensland.
The rugged terrain suited horses more than motorbikes, so
Fred learnt from a very young age to start his own horses
whilst helping his father. After finishing boarding school
and completing a Traineeship in Agriculture, Fred was working
on a cattle property when his Uncle Bruce asked if he would
like to come to WA to do some horse starting.
Rachel, a city girl, always had a strong interest in riding
and had owned and competed her own horses for eight years.
She had completed a certificate in Equine Management in 1992
and had been working in various stables, from eventing to
racing, before starting at Bruce Watkins’ stables.
In 1998, after six months working together
at Bruce’s, Fred and Rachel decided to make the move
to Margaret River, taking Rachel’s two horses with them.
The next step was to look for decent agistment, and they were
fortunate enough to meet Cheryl Pateman, a very successful
hack and dressage rider who was also running a top class agistment
centre.
Having secured places for both horses,
Rachel would often go out for a lesson and to ride, and on
some weekends Fred would join her. Cheryl, having learnt Fred
could break in and was a station boy, started getting him
to hop on her spelled and newly started horses. A few other
people at the stables and around the area soon learnt about
Fred’s capabilities and asked him to ride and start
their horses and ponies. That was when Fred and Rach realised
there was a definite shortage of decent horse breakers, especially
in the performance horse industry.
They decided to pursue different options
so that Fred could start working with horses professionally.
After securing a part-time job with the lovely Campbell’s
in Karridale, they set up some good yards and stables, and
the business that is Watkins Horse Handlers began.
From the very start the business was inundated
with bookings. Whilst fantastic for the business, after two
years of having a minimum six months waiting list, Fred and
Rachel decided to move closer to Perth to pursue horse breaking
fulltime. Rachel had always loved the Perth Hills, so they
decided to move to Bakers Hill. The region is close enough
to the city for clients, but still rural enough for Fred not
to feel too claustrophobic! And, having also married and had
two kids whilst “Down South”, they were happy
to find a great country school and lovely community feel in
Bakers Hill (along with a really good pie shop!)
So the Watkins family made the move
– along with dogs, cats, pet sheep, horses, chooks and
one pony (Rach wishes she had got a photo of the convoy!)
Fulltime work started in Nov 2007, and they haven’t
looked back.
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