El Caballo Blanco comes back to life in book

IT WAS one of the Macarthur region’s favourite attractions with its Andalusian dancing stallions, train rides and water slides.

IT WAS one of the Macarthur region’s favourite attractions with its Andalusian dancing stallions, train rides and water slides.

Now, stories from El Caballo Blanco in Catherine Field, will come to life in a book.

Co-author Esther Mckay, of Razorback, worked with the horses in 1984. She said her memories of the theme park were “incredible”.

Esther Mckay (right) and daughter Alice O'Brien with a horse called Gent. Picture: Ian Svegovic

“The costumes, the music, the lights — it was spectacular,” she said. “People loved it.”

Spanish horses were first brought to Australia in 1972 by Ray Williams to start up an El Caballo Blanco in Perth. His Catherine Field park opened in 1979 and closed in 2000.

A post on the Macarthur Chronicle Facebook page about the theme park gathered more than 7000 likes, 900 comments and 800 shares.

“When people see pictures of the costumes, they remember them and they feel like the horses were a big part of the history out here,” Ms Mckay said.

“The book is about Sharyn and her time at El Caballo and the love of her life, a horse called Bizzaro who featured in the show.”

Co-author Sharyn Spark, of Kirkham, worked with the horses on and off from 1986 until the park’s closure.

She said it was people’s fascination with the horses that made El Caballo Blanco so popular.

Sharyn Spark with Challingo and Forentino.

Sharyn Spark with Promeza. Picture: Nicole Clare Emanuel

“I’ve worked with lots of horse breeds and Andalusian horses are the most magnificent,” Ms Spark said.

“You can hear them cry, you can hear them laugh; they’re almost human.”

Ms Spark owns 10 Andalusian horses for her business Bizzaro Film and Performance Horses.

Ms Spark said while there were many positives to the park, some controversy surrounding its closure would also be revealed.

“It was such a loved place,” she said.

A release date for the book has not been announced.

1972: Spanish horses are brought to Perth for its El Caballo Blanco park

1979: An El Caballo Blanco is opened in Catherine Field

1999: El Caballo Blanco stops functioning as a park but still remains open for weddings

2000: The park is closed and Sharyn Spark moves onto the property to care for the horses