‘Competing has kept me alive’, says 89-year-old scurry driving star with a pacemaker and a passion for adrenaline
Fast, fearless, nearly 90 and not out – Jeff Osborne, 89, tells Eleanor Jones why his wild ride through bikes, planes and ponies is far from over
“I’ve done an awful lot in my lifetime,” says Jeff Osborne. “And everything I’ve been involved in, is fast.”
The founder of Osborne Refrigerators, a name known throughout the equestrian world, has done it all, within horse sport as well as outside it. But as he enters his 90th year, it’s the scurry driving that continues to inspire him to compete – and succeed – week after week.
“It’s you and the ponies,” he says. “Nobody else’s views on it matter at all; if you make a mistake, you made a mistake. It’s all about the rapport between you and your ponies, and when I started, that was – and still is – the adrenaline.”
Jeff founded Osborne Refrigerators 65 years ago, and it’s going strong, as one of only a few companies still manufacturing fridges in the country. But as well as working hard, he’s played hard along the way too; his interests as well as – or before – horses include skiing all over the world, motorbike racing and flying in an air display team.
“I took my pilot’s licence a long time ago,” he says. “We had a display team called the Red Sparrows – the aeroplanes weren’t red, they were white, actually, but the name seemed appropriate. I once flew the Red Arrows commentator back and it was the first time he’d ever got home before his team.”
Then there was the motorbike racing, which came about as the sport used to be on the television on a Saturday afternoon and “I wanted to qualify and get on the television”.
And did he? “Oh yes,” he says. But then his children got him into horses instead.
“I started when I was 35, because they said, ‘You make Mummy go skiing and Mummy doesn’t like skiing; she likes riding and we like riding, why don’t you ride?’ So I did,” he explains.
“I got placed second, in my first year, in the hunters at the Royal International, and got hooked,” he adds. “I sold my aeroplanes and spent my time riding and showing hunters.”
Jeff showjumped as well as the showing; his ambition was always to jump in the International Arena at Hickstead.
“After I did that, I realised it was too much time and effort,” he says. “You really have to be semi-professional to do it, so I took up showing. I think I won most of what you can win showing, then was introduced to scurry driving.”
This was more than 40 years ago, and he hasn’t stopped yet.
“Because I’ve always been involved in things that are fast; cars, bikes, aeroplanes and boats, I just thoroughly enjoy it,” he says. “I carry on doing it. I can’t beat my wife – I’ve taught her too well, I think! – but I’ve always said how nice it would be to come down the centre line at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) when I’m 90 and drop dead halfway down.
“That would be nice, wouldn’t it – what a lovely way to go.”
“More mishaps with ponies than motorbikes,” says Jeff Osborne
Jeff has had his share of injuries during his time racing between the cones, but it has never put him off.
“Someone asked me once, ‘Is it dangerous?’ he says. “My reply was: ‘Since I started driving, I’ve seen the inside of more A&E departments than ever before’. In my motorcycling days, I ended up in hospital once, when someone ran me over, but I’ve had more mishaps with the ponies, it’s unbelievable.”
Jeff and his wife Alison, who is also a speed demon at shows across the circuit, have eight ponies competing in any season, and seven or eight in reserve. They never race them at home; that’s just for shows so they stay fresh and enjoy it.
At home, there are a couple of miles of woodland paths to ride or be led round, the ponies are schooled, then there will be a fast spin at home before a competition. Jeff is there every day – “Although I haven’t mucked out for 50 years,” he reveals. “You don’t have a dog and bark yourself, do you?” – and the ponies prick their ears when he arrives.
“The thing about scurry ponies, they either like it or hate it,” he says. “You might look at 10 pairs to find one that’s suitable. They have to like each other, and like you and want to do the job. And those who do want to do the job, really do want to do it.
“I took a 30- or 31-year-old to HOYS a few years ago; one went lame at the last minute so I took him out of the field and he got placed. They love it; if I get the vehicles out, to go to a show, they’re jumping up and down, thinking, ‘The silly sod’s forgotten us!’ You get nowhere if you don’t have a decent rapport with your ponies.”
Alison’s Woody and Buzz, with whom she has won at HOYS, will not go as well for him, Jeff gives as an example.
“You either gel with them or you don’t,” he says. “We don’t breed ponies; I found from my days of trying to breed showjumpers, you’re always a step behind what’s wanted. It’s too long a process; you’ve got to go out and find the right ones.
“We spot ponies in the Prince Phillip Cup; we’ve been known to approach people at HOYS to say, ‘When your child outgrows him, let us know’; we’ve found several like that.”
HOYS is a key Osborne Refrigerators event; the company sponsors the championship there, as it has so many equestrian events.
“We only started sponsoring because in those days, the breweries were big into heavy horses, it was a good advert to have the ponies close to those horses, and it’s carried on ever since,” he says.
“And you’ve got to put something back, haven’t you? You can’t just take, you have to put back into the sport.”
The sport is still a huge crowd-puller – anyone who’s been to HOYS or Hickstead will have been caught up in the fast and furious action.
“I try to get the result that the last to go is going to be the winner, so we keep the suspense right to the very end,” he adds. “It is outright competition – with a bit of theatrics thrown in. Someone said the other day, ‘I can tell when you’re on, because of the noise’!”
And although Jeff and Alison are both out contesting the classes at every show, it’s not competitive between them.
“We’re a team,” he says. “She’s won every small class this year, and most of the large ones too. But she has in the past few years won every class at HOYS too.”
“I won’t retire unless I look a fool”
Jeff Osborne is speaking midway through the season; it starts about April and runs until HOYS, after which it’s time for a break for the ponies, and some travel for Jeff and Alison – “you can’t run your life just round ponies,” he adds – but for that “silly season”, they might be at three shows “almost on the trot”.
It’s full-on, but Jeff wouldn’t want to do anything else. He had a pacemaker fitted four years ago and was told to have 10 weeks off, although he “negotiated it down to six”.
“I go in once a year and they give it a tweak,” he says. “It’s still going!
“I wouldn’t want to keep going if I was down the line; Hickstead was a bad show for me; I bumped my head on the way in and wasn’t on my best form, but all the time I can get into championships and not look a fool, I’ll carry on. I won’t carry on till I’m last every time.
“How long that’s going to be, I can’t tell you. I won’t retire unless I absolutely have to; if I start looking a fool, I’ll stop; if not, I’ll carry on.”
Jeff says his legs aren’t up to course-walking any more; he does that in a buggy, and it “does the job”,” he says.
“I have a constant battle every year to keep my HGV licence; they don’t think I should but I don’t agree,” he adds. “If they say my eyesight isn’t good enough, I’ll suggest they have a ride on the back of the scurry cart and then they can decide!”
And if he were to retire, his huge fan club would be devastated, although he sometimes thinks people don’t want to interrupt or approach him.
“It’s a bit of a laugh because I get more cheers for coming third than my wife does for winning!” he says, “I think people want to see us oldies are not finished yet.”
And looking back on his decades of driving, Jeff is clear what it has done for him.
“It’s kept me active, it’s kept me alive,” he says. “When you’ve got to get through a dozen cones within 40-50 seconds, you’ve got to be on the ball, and pay attention.
“We walk the course at HOYS on Tuesday and won’t walk it again and you have to remember every inch of it. There’s no time for thought, you have to know exactly where you are, and it keeps your mind active.
“I love it just as much as I ever did, and I hope to keep on going. I won’t say 100 – but my grandfather was still riding a bike at 96, so you never know. I’m still in with a chance.”
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‘He was a legend’: farewell to champion Welsh pony who met royals and starred on television
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.