Stef Cilliers

13/12/2023

STEF CILLIERS

Stef Cilliers was born in 1936, and qualified as a vet at Onderstepoort in 1960. He passed away on the
13 th of December 2023. He started practicing in 1961 in the Ingogo area of KZN, close to where he
owned a farm and where they lived. He then established a practice in Newcastle in 1970. Stef was a
typical rural practitioner in that he had to service the rural and urban communities. When Stef started
practicing in Ingogo, he used to service the farming community as far as Standerton, Ladysmith, Vrede
and then the immediate vicinity of Ingogo and Newcastle. He had three sons, one of whom also qualified
as a vet and took over the practice in Newcastle.

He was one of the pioneer vets involved in the organizing of the Fauresmith endurance ride that was
initiated in the early 1970s. At that time, Stef and his wife Erica had an Arab stud called Whitehouse
Arabierperdstoet and they together with other KZN endurance enthusiasts – the Tittertons – became
involved in the organization of the Fauresmith ride. Our colleague Paul Van Dam’s book “The greatest
endurance ride – Fauresmith” has several quotes concerning Stef Cilliers which provides some insight.

These are:
Dr Stef Cilliers skryf: “Ek gaap nog steeds as ek dink aan daardie jare se nagvergaderings tot 01:00 by
Dirk de Vos op Halfweghuis, na drie ure se ry vanaf Natal. Dit het so lank aangehou dat almal so moeg
was, dat ons later maar saamgestem het. Dirk se vrou, “Kraai”, het kort-kort koffie aangedra met die
lekkerste eetgoed daarby.”

Stef Cilliers vertel: “Militaire en Willie se bereidwiligheid en entoesiasme was aansteeklik. Die
Randjiesveld was ook moeilik genoeg om ruiters se vernuf en oordeel goed te kan toets en te verhoed
dat daar te maklik gejaag word”. Die gemeenskap op Fauresmith het die komitee met ope arms
verwelkom en die infrastruktuur met stalle en ‘n skousaal was uiters geskik”.

I met Stef Cilliers when I first visited Fauresmith, which was in 2004. He was an incredibly considerate,
friendly, and kind person. He was involved in the first ride and thereafter annually made the effort to
participate in each Fauresmith in July each year.

In the early days at Fauresmith, the SABC used to arrive on the last day (- obviously to see the end
result), but they also needed input from those involved to be able to share the news with the South
African public. Stef was often the key person doing radio interviews because he was not a line vet. Stef
selected a role for himself because of his insight into the Arab horse as a breeder and knowing how
competitive these horses are. He opted to be the “course vet” and always went to strategic points each
day usually about 14 to 15 km away from the start of the days’ event and would set up a small
victualling station where his primary role was to monitor the riders coming and determine whether they
were coping with the ride. At the ride briefing before the ride he was always given the opportunity to

talk to the riders, giving advice in general and at the same time warning them that, if they did not break
to a trot when they saw him on the course, they would be duly disqualified! In the beginning, we
understand all the riders took off at the same time, but later, the riders were allowed to take off in
groups at intervals, and usually the groups were determined by friends getting together so that they
took off as bunches of horses. Many will know that some horses were fitter and more capable than
others and therefore, they would usually set the pace. Some horses struggled under these
circumstances, and this was normally picked up by seeing the horses that were sweating excessively.
Stef would identify these horses and pull them off, – ask them to stop, get off, have a cup of tea or
coffee (he later switched to fruit juices, which he would take along every day), relax a little bit and then
carry on with the ride – but join with other horses that were more or less at the same pace. This allowed
many more horses to complete this ride than normally would have taken place.

Because of Stef’s long years of involvement, he knew many of the families that routinely participated in
the Fauresmith ride and therefore was a very popular person in the catering facilities at Fauresmith –
which is normally the main center of activity. He was drawn from one group to another because of his
wonderful personality and because he always provided sound advice. He was loved by young and old
and set a fantastic example to all.

One of his primary concerns was the health of the horse and he would do anything to make a
contribution and ensure firstly that the rider and horse complete the ride, and secondly that they were
able to return home with a healthy horse (although tired). During the veterinary meetings (held at the
end of each day of the ride) he would always share incidents that he observed during the ride, often
remarking on “ons wonderlike klein perdjies” (referring to the Arabians) that could cope so well with not
only the terrain, but also the less experienced riders.

Tom – his son shared – that Stef passed away peacefully of old age. May his soul rest in peace.