Janette Philp is referring to her mother, Alice Sinclair, who is heading off with her horse on her 30th consecutive Goldfields Cavalcade this weekend.
Legend might be an overused word these days, but it is the perfect description for the sprightly octogenarian, who does not see her achievements as anything special.
Whether it is harrowing the paddocks on her Taieri property or riding her horse, Mrs Sinclair just gets on with things, and the cavalcade has been a not-to-be missed event in her busy calendar.
"I can’t wait. Everything’s all packed up ready to go. The saddle and bridle are already in the horse float. I’ve just got a water container to clean out," she said yesterday.
Asked what she was looking forward to most, Mrs Sinclair said getting her meals cooked for her, meeting up with people and not having to make her bed.
"I’ve got a bed made up in the back of the Mitsubishi. I’m lazy in my old age. I like my comforts," she said.
That was warmer than the time she slept in a tent and woke in the morning to a frost, and her hands stuck to the metal framework when she packed it up in the early morning.
During lunch, she hung it on a deer fence to dry "and all the ice fell out of it".
"Oh my, that was a cold one."
Many of her cavalcades have been spent on the light wagon trail, which is starting this year from near Clyde, and will meet the other trails for the parade in host town Millers Flat next Saturday.
She was particularly pleased to be back in the saddle given last year’s event cancellation due to Covid-19.
She enjoyed catching up with familiar faces and making new friends in what was very much a family environment.
The long-serving cooks on the trail, the Oamaru Scouts, were noted for their catering. Mrs Sinclair described it as the "best food".
"It’s nice coming in off your horse ... and there could be, if it’s cold, hot soup before our meal. I couldn’t believe one year ... we had pavlova. On a trail ride. I couldn’t believe it. Another time we had plum pudding, beautiful plum pudding. We are spoilt."
Her mount Keira was "a wee bit of a flighty horse" who kept her on her toes.
"We have our ups and downs."
She usually rode about twice a week, as she had so much to do on the farm.
For the past seven years, Mrs Sinclair has had her daughter providing back-up. When her late husband Len died in 2015, she did not think she would take part in 2016’s cavalcade.
But her family encouraged her and Mrs Philp, an adventure trek leader, travelled from Australia to support her, thinking that her then 79-year-old mother would give up when she turned 80.
But she did not — and Mrs Philp is back on what has become an annual pilgrimage for her, too, and said she "loves every minute of it".
"I look forward to it as much as she does".
She was full of awe for her mother and her remarkable outlook on life.
"I ring her from Australia and she answers the phone and I know she’s smiling because I hear it in her voice.
"I’m so proud to be Mum’s daughter because she’s just an amazing human being."
She also paid tribute to her father every year by wearing his cavalcade hat, weighed down with the metal badges given to participants every year.
While people asked why she did not ride a horse, that was not her job.
"I back up Mum and support her. It’s Mum’s thing, not mine," she said.
While Mrs Sinclair had no plans to retire from riding, she had not yet made up her mind about next year’s cavalcade, and said she would "wait and see".
