SHE has often been referred to as the lady with the Clydesales - and it's a logical reference when people regularly see Emma Iddison and her beautiful creatures in action at regional events, fairs, college open days and even weddings.
And it's a fair chance that many people have seen the Esperance woman and her horses strut their stuff in recent months at a whole range of events across the State.
One of her recent tours started at the Balingup Medieval Carnivale, moved to the Dowerin GWN7 Machinery Field Days and finished in the Goldfields at the Norseman Gold Fever Festival.
"We are usually busy around spring at ag shows and field days, as well as lots of events around March, but we usually give the horses the summer off," Emma said when reflecting on her busy Colonial Clydesdales schedule.
She has always had a fascination with horses.
"I have always ridden, since I was about six or seven years of age at dressage and at three-day eventing," Emma said.
"And I remember seeing the Clydesales at the Perth Royal Show when I was about eight or nine years of age - I was a tiny girl and I looked up at these big horses and thought one day I am going to have one."
Emma's horse addiction was put on hold when she had her children, but the passion was reignited thanks to a man who worked at the Swan Brewery and looked after display Clydesdales.
"He taught me all the harness skills and driving skills and a lot about restoring the vehicles which really ignited my passion," she said.
While most people are used to seeing the Clydesdales pulling a cart, Emma said they were surprised to find out they were also ridden, particularly when they are taken to the beach.
They have also been ridden at weddings
Emma said some brides love to ride one of the majestic Clydesdales and "it really makes a grand entrance to their wedding".
"They are very versatile and really love the harness work."
Emma said there were not many Clydesdales being worked in WA, with Colonial Clydesdales being the last professional Clydesdale promotional team in WA.
She has a wide selection of horse-drawn carriages, some with rubber tyres and others with wooden wheels which require a bit more attention.
They are housed in a "fair-sized shed", including formal wedding carriages, a restored brewery lorry, water cart, a tipping dray that is effectively a horse-drawn work ute that was used to shift rocks when building roads and assorted ploughs and farming equipment.
Fixing the wooden wheels and spokes and putting the metal tyres back on is a specialist skill and there are only a few places in the Eastern States that do that.
"If we need them fixing, they are freighted over east and these skills are dying," Emma said.
She said less people were involved in all aspects of the industry, including harnessing.
Emma said unfortunately a lot of the carriages and associated equipment were left to rot under trees or in gardens.
So why Clydesdales?
"I love their nature," Emma said.
"They are genuine and more trainable than other horses.
"Compared to a thoroughbred, their nature means they are fairly easy to train.
"Whether it is a good or bad experience, they learn.
"Like an elephant, they have got good memories.
"I think I just fell in love with their beautiful white feathers on their legs and faces."
Looking after these larger-than-life horses is not easy - by her own admission Emma said they were high maintenance.
Being from Scotland, they are a cold climate horse but she said they had adapted well to Australia's warmer climate.
However because of their extra hair, grooming is a bit more intense, especially when grass seeds became embedded and their feet need special shoes if they are working on the road.
And being a bigger horse, naturally their feed bill is a lot higher.
"Their vet bill is also twice as much - everything is double," Emma said.
"But they are lovely and you get so much reward."
Emma also loved paying tribute to the breed's heritage.
"Not only is it their nature and that they are trainable, it's the role they played in the settlement of Australia," she said.
"Clydesdale and Clydesdale crosses were very important in early Australia and its settlement and having an interest in that history, I wanted to be involved."
Emma said she loved sharing her passion with people across WA, particularly when supporting rural events.
She said she loved taking the horses to events such as the Dowerin Field Days, helping raise money for good causes - things that affect people living in rural communities.
At Dowerin this year she raised $488 for the Blue Tree Project thanks to gold coin donations.
Last year it was the Buy a Bale campaign.
Emma said they have had great support from Dowerin Events Management - "they have been marvellous".
"And we love the people that we meet," she said.
"At a lot of events people find it hard to provide entertainment, so it's another reason why we are willing to travel and support these shows."
Emma said the horses were always a strong conversation starter, particularly when talking to older people who still remember when their grandparents had Clydesdales.
"And a lot of children we interact with might not have ever seen a horse, let alone a Clydesdale," Emma said.
"We share a lot of good memories with people."
There was a common thread in feedback, with many commenting on how big the horses are, how clean they were and they usually asked how long it took to maintain them.
Emma said they enjoyed chatting with people when taking them for a gentle stroll in one of the carriages.
Very young children have also been known to fall asleep from the soothing carriage motion.
Emma said she been supporting some of WA's major rural events for up to nine years and said it was not unusual for the horses to remember the paths they had walked at these shows at previous visits.
"At the moment we have seven Clydesdales - some of my older ones are retired to live out their lives, happily grazing and some younger ones are in training to step up into the team," she said.
The main team members at the moment are a lighter-coloured horse called Big Jack, standing at 18 hands 2, while his companion, being a little smaller, is appropriately named Little Jack.
Presenting the horses in show condition requires a lot of hard work and dedication, which was particularly the case at the recent Dowerin event - feeding them, washing them and rugging them up at the end of each night.
"At a day like Dowerin, we get up and wash them again about 4.30am and put them in a float and take them to the event," Emma said.
"Once we have arrived it usually takes us about two and a half hours to set everything up, including the carriages."
Training the horses for events where there are a lot of people and noise needs to factor in unforeseen circumstances.
This came in handy at Dowerin, where on the second day, the wind picked up and things were falling over in front of them, including wheelie bins.
They still jumped a little bit, but Emma said that was where training kicked in.
"I liken it to someone popping a balloon and you jump and then you go OK - and that's what the horses do," she said.
Emma said they listened a lot and were voice controlled - "they are good".
"We try to expose the horses to all these factors - umbrellas, jack hammers etc."
In the meantime, if you see this lady with the Clydesdales, why not stop and say hello to Emma and her Clydesdales - it will be a relaxing way to pass the time.
