I was born in Scotland and as a teenager was lucky enough to own a pony called Sparkle who I bred a foal from and named Talisman. After I finished school, my horse, Tali and I, moved to Devon to learn natural horsemanship skills. In 2001, we then got a job at a tourist farm demonstrating natural horsemanship to the public and this is where Steve comes in . . . .
Steve
I was born in New Zealand and worked as a hill country shepherd after leaving school with a team of 10 working farm dogs. With a passion for competing in dog trials, I became a dog trial judge at an early age. Being a typical adventurous kiwi, I decided to spend a few years working overseas and found myself demonstrating sheep dog trials at a tourist farm in Devon . . . .
. . . From Devon to California then New Zealand
In 2002 we spent time working on a horse ranch in California before moving to New Zealand together with Tali the horse! There we spent 15 years managing 2 large sheep and beef stations with the help of our working dogs. During this time, we got married and had our two sons, James and Riley.
Papanui Station NZ
Paringahau Station NZ
James and Riley
Having grown up on a large sheep and beef farm in NZ before living at Kuruba, James now 18 and Riley, 11, have also spent their whole lives so far taking care of animals both large and small. James is now an integral Kuruba team member who is particulary experienced with dogs.
. . . To Kuruba - Home Sweet Home
In 2017, we decided it was time for a new adventure closer to our Scottish family and began our search for the ideal home and pet business in Scotland.We flew our 2 Jack Russell’s, Tinerkbell and her daughter Dash back with us as well as Tali the horse, now aged 30! After looking at a lot of different options we finally came across Kuruba and knew instantly it was both a dream home and an awesome, well-established business, set in stunning Scottish countryside. Our family has since expanded to include Jedi, our baby Jack Russell (Dash’s son), Jude and Lil Mits our cats and Tali’s mum Sparkle, now aged 35!
Our 2 cats, 3 dogs and 2 horses are our family and our whole world revolves around them so we know exactly how much your dogs and cats mean to your own family. We totally understand how hard it can be to be to leave them behind so we are more than happy to send you a photo and update if needed for peace of mind. All you have to do is send us a message saying, ‘I miss my baby – please update me!’