🎙️ The Direct Line Podcast - Episode 10 | John Freeman

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In Episode 9 of the Direct Line Podcast, we are joined online by John Freeman John is a third generation horseman and proudly displays a photograph depicting his father (John snr) having ridden his horse into a bar after a steeplechase event. His father, described as a ‘bon vivant’ was a secretary to the Chamber of Mines, before briefly being headhunted to run the Tugela Estate operation for industrialist C C Taylor. Forced to evacuate when the tribal war broke out, the family moved back to Johannesburg and John snr joined Old Mutual. With a keen interest in the field of life insurance, a stroke of misfortune over a horse prompted John snr to write the first insurance policy for a horse in South Africa, an initiative that blossomed into a thriving business. John remembers accompanying his father to yearling sales as a runner and assisting in insuring young stock from a very young age. John completed his schooling at Marist Brothers’ College. It is a small detail, but the experience left a deep impression as well as forging friendships that have lasted for life. John did his military service being conscripted directly into the SA Army Gymnasium. “I was always very competitive and was promoted to the rank of officer by the time I was done.” He managed two years of law at Wits University, but realised he was wasting his time and left to join his father’s business. The rest, as they say, is history and John has built up a solid career covering a number of aspects of the industry, notably helping to establish the SA Horse Import Export Council. Having served on just about every committee and official body around, and watched more horses pass through sale rings than most of us have had hot dinners, John is arguably one of the most experienced in the business and has some great stories to show for it. A favourite relates to the star filly Enchanted Garden, whose purchase was secured with a diamond ring as security. He relates “I have always dealt with the sort of people who do business on trust and a handshake” and h