Elvis and Me

A world-weary musician and a broken racehorse rescue each other in this inspirational memoir about second chances

At thea age of 56, Gillian Wills bought her first horse on a whim. Elvis was emaciated, scarred, unruly, saddle-phobic, and imbued with attitude. However, she sensed in him the remnants of a fierce pride that resonated with her own almost-lost sense of self-worth, depleted after leaving a high status job as head of a prestigious music conservatorium in Melbourne to move across the country with her partner to Queensland. Owning a horse pushed the need for paddocks to the top of Gillian’s wish list. She and her partner bought a dilapidated weatherboard farmhouse on 2.5 acres and swapped city living in Brisbane for the pleasures of semi-rural life. Gillian gave up a busy career to focus on freelance writing. For a year she wore mud-stained boots and dusty jeans by day and shiny heels and black cocktail gear at night to mingle with the art cogniscenti. And she tried to ride Elvis. He had been pitched to Gillian as a quiet, beginner’s "I’ll-do-whatever-youwant-kind-of-horse" who could hardly summon up the energy to trot. The truth was very different. Rehabilitating Elvis through natural horsemanship methods (horse whispering) with the help of a trainer introduced Gillian to a whole new world where music was incidental and daily discussions centered on the weather, how to tell good grass from bad, and fear of the Hendra virus. She persevered with her riding lessons, ignoring the often not-so-subtle doubts that she would ever learn to ride competently, let alone be able to control a spirited mount like Elvis. Gradually Elvis’s behavior improved and Gillian’s confidence grew. Learning to assert her leadership over Elvis’s daily rehabilitation program slowly but surely transformed her world.

Gillian Wills was the Australian’s classical music reviewer for seven years. She was also a freelance arts writer for Queensland’s Courier Mail and a broad variety of other publications. She is a pre-concert speaker for the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Australian String Quartet, teaches piano at a university, and is a keyboard examiner
for the Australian Music Examination Board.