HERE ON THE BIG ISLAND – A Horse, of Course – Part II

HERE ON THE BIG ISLAND
By Kelly Moran

A Horse, of Course – Part II

Bird McIver is a locally famous saddle-maker and horse-rescuer (see “A Horse, of Course – Part I“).  I asked her what it costs to buy a horse on the Big Island.

“There are some very, very good horses here: good looking, with nice attitudes. We have access to good bloodlines here. And right now, it’s a buyer’s market. Prices are down because we’re in a down economy.  A good horse can be had for $2,500, although you’ll pay more like $5,000 or $8,000 for a really great one.”

Bird McIver rides Joe: a young horse being trained for polo.
Bird McIver rides Joe: a young horse being trained for polo.

Another source for horses – at a much lower cost – is a horse-rescuing operation. The Hawaii Humane Society has one, and so do Bird and her husband, Colin; they call it CB Horse Rescue.

“With the economy in the tubes,” she explained, “people are neglecting their horses. We see this especially where the owners are on drugs, or drink too much. We see horses that have been frightened, or starved, or not given enough water. I placed six rescued horses last year, and I charge – though it’s funny to put it this way – fifty cents a pound. That works out to about $500-650, which is really a donation to the cause. But you have to remember that, like any other distressed animal, a rescued horse can have ‘issues,’ and the new owner has to be somebody who’s able to handle them. I always say: You have to be ‘married’ to your livestock!”

Suppose someone already has a horse, and wants to bring it here? “That’s pricy, but not much more so than bringing over a car. By sea – that is: by container-ship and inter-island barge – it’ll take a few weeks, and cost about $1,200. As an alternative, and unlike shipping a car, you can actually fly a horse here! FedEx will fly it in, direct from the Mainland, for about $2,200.”

Bird reminds all prospective owners that horses should not be left entirely out of doors. “Ideally, you want to keep a horse in a pasture, but with shelter from the rain and the sun. “If you don’t have a stable, or can’t put one on your land,” she said, “you may be able to rent a stall. The stalls at the Panaewa Equestrian Center, in Hilo, for instance, have traditionally been inexpensive; but costs have been going up for years, so I expect rental fees will also go up, soon.”

Bird McIver riding sidesaddle on Coosa Lani, at the Hawaii Quarter Horse Association's Fun Day Show.
Bird McIver riding sidesaddle on Coosa Lani, at the Hawaii Quarter Horse Association's Fun Day Show.

But you don’t actually have to own lot of land to ride a horse around here. “The Panaewa Equestrian Center is like a giant park,” said Bird. “You can ride in the rodeo arena, or the track, there’s a dressage arena in the infield, and a cross-country course. For skill-building, the Hawaii Island Dressage and Eventing Association can help you with dressage, stadium jumping, and cross-country jumping. There’s a very active polo contingent here. And there are plenty of public places to ride, including Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.”

And so, Bird has one more piece of advice for the prospective owner: “Before you buy a horse, buy a trailer.”

HERE ON THE BIG ISLAND – Sherlock Holmes at the Volcano

HERE ON THE BIG ISLAND
By Kelly Moran

Sherlock Holmes at the Volcano

Sherlock Holmes once visited the Big Island – and now he’s coming back!

Holmes was an early crime-scene investigator. Keen-eyed and sharp-witted, this most famous of fictional detectives solved murders that baffled the police of the Victorian era by focusing on seemingly insignificant clues. Would we have “C.S.I.” on TV today without having first seen Holmes tracing footprints, or examining threads, pebbles and fingerprints with a magnifying glass?

Though based in London, he visited the Kingdom of Hawaii in November of 1890 with his friend and biographer Dr. John Watson. It was supposed to be a restful vacation at the Volcano House, but they found themselves confronted by a mysterious calamity of madness and murder with supernatural overtones, that came to be known as “The Volcano Horror.” To discover the cause, and to identify the killer, they had to take a dangerous plunge into a realm of terror and death, right there on the edge of the crater!

This all happens in a stage play written, produced and directed by my friend Hal Glatzer, referencing one of the short stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Sherlock Holmes & The Volcano Horror, March 4th, 5th, 6th, 12th & 13th at 7pm.
Sherlock Holmes & The Volcano Horror, March 4th, 5th, 6th, 12th & 13th at 7pm.

“Sherlock Holmes & The Volcano Horror” will be performed in the Theater at the East Hawaii Cultural Center, in downtown Hilo, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday March 4, 5 and 6; and at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday March 12 and 13. Tickets are $10 (EHCC members $8), and are available now from the EHCC Box Office: 935-9085.

Several of the actors also appeared in “The House Without A Key,” Glatzer’s Charlie Chan mystery, which was presented at EHCC a year ago, including Jake McPherson (as Holmes), and Steve Peyton (as Watson).

In Sherlock Holmes’s day, the Volcano House was a one-story log cabin, built in 1877, with a lanai on its long side and a big fireplace in the parlor.

VolcanoHouse1877
Volcano House 1877

It could accommodate 35 guests, and was owned by Wilder’s Steamship Company, an inter-island line. Since there was only a trail to Kilauea from Hilo – not even a road – most visitors were tendered ashore at Honuapo, in Ka’u, and driven uphill in horse-drawn carriages. When a new Volcano House was built next door, in 1891, the old log cabin became an extra guest-wing.

In 1921, a grand 100-room hotel replaced them both on the rim of Halema’uma’u crater, and the 1877 building was moved a few hundred feet back from the edge, to be used only for storage. That was fortunate because, when a fire in 1940 destroyed the big Volcano House, the old building was spared, and was pressed into service as a lodge once more, until the current Volcano House was completed in 1941.

Old Volcano House
Old Volcano House

After that, the old building sat unused and deteriorating until the 1970s, when it was rescued by a team of historically-minded carpenters. They restored it to its original appearance, and made it into what it is today: the Volcano Art Center, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Go there now, and you can almost see Holmes and Watson talking and smoking by the fireplace, or sitting on their lanai, gazing out over the crater . . . .

The building that was used as the Volcano House Hotel from 1877 to 1921 now houses a gallery for the Volcano Art Center, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
The building that was used as the Volcano House Hotel from 1877 to 1921 now houses a gallery for the Volcano Art Center, in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

I learned “The Story of the Volcano House” from a book of that name by Gunder E. Olson, that’s available in the Park’s gift-shop and at Basically Books, on the Bayfront in Hilo.

For more information about “Sherlock Holmes & The Volcano Horror,” phone Hal at 808-895-4816 or email him at hal@halglatzer.com.