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Billy Mamola: Javanese cowboy born to ride
Billy Mamola: JP/Emanuel Dapa LokaIt's no exaggeration to say that the man born in Bandung on Feb
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Billy Mamola: JP/Emanuel Dapa Loka
It's no exaggeration to say that the man born in Bandung on Feb. 3, 1954 has another soul mate apart from his wife, Nila Purnamasari.
Does this mean he's having an affair or is Billy Mamola a polygamist?
No. Billy's soulmate is from the animal kingdom, the horse.
Since the age of six, Billy, of Dutch, Dayak and Chinese ancestry, has been training horses. His interest started from the first time he sat in a saddle, and has lasted to this day.
Billy has spent 50 years learning to ride, maintain and train horses. Because his relationship with horses was so passionate, he abandoned his own education and dropped out of primary school.
Why did Billy fall in love with horses?
"Words can not express the reason I like horses. The horse has a strong character, is physically strong, sincere and can read our sincerity. So if we take care of horses we must be sincere, not only toward horses but to everything else in everyday life," said Billy, explaining his philosophy on horses.
With such a breadth of experience looking after horses, he has concluded the quality of local Indonesian horses is not inferior to that of horses from other countries. But not enough attention had been paid to Indonesian horses.
"So far, our horses have been bred without any planning," said the winner of the Indonesia Open Equestrian Championships in 2000.
Billy isn't just talk. On Aug. 10, 2008, with a horse from the archipelago, Billy achieved a MURI (Indonesia Record Museum) record for a marathon journey on horseback, riding more than 600 kilometers over 12 days. He went from Lembang to Pangandaran and back.
"I wanted to prove that local horses would not lose when measured against horses from overseas," he said. The horse that broke the record came from Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara.
Billy has carved out some other firsts. He received an honorary police award from the Priangan Police for his services teaching the Priyangan region police force horse riding.
Through Billy's assistance, the Cimahi Police has established a mounted Tourism Police unit.
Among people who have shown Billy special appreciation is the regent of East Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara, Gidion Mbilijora. For Billy's service in increasing the popularity of the Sumba horse, Gidion presented him with six Sumba horses. These horses are now kept on his own De *Ranch.
Billy had heard that one of the most powerful horses in Indonesia was the Sumba horse. He was seeking to prove the rumor.
So he flew to the island, which is commonly called Marapu (Marapu is the original name used by the Sumba people), and bought a horse he named the Horse of the Archipelago. He subsequently broke the MURI record with it.
Every day the man, who is often called the cowboy from Parahyangan, lives and breathes horses. In between his duties of taking care of horses, he rides through forests and mountains, which are 1,300 meters above sea level.
No wonder he is very familiar with every inch of land in the mountainous region of the Bandung regency.
Like the singer Ebiet G Ade whose song titled Yogyakarta said there were footprints on every corner of Yogyakarta, Billy can say that there are horseshoe prints on every inch of the mountains, on the Tangkuban Perahu and Putri mountains.
Through his horses, Billy has found himself and his world. At his ranch, he spends his time taking care of his beloved horses and takes visitors on cowboy-style riding tours.
His competency and skill at caring for his horses are not half-hearted. He has improved his knowledge by taking several courses in Germany and the Netherlands.
Like a cowboy, Billy spends most of his time at the ranch. On his five hectares located at the foot of the Tangkuban Perahu and Putri mountains, Billy focuses his life caring for his horses and his other livestock, his cows and goats.
"I want to change the public image that says cowboys are only in the United States. In West Java there is a cowboy and, yes, I'm it," he laughed.
