For many of us, it’s impossible to imagine a life without horses — and as we discover, you can’t get much closer to living with horses than what German-born Victorian dressage rider Janina Kletke and her partner Ash Seing have created.
“It now has stabling for
horses incorporated into
the home — horses downstairs,
humans in the loft!”
Moving to Iserlohn Park in 2014, the property and its impressive American mid-west style barn not only delivered nearly 40 acres of lush paddocks, it now has stabling for horses incorporated into the home — horses downstairs, humans in the loft!
Tucked away at the gateway to Gippsland, this equestrian hideaway with a difference was established 20 years ago by a US enthusiast. However, over the past seven years it has been completely transformed by Janina and her partner, Ash.
“Time flies, that’s for sure,” says Janina. “It was a bit of a project. We needed to repaint everything, replace carpets, windows and doors, showers… you name it.” And that was just the human residence. The equestrian side of the property has had a complete overhaul, as it hadn’t been used for horses.
“There were six stables downstairs, but they had TV outlets and power points in them. Rumour has it that the stables were initially intended for ‘adult entertainment’ purposes,” laughs Janina. “The walls in between the stables were just plasterboard and the bars at the front, they were very pretty, but they were so far apart that you could put your whole hand through! There was no way we could have put a horse there because they would have got a foot stuck!
Janina and Ash have spent the past seven years transforming the barn — both upstairs and downstairs — and it’s now a stunning residence for horses and humans.
So, can you hear the horses from the loft residence? “Yes… if they want you to hear them!” laughs Janina. She explains that the sound does transfer a little, although not as much as you might think. “It is very good if you have one that’s not quite right. You could hear if they’d go down and start rolling or got cast — not that we’ve had that problem thankfully — but you would hear them.”
It wasn’t just indoors that has had a lot of work — the rest of the property has also had a complete overhaul. “We put in more fencing, repaired the fencing, and painted the fencing… which was a massive job in itself.” Then came the arena — a 60m x 20m with a Martin Collins CLOPF fibre surface, plus a permit to build an indoor over it in the future. “It’s super, it really is!” says Janina.
Putting the property on the market has not been easy for Janina, and she says that when it sells, it will be bittersweet — as the sale has come about through change of circumstance. “I’m a firm believer, and have been all my life, that everything happens for a reason,” says Janina. It’s a common phrase, but when you’re talking to someone who has been through what Janina has, it suddenly has a little more meaning.
An accomplished dressage rider, Janina was born and lived in Germany for many years, where she completed her three-year apprenticeship to become a ‘Bereiter’ (professional rider). Moving to Australia in 2009 as a rider for Bluefields Stud, she brought a wealth of knowledge with her and settled first in Perth before moving to Bowral in New South Wales. While there she took out both the Prix St Georges and Prix St Georges Stars of the Future competition at the 2013 Australian Dressage Championships with Bluefield Floreno, who went on to become a top Grand Prix horse that represented Australia.
Janina met Ash, operations manager at John Duff and Co at Kooweerup, while still living in Perth. After a year and a half of having a long-distance relationship, she moved down to settle with him in Victoria — first in Berwick, then Garfield — naming their new property after the region in Germany where Janina was born.
“Janina could never imagine a life without horses,
and she certainly wasn’t taking no for an answer
when it came to getting back in the saddle.”
In March 2019, bushfires caused by lightning strikes ravaged Bunyip State Park and the surrounding area, putting numerous properties — including many with horses — in harm’s way. Janina attended a call to evacuate horses from an affected property; she didn’t know the person asking for help, but didn’t hesitate to respond. A freak accident loading the horses onto a truck left her fighting for her life in a coma with an extremely severe brain injury.
“When the nurses and the doctors come to your in-laws and say, ‘have you ever thought about organ donation’, that’s probably when you know that it’s not looking good,” says Janina.
However, Janina had other ideas, and over the past 18 months she has chipped away at her recovery with steely resolve. “When I was in hospital, they would constantly be telling me the first three months are pretty much the most important time for rehab; that is where you get the most improvement and after that, that’s pretty much it. And then when I was in rehab, they would say to me, ‘you know your life is never going to be the same ever again, you just have to get used to this new normal’, and they didn’t think I would ride again.”
Janina could never imagine a life without horses, and she certainly wasn’t taking no for an answer when it came to getting back in the saddle. “When I came home, one of the first things I did was go and see a friend and client and rode her horse. That was such an amazing and incredibly important time for me and I’ll forever be beyond grateful to my dear friend Jacqui who was absolutely incredible to me during that horrific time — amongst a host of other incredibly dear friends and relatives, it is amazing how much family and friends can help you pull through! I have to say though, it sure is amazing how much your real friends reveal and separate themselves from the fake ones; that too is just incredible!
“I’m sorry I won’t fit everyone in here to thank them, as there has been too many incredible people to remember, but here goes: Jacqui, Sidney, Manuela, Elisabeth, Marion, Frank, Jan, Anthony, Peter, Shaun, Lynda, Greg, Elisabeth, Nicole, Terry, Wade, Melanie, Robert, Darren, Katie, Melinda, Jodee, Wayne, Antionette, Wendy, Gary, Mary, Martin… and I could go on for another hour writing down names of incredible people that helped me in every way they could. I will never be able to thank you enough, honestly. Thank you.”
Janina has continued riding her own horses and is now back coaching as well. She’s also proving that continual improvement can happen gradually over time, and believes much improvement has happened past that first three months of rehab.
“If I sit down and compare
myself to this time last year,
there are so many things
that have improved.”
“I’m not very patient; I get very angry and frustrated… mostly with myself for not being able to live up to my own expectations! You want to vacuum the house, and your arm just does not do it; the connection to the brain is gone. But I kept doing it and kept doing it; it was probably a good thing no one was there to witness my meltdowns. It was the same when I went to feed horses; I could not get the biscuit of hay out of the trailer with my left hand/arm. Or stir my coffee. It’s stupid stuff like that. You think these things are not important, but they are. Lifting the lid on the feed bin, sweeping, brushing the horse… all of these things were just gone and that’s an incredibly isolating, scary and dehumanising feeling.
“But if I sit down and compare myself to this time last year, there are so many things that have improved beyond measure that I didn’t even recognise initially. All of a sudden, after a while, I’ve realised, hey, you’re actually stirring your coffee, you’re vacuuming the house twice a week, and you’re painting now and you’re back to writing. All these things that you take for granted, and all of a sudden, you can’t do them any more — and then as time goes by, you get back to it.
“There are a few things that are not where they were, and they might not ever return. For example, I lost my sense of smell and taste. I also lost a quarter of my vision in each eye, which was REALLY scary at first, but now I don’t even notice any more. I’ve not got a lot of feeling in the left side of my face; it’s just a little bit numb, like when you’ve been to the dentist. And the same in my index finger and my thumb. But they say that can come back and can take up to five years.
“If the worst bit that remains from this is not being able to smell or taste, then so be it. Having said that, I do miss it, I have to say that. Especially my sense of smell, as it had been extremely developed before this happened.”
Janina says that she now finds it a lot easier to be more objective about the accident, the experience and her recovery. “In the past, it would really just make me very angry… I couldn’t be bothered dealing with it and talking about it any more. You get to a point where you’re just like, I know, that happened. And I’m very, very grateful for everyone that helped out and has tried and cared and thought about me and tried to contribute in some way. But there has to be at the same time a point where you go, ‘can I have my life back please?’ And I had to fight for that tooth and nail, I can tell you that. Because that was one of the hardest things to get back for me personally.”
“What I do know now is
that I definitely don’t want
to live without horses.”
This wasn’t the first serious accident Janina experienced. “It’s not funny, but it’s funny in a way… the day we were meant to move in to Iserlohn Park seven years ago, I had an accident. I had a fall off a horse and ended up in ICU for a week. On the day we were moving… so that’s how well that went!”
Although in lockdown on the very edge of metro Melbourne at present, Janina is content at home with Ash, her horses, cows and chickens. “When I came to Australia, I did bring with me a warmblood, Bömmel , and at the time he was just four years old. About two years after I got here, he was sold to Queensland. And the people that had him in Queensland rang me one day, because he had injured himself and the lady that bought him then got sick herself. So they rang me and asked if I could take him for about six months to get him back into training. He’s still with me.” Everything happens for a reason.
“And I’ve got his son here as well, Bitteschön. He is six now, and he was supposed to be started, but obviously, then my accident happened, so that hasn’t happened. And then when I was ready to get him going we went into lockdown. So he’s bored, the poor thing, but he is great.
“Then I’ve got Arthur, an eight-year-old, who has been a paddock ornament for the last few years unfortunately, and then I’ve got a rescue here, Jack — a little trotter who is our nanny. He’s a babysitter for anyone that needs one and he’s is a great little horse and really easy to have. And I’ve got another one, but its back in Perth at the moment.”
And then there are the cows, which, as Janina explains, are often causing mischief around Iserlohn Park. “The bloody cows open the gates… they use their tongues. They’re so smart and they undo the latch… the horses were not where I left them this morning!” she laughs.
Iserlohn Park is currently more land than Janina and Ash need for the animals they have, but moving on from a property you love and have worked so hard to develop isn’t easy. “In a way, I’m almost hoping the property doesn’t sell so quickly. Because then I’m not forced to make the second decision so quickly!” Janina explains that Ash is keen to travel around Australia, and she is on board with that.
“It has been an incredibly difficult, incredibly scary and debilitating time just as much for him as it has been for me. I am so incredibly grateful for everything he has done for me; how he has stood by my side. I know it was quite difficult and infuriating at times… after all, I’m the ‘strong willed and determined’ German, according to him! But he has been nothing short of amazing and I can’t tell you how great it feels to have a partner by your side that loves you unconditionally and that you love more than you could ever explain.
“Ash, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me and I love you more than life itself. Thank you to the end of the world, I would’ve been so lost without you. I love you and I will forever be indebted to you — thank you, my love.”
Beyond a trip around Australia with Ash, she’s not sure where they will settle — but she does know it will be with her horses, and it will be in the area.
“When I left the hospital, I kept saying to people how I felt like I’d lost my purpose. You wake up every day and you go, ‘what am I going to do now? What is there for me to do?’ For a fair while I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to do with horses or life in general. And I almost felt guilty about it, because I almost felt like I was wasting time, and I’m not good with wasting anything really!
“But as I said before, everything happens for a reason. Obviously, at the moment I don’t know what the reason is, but I’m sure that in time it will become clear. What I do know now is that I definitely don’t want to live without horses.” EQ
View the full property listing for Iserlohn Park here.
