Maggie Briggs’ trip to Hollywood
Ever since 1883 the Egmont Agricultural and Pastoral Show has been held and every year competitive horse and pony events have been part of the programme.
The sight of women and men riders wearing traditional riding clothing on beautifully prepared and brushed mounts have delighted the eyes of thousands of Show visitors.
Over the years many talented equestrians from Taranaki and beyond have competed with local riders for trophies but few compare with the now legendary Maggie Briggs ‘the Maid of Manaia’ whose show-jumping career took her from the Hawera Show to the Royal Sydney Show and to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
There are many accounts of her remarkable life but the best is that of Mary Mountier who has written six books about New Zealand and Australian thoroughbreds, and an amusing book about horseracing called ‘You’re Joking’.
Ms Mountier was able to piece together the story of the mysterious Maggie Briggs who came to live in her Otaki neighbourhood.
Maggie Briggs was born in Otakeho in South Taranaki in 1892 to Lydia and Robert Briggs, a young farming couple. When Maggie was 4 years old Robert went out fishing with friends in his boat off Ohawe and coming in through the surf the boat rolled drowning three of the party. A few years later Maggie’s widowed mother married a John Robertson who farmed at Inaha, a few miles south of Manaia and rode her pony each day to Manaia School.
One morning she was observed by John Mitchell, a leading local horse-breeder and sportsman, who had his own racecourse and grandstand. He recognised in Maggie a natural horsewoman and offered to have her taught formally by his son Alex, well-known as a foremost rider in jumping and hunting events.
When only 10 years old Maggie first rode Mitchell’s champion pony Czarina in the 1902 Egmont Show and won almost all the prizes offered. There were many admiring stories of her riding such as this from 1906; Miss Maggie Briggs is a diminutive mite of about twelve summers who has already earned distinction in the jumping ranks of the coastal shows.
Her horse Rawhiti, 13.2 hands, a Waikato bred animal, took the hurdles in capital style clearing 5 ft
3 inches, a height greater than that of the horse itself. Miss Briggs also won the wire jumping competition on the pony Czarina.
She eventually moved north to Clendon and at the age of 21 made a considerable impact at the Auckland Show winning many trophies in the succeeding four shows.
The Sydney Easter Show was the next place to demonstrate her bravery and skill beating a field of
27 Australian horse women to win the Walker and Hall trophy. She took part in both 1924 and 1925 shows.
In 1925 Californian millionaire Guy Woodin invited her to take part in exhibitions in the USA offering the use of his own horses.
Though show riding was quite different from the Australasian ways, Maggie quickly learned the cowboy styles including rodeo riding. She was envied by thousands of women when she regularly rode beautiful horses owned by Rudolph Valentino, the movie heart-throb in the 1920s.
Sadly on the way to an interview with the impresario Florenz Ziegfeld she fell on an icy pavement and suffered an injured hip that was followed by a severe illness.
In 1948 she moved back to New Zealand to a small home in Otaki from which she maintained an interest in show-jumping especially through a young rider Mary McBeth (Todd).
Maggie Briggs died aged 69 in 1961, an outstanding horsewoman and a product of fine coaching in a district well-known for producing great horses.