The Story Of Pippa Mickleburgh
Sitting in a noisy coffee shop in a busy shopping mall isn’t how we’re used to seeing Pippa Mickleburgh spend her Sunday mornings. It’s a world removed from her stunning and tranquil surroundings of nature and equine activity at Avontuur Estate, Somerset West, her home for the past 35 years.
It’s quite ironic that it’s Mother’s Day as we’re chatting over coffee, because in many respects Mickleburgh has been the matriarch to many at Avontuur over the decades, but now it’s time to cut the umbilical cord.
Avontuur will continue to exist as a wine estate, restaurant and events venue, with a boutique hotel and activities such as padel still welcoming a stream of visitors, but in thoroughbred breeding terms the barns have shut.
Which means Mickleburgh is moving on. “If only it was that easy,” she says. “I finish at the end of June, and I will take some leave, maybe travelling in Europe and hitting the reboot button. I’m not sure what I’ll do after that but I have some ideas and have been talking to a few people.”
She is putting on a brave face. “The farm has been my entire adult life. It’s in my DNA. My blood, sweat and tears are in the soil. The memories will remain forever. It’s a very sad time for my staff as well. Many of the staff have been around for 20 years and some even for 40 years and all are like family. I’ve shed a lot of tears.
“All 57 horses have gone to Ridgemont, including 27 mares. Avontuur was a very successful stud farm. You’d have to go back into the history books, but for many seasons we have produced a Grade 1 winner. We never ran more than 27 mares and built up a powerful broodmare band.”
Mickleburgh was general manager at the 175-hectare estate, a title she was handed in 1999 having served a decade as stud manager. But she was more than that. She was the go-to person, Ms Fixit. The toilet is blocked. Call Pippa. One of the horses has got loose. Call Pippa. Someone wants to get to the padel court. Call Pippa. Wifi needs a reboot. Call Pippa.
She was even called out of her bed at 2am one Sunday morning by a staffer who had too much to drink and couldn’t drive his car home. She put on her dressing gown and slippers and went to fetch him. Just as well, because there was a roadblock a few hundred metres from where he was about to get into his car. “I was pulled over … it must have been quite a sight!”
What about when a typical Cape winter storm lashed through the property in the middle of the night during foaling season and a huge oak tree crashed through the roof of a foaling barn? “Thankfully, none of the horses were hurt. I will never forget one of the mares having a DStv decoder stuck between her legs. It was chaos,” she recalls. “Within hours an entire community had arrived in all sorts of disrepair to help us clean up.”
And then there’s the laugh. It’s one that we have come to associate with her over the years, and the analogy of that damaging storm is relevant because this storm too will pass.
Mickleburgh’s future will take in a period of reflection as she spends a couple of months in Europe before she returns to South Africa. Cape Town, that is, and she will continue spreading her experience and light in the equine environment.
“As I said, I have a few ideas, but nothing concrete. When I look at my life, I have a lot to offer, perhaps not in being a breeder again, but still as part of the industry. Very few breeders race, but I’m at virtually every race meeting. My all round knowledge is vast, I’ve been involved in racing as an owner and part of the NHRA.
“Things are positive in the industry – breeding and racing – and there’s a good vibe. It’s all very upbeat, and I’d like to still be part of that. We’ll see.”
Her father was a racing journalist in KwaZulu-Natal, but a young Pippa found herself overseas where she worked for British flat racing trainer Sir Henry Cecil. It was in the early 1980s – he was national champion 10 times, five of which were in the 80s – and she was enjoying life and job.
“Then, one morning I woke up and said, ‘Mr Cecil, I need some time off.’ He said, ‘what?!’ I said, ‘I need to see some wildlife, go home to Africa.’ He said, ‘you’ve got 10 days’.
“My mom and dad picked me up at the airport in Joburg and we went to the Kruger Park. We’d just got back from the bush when the landline rang. It was Mrs Pat O’Neill from Broadlands Stud. The stud farm adjacent (Hoog Eind) needed someone and she rang my dad to find out if I was available … Needless to say the die was cast. Fast forward to the late 80s and the late Tony Taberer approached me to be stud manager at Avontuur. In 1999 I became general manager.”
Mickleburgh’s last two decades have been shaped by the presence – and the performance – of the two stallions Var and Oratorio. Most breeders would feel blessed to share their lives with one of that calibre, let alone two. Var arrived at the farm in 2005 as European Champion sprinter and broke all manner of records before he was euthanised in 2022, aged 23. He was an absolute gentleman and their bond extended to Mickleburgh feeding him polo mints while he conducted his stallion duties. Oratorio meanwhile joined the Avontuur roster in 2013, before he passed in February, also at 23.
Mickleburgh is asked to describe them in human terms. The twinkle in the eye is back.
“The one would be Tom Cruise and the other Bruce Willis. If a little old lady broke down on the side of the road and needed her tire changed, Var would say he’s on his way, but before leaving he’d get dressed in his Gucci suit, put on his shiny shoes and splash on the best cologne. Oratorio wouldn’t hesitate. He’d drop the phone and arrive to help in his biker jeans, no shirt and with a beer in his hand!
“They shaped my last 20 years. And I think I honoured Oratorio by coming up with the best name I have ever done. I spent a lot of time naming horses because I shared so much time with them and were there when they foaled down.
“Mardi Gras was out of the very talented Sarabande. She foaled down 10 times at Avontuur and because her name is a famous dance originating in Spain in the 16th century, I named most of her offspring after dances. But Mardi Gras was the perfect name.”
Simple stories like that, and others, speak to the warmth of a grand lady of the South African breeding scene who has a way with horses and words, and is now about to embark on another chapter. But first, another trip to the Kruger Park beckoned. One might call it coming full circle.
