MY DIARY
November 20th 2008
Ah-haaa I have some lurkers on the site :) Yesterdays post chucked up some comments from people who haven’t commented before which makes me think there are more of you out there hiding. Why you sneaky little devils.
Come on show yer faces, who’s reading and not commenting?
Actually who’s commenting and not reading?
Anywayyyyy I got told a joke today and I don’t get it. Not sure if it’s cos I got confused about a penguin driving a car, but anyway here goes.
A penguin is driving his car (That’s the bit that confused me) and the car breaks down, luckily outside of a garage. So the penguin goes in to the workshop and explains to the mechanic that his car is rooted (Broken down)
The mechanic is busy so suggests to the penguin that he might like to pop over to the 7-11 across the road and get something to eat because it might take a while (Hope they have some fish or this is really stupid) .
So the penguin waddles across the road (Strewth) to the 7-11 and decides to buy himself some ice-cream but because he has flippers he can’t eat it properly and it ends up all over his face, or beak, or bill or penguin mouth (ffs this is retarded)
Anyway he waddles back across the road to the mechanic, his face all covered in ice cream and asks the mechanic how he’s going.
The mechanic say’s “why the fuc@ am I talking to a penguin”.
I made that bit up 
The mechanic looks at the penguin and actually says “It looks like you have blown a seal”
And the penguin says, “no, it’s ice cream”
And that’s what I don’t get.
Bit obvious really, I mean, seriously what are the chances of a penguin walking into a 7-11 and finding a seal that’s game enough to let the penguin blow him in the middle of a convenience store.
Stupid if you ask me, of course it was ice cream. I think the mechanic was just being silly.
Anyyywayyyy Tonight I cooked Pasta Tioli, cos I’m a good dad.
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November 19th 2008
So here is the thing … Haven’t done anything horsie since the weekend and most likely wont until this weekend coming, except feed them, give them a hug and that sort of stuff.
Soooo, it got me thinking. I could either not post unless I had something worthwhile posting which would normally be at the weekend, I could post some mindless non horsey stuff like yesterday in between my horsie posts that I pinch from somewhere else and then comment on it, or I could post something else about whatever, or nothing at all and stfu and go away :)
For the first time EVER, I’m open to editorial input :) What would you like to see? Less and keep it just about me and my horsies, or open it up to more and if so, what? I could (for example) just chuck in random rants about things that are irking me, really don’t mind what I do if people are reading it and enjoying it.
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November 17th 2008
Only in Australia!!!
Article from this weeks news below.
An Aboriginal group plans to sue the Victorian Government for ignoring its heritage in the renaming of Mount Niggerhead, a mountain in the Alpine National Park.
For decades, the 1846m Mt Niggerhead in the state’s northeast has been at the centre of a heated debate about its name.
State Environment Minister Gavin Jennings pledged last week to rename the rocky outcrop Jaithmathangs, after one of the traditional languages of the Bogong High Plains.
But another Aboriginal nation, the Dhudhuroas, says the peak is part of their country and the proposed new name is just as offensive to them as Mt Niggerhead.
“It’s a bit like renaming Australia as England,” Gary Murray, co-chair of the Dhudhuroa Native Title Group, said.
“Jennings might as well have taken any old name from Arnhem Land - it’s bullshit.
“This is offensive to our people. The Jaithmathangs are from the other side of Omeo, which is miles away. The name is linguistically and culturally inappropriate.”
Mr Murray said Dhudhuroa members met over the weekend to discuss their options, including possible legal action to force the minister to reconsider the new name.
They are also planning to travel to Melbourne to protest outside Parliament House when the mountain gets its new name next month.
Mt Niggerhead will be officially renamed on December 12 according to a letter from Mr Jennings obtained by The Border Mail newspaper.
Comment was being sought from the minister’s office.
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Brilliant, bugger all to do with horses except it gets very cold there in winter and wild horses wouldn’t drag me there, but that’s about it
I do love the quote by Gary Murray, co-chair of the Dhudhuroa Native Title Group though.
“blah blah blah - it’s bullshit” And that’s the official word from the official
Anyway it’s all been resolved now, apparantly they agreed to call it Mt Shut the **** up
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November 16th 2008
Well I had a ride on Grotty yesterday, didn’t go too far because I had a mate of mine coming over in the afternoon so just went around the block which is about 3km’s. She was soooooo good, just flopped along the whole way and I got her trotting and figured I’d see how long she would trot for before stopping,
Bazz’s record is 5 metres before he needs reminding Grotty went about 1km before I had to stop her LOL. I swear she would have just kept trotting all day if I had let her. And she has one hell of a stride on her, great big gangly legs that’s why
Anyway got back just in time to get changed and go grab something to eat in Ballarat before we came home, hit the beers and bitched about the planet. Well not THE planet, more like everything and everyone on it
Oh except you lot cos your all nice, well most of the time anyway.
November 13th 2008
My babbbbbby has a blog
Katie had an assignment for school so decided to put a blog together for Stink Minky. I think blogs are a silly idea 
Anyway when you get a chance, why not have a sneaky peak (http://www.minkystinky.blogspot.com/) and say g’day to her.
I added a link to the side menu ( —————–> Over there) so you can check for updates.
My babbbbbby has a blog
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November 12th 2008
Hope you scroll wheel is working on your mouse
An update about Cherry chops the floosie hussy (Bazz’s words not mine)
WWWWWwwwwwwwweeeeeeellllllll I was waiting to get through the first tenuous 45 days before I posted again about Cherry’s foal-to-be.
Yesterday Cherry had her 45 day scan and to my delight she’s maintained the pregnancy, and I could actually see her one inch long bubba via ultrasound. There were little legs and head bobbing about, and I was amazed with what the Vet, Anne Jacobson told me about the babies development to date.
Have a look at the images which show what the bubba looks like now. It is floating in a 3 inch vesicle, and has- tiny ribs under its skin a domed head that looks a bit like that of Chihuahua! a distinct skull, tiny, tiny little ears
Day 40 Day 50 Full Term
This was the last chance for me to see the foal via ultrasound….’cos it will be too big for the monitoring screen in a matter of weeks!
Anne is an absolute breeding expert, specialising in Artificial Insemination. They have soooo many mares and foals in their pastures at the moment…Anne foaled down 5 in one night!
Anne will be foaling down Cherry and my TB mare Gigi for me. Gigi is confirmed 14 days in foal to Woody - so her foal will be due just over a month after Cherry. Gigi ended up being covered 6 times by Woody to get a pregnancy happening….and both horses were extraordinarily well behaved, considering the effort of the situation.
Anyway Cherry is going to be one of the first foaling mares of Spring 2009 - due on 28th August :)
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November 11th 2008
Well the good news is Katie thought of a name “HUMBUG” bad news is she’s gone
Katie had a ride in the arena last night with her and decided that she wants to keep Minky. Humbug was a little too challenging for her, bit too forward and the bottom line is that Katie just wasn’t that excited about her.
It’s a real shame because she was such a lovely horse, really really well behaved, even lifted her legs for you if you just touched her leg so you could check her hoofs, dead easy to catch and float and the sweetest nature.
I’ll actually miss her
As I said to Sue the owner, right horse, wrong time.
What did it for me, and I really can’t argue this point, was when Katie said something quite profound.
Humbug was much easier than Minky, easier to get moving forward, stayed in the trot and didn’t need to be constantly reminded to keep trotting, easy to handle etc and Katie didn’t want a horse that was easier.
She was learning more on Minky and had unfinished business with her. If she moved on to another horse now it would be like she only did half the job, and wanted to get on top of Minky’s attitude and get her jumping properly and behaving herself.
She knows that means more work but she knows Minky and has a confort level that’s still a challenge.
As I said, I can’t argue with that.
Oh well I tried I’m sure Humbug will go to a good home and make someone real happy, if she had been a hand bigger and I didn’t have Grotty I would have snapped her up myself.
The search continues
November 9th 2008
Well we gave the new horse a go today to see how suitable she would be for Katie.
She was soooo quiet and well behaved
I rode her first figuring that if she was going to do anything dirty I’d rather I was on her at the time than Katie. Actually I would have prefered it if Katie had been on, but that wouldn’t have been the responsible thing to do, now would it.
Anyway she was as good as gold with me, so I got off and let Katie put her through her paces. She has a lovely trot and Katie had no trouble getting her to canter.
Big test tomorrow, Katie will take her to her riding lesson.
At least she is good to float like Minky and Grotty so that’s a good start.
Anyway here are a couple of pics of Katie on her.
Her name by the way is humming bird but Katie is thinking of changing that if we keep her. She has a nice solid build but is much thinner in the fact than Grotty. Oh so you know, she is 15.1hh 10 y/o Standard Bred , Dark Bay, Mare
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November 7th 2008
Oh crap I forgot the blog
YOU ARE SUPPOSE TO REMIND ME!!!!
Had a really busy week, had the big race on Tuesday (Melbourne Cup, the race that stops the Nation) so missed a days work and have been busy trying to play catch up since.
I really switched off over the big race when they turned Bazz down. Too much pressure from the bookies. They don’t like it when the favourite wins by 10 lengths because they have to pay out too much money so they figured the big race would be fairer if he wasn’t running.
Ended up a fight between a couple of inferior horses and the winner (Don’t ask me who it was because my care factor is sub zero) won by 2cm’s. If the horse that came second had puffed his lips out he might have taken it, that’s how close it was.
Anyway, that was that for another year. It was blokes day yesterday, sorry I mean Oaks day. That’s the official ladies day when all the fit young fillies turn up looking a million dollars in their designer dresses and end up a few hours later legless (Very drunk) passed out on the grass with sick in their hair and their skirts over their heads. And all the sleezy letchy guys turn up to cope a gaze of some cleverage and drool down their pants. (I hope it is drool btw) All very sad really
Suppose it beats watching the horses racing though
And it was made even more special when Connex the state of the art train service in Melbourne totally collapsed and stranded 50,000 drunken race goers in Flemmington.
Hissy fits started , major tantrums followed and quite a few finger nails got broken in the process
This would sooooo not have happened at Epsom (UK) It just would not be proper!!!
LOL I am such a snob.
Anyway I’m going to go have a sneaky peek at a 15hh Standard Bred tonight, got my eye on it as the next horse for Katie
November 1st 2008
Well the Spring Racing carnival at Flemington (Melbourne) got well under way today with the Australian Derby. The Australian Derby has been running (Under various names) for the last 150 years, but should not be confused with the real Derby that’s run at Epsom which has been running a hell of a lot longer, or the Kentucky Derby, that hasn’t been run as long but is more entertaining because they run in Western rigs and go YEHAAAA BANG BANG!!! Across the finish line.
Yes, this is another one of those “I have no idea what I’m talking about” moments.
Anyway the race was won by a horse.
Oh you want more Ok it was won by a horse called “Rebel Raider” (Well isn’t that just a YEHAAAA BANG BANG!!! moment).
And the most fascinating thing about this race, is that this horse has never won it before, well actually it might have done but who cares, oh and the Jockey was a woman. (Claire Lindop)
And a woman has never won the derby before.
Oh and the horse was 100-1 cos it had a girl on it and you would expect the book makers to now be well and truly out of pocket after all the girls betting, bet on the girl.
Except they didn’t because she was a girl, girls don’t win big races, so because of that, the horse was at 100-1 odds, it had a snowballs chance of winning, so none of the girls backed the girl because frankly why waste your money?.
And she won by a couple of lengths
I love stuff like this, it is what legends are made of and there is nothing like a good old bit or prejudice to create a legend.
She isn’t a legend because she is the girl that won the friggen Derby ok!!!
She was the best jockey on the day. She probably trained a lot harder, wanted to win it more that the others and had some grit determination to win and why? Cos she is a woman and has had to put up with everyone reminding her of that and that a woman has never won the Derby.
She would have been actually aware of that when she noticed the odds of her winning were 100-1.
What makes her a legend is that she persevered in a male dominated world, rode her way to the top and took one of the most coveted crowns on the racing calender, not because she was a woman, because she was the best jockey in the race … period.
And anyone that can rise to the top of the crop and take out the Derby deserves that accolade.
After the race, when interviewed, she was asked how it felt to be the first woman to win the Derby and she said she didn’t want to be remembered for that but as one of the best jockeys on the racing circuit.
Well she is.
Maybe when she runs again at the Melbourne Cup (The biggest race in Australia) the odds might actually reflect her standing as a top notch Jockey with a will to win, rather than her sex.
Oh and fair play / good effort for the owners and trainers on putting their best Jockey forward, paid off for them big time. Maybe more owners / trainers might take their heads out of their arses and focus on the jockeys ability.
Bet the blokes are spewing though beaten by a girl
October 29th 2008
Look what Katie made me in pottery class
IT’S GROTTY :) … Brilliant, I loves it
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October 27th 2008
OMG!!! What a toss pot.
Guess who I saw tonight? Corrrrrrect. Bazzy.
The young lady (Alex) who may be buying Bazz (He’s on a 3 week trial) had a lesson on him tonight.
Well, what can I say. Bazz didn’t disappoint
When I pulled up in the Jeep, he was on his way to the arena and was tiptoeing accross the stones on the path way I swear to god, he was like ouch, ouch, ouch, my feet, ouch
What a plonker, I’m like, Bazz sort it out mate.
Anyway finally gets into the arena and they tack him up and the lesson starts. Ok he’s not very forward, give him a squeeze, ok a kick, ok a bigger kick, ok like really kick him, hmm where’s the crop.
Karen the instructor who I have a lot of respect for, has now taken to kicking sand at Bazz to make him move Puhahaha
Finally he moves. Oh yes this was about 15 mins into the lesson, oh crap, he’s stopped again LOL. KICK HIM!!!!
He’s just stood in the middle of the arena with this stoopid dumb look on his face. And then he decides he better behave and starts to move. Backwards!! and Backwards. Pull him into a tight circle. That worked, oh he’s going backwards again
Finally Alex got the better of him and he started going forward, half hour into the lesson and he’s finally behaving himself, he probably figured he had met his match and she wasn’t going to give up, and boy, was she not going to give up
She gave him heaps and last I saw of him as I shot of to get Katie for her lesson was him fully engaged, head down and on the bit doing a really nice trot around the arena.
I so hope she sticks with him because he would be perfect for her, they will challenge each other that’s for sure, and Amy the girl we bought him off originally had him at level 3 pony club so I know the shirker can do it when he has too.
Mind you I never had any problem with him other than the shying at everything thing
Said to Alex’s mum, might be an idea to warm him up a bit in the round yard before the next lesson to give him some focus and get him into work mode, he was more in the “Lets kick back and chill” mode to start with.
Bless him, LOVE HIM, spastic.
Anyway Bazz saga over, on to the next one.
Katie took Grotty to her riding lesson
Saying that other than trying to trample me to death (yes I will work on those ground manners) and generally being a stress head because she has never (that I am aware of) been in an arena before, she ended up doing great.
Pretty much did everything she was asked, and handled the transitions from stop / trot ok. Had to be bullied into a canter which was good because at least she’s not likely to go running off on me. But wow you should see her extended trot, she was flying. She has really really good movement.
On the big plus side, had no dramas floating her and even got her floated in a bout 2 mins in the dark!!!! Big result. I am so stoked with her.
Anyway that’s enough from me, I’m knackered, so here are some photos of Bazz at the start of his lesson for you
Bazz with Alex (Hidden) and Tracy the owner of Unicorn Park
Alex on Bazz and her Mum Anthea waiting to catch her
Alex on Bazz, her Mum Anthea waiting to catch her and Bazz with a rather unusal alertness about him
October 25th 2008
Yes I know that is tomorrow and it’s still the 23rd in the US and UK etc, I haven’t lost my mind, well actually I have, but never mind that. I’m publishing tomorrows post now so I can stay in bed all day :) OK it’s cos I can’t wait that long
I have some new photos for you and a guest blogger.
So here you go, the guest blogger needs no intro and the pics are at the bottom.
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Helloooooooo horsies and all you ‘umans and stuff.
Well I had a surprise today, my Dad came to see me, whooo hooo.
There I was bored shitless, I mean looking at the mares in the paddock next door when I see’s my Dads Jeep pull up near the big stables. Out he gets and comes straight over to see me.
DADDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!! Bloody hell, Where have you been? Get me out of here will you it’s doing my head in. I told him I feel like Billy No-mates stuck in here, haven’t seen Cherry for ages, not sure why he winced at that, anyway I asked him where everyone was? Where is Cherry and Clarity and Nobby and Taffy.
He told me about all the changes that had gone on, Nobby had been sold and was living in whoop whoop (far away) Clarity as well. Cherry is having a foal .. WTF??? What the.. WTF?? How the??? EH?
Bummer :(
And Taffy is still over at the old place with some of mums new “endurance” horses.
I told him straight, I can do endurance, I can run for like miles and miles and stuff, he just laughed and gave me a good rub. I’ve missed my Dad.
Anyway, I told him all about this place and about the mares in the paddock next to me who are all gagging for it and about this big black show off stallion, who by the way has a much smaller one than mine.
Dad said he was glad I didn’t mind being where I am because mum had sold me to someone else and I would be living here now. I already knew that though cos I met my new mum the other day, she was really nice, except for the wanting to ride me bit
Seems like I’m going to have to start doing some work after all :) I thought I was off the hook after mum decided that she didn’t want to do dressage after all :) what a relief that was.
Dad told me that Katie has lessons here with Minky every week so he will drop by to see me and maybe bring Minky over to say g’day. Maybe he can slip the warden some hay and let her into my paddock for a while so I can … never mind
Anywayyyyyyy …. So what you lot been up to? Hope you have been behaving yourself Indy, Dad says he hears from you now and again, good to hear a lot of the old gang is still coming here to see what my big doof Dad is up to.
Well you lot, take care of yourselves, I better keep going before that mare next door starts on my hay again.
NOOOOOOOOO NOT THE HAY!!!!
Later horsies and ‘umans and be good over there in Hamerica eh
Bazz
DADDDDDDDD!!!!!!!! It’s really you
I’m sooooooo bored !!!
Mind you I have plenty of posts to wind suck
PUHAHAHAHAHAHAH Gosh I’m funny
Miss you dad 
Oi !!!! COME BACK DON’T LEAVE ME
Well kiss my butt then!!
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October 24th 2008
Ok it’s pic time :) I did promise to take some more pics of Katie jumping.
She only went 3 tyres this morning because Minky was being a bit stressy and we didn’t want to put too much pressure on her as she was a little bit lame on one of her front legs earlier in the week but she was looking ok again this morning.
While Katie was saddling up Minky, I got bored and decided to play chase with grotty. It was funny as, she ended up hooning around the paddock at full gallop, tail in the air, mane all puffed up. She looked sensational running free, it was so good to watch.
After a minute or so of running around she came back for a snuggle, before running off again Soon as I called her she came galloping back to me, skidded to a stop, had a rub and then cantered back off again.
And then she dropped to the ground and had a huge roll . Bless her
Anyway here are some pics of Katie jumping on Minky, and I thought I’d have a go at taking some eye shots of Grotty. Hope you like them, off to see Bazz now and take some more pics
And here are the grotty eye pics
October 22nd 2008
Opps my bad Been really busy this last few days.
So what did you miss? Well bugger all really Let me fink.
Cherry is still up the duff, so she past her first milestone which was good. The foals heartbeat is about the size of a pearl and still hanging in there.
May also have found a new owner for the Bazz Monster, looks like a girl from Katies school will be giving him a go, so he will stay local which is great news. In fact it looks like she is going to agist him over where Katie has her riding lessons, so I’ll be able to say g’day to him every Monday at least.
Kaie is going well on Minky and now jumping 4 tyres without any dramas which is a great improvement, I’ll try take some photos at the weekend so you can see how high she is jumping.
And I’m starting to bring Grotty into work to lift her fitness so I can start taking her out at the weekends. Katie said she might even take her for her next lesson, it woud be good if Katie gave her a go.
Other than all that, it’s all been quiet, just waiting for the sun to come out
October 16th 2008
Great, the whip worked. Horsies are now really behaved when I feed them, downside is Grotty now see’s me as dominating her and walks away when I go near her
I have to cut in front of her so she stops otherwise I’ll end up herding her all around the paddock And now she follows me everywhere … stoopid horse
Oh well, I gave her a nice big brush and rub so she’s happy
Katie took Taffy around the cross country jumps this evening and had him jumping over 800mm (4 tyres stacked one on top of another) they were having a bundle of fun till I went and spoilt it by telling her to lower it. It’s a big ask for Taffy so she’s going to give it a go on Minky at the weekend.
Now she’s got her confidence on the jumps there is no stopping her, except the bit where I go stop it, but you know what i mean
October 15th 2008
Sorry for the delay in posts. I have had writers block since reading Muzzy’s comment about her barium enema fart in Boston.
Thank god it didn’t travel this far
Anyyyyyway. Grotty has the sooks. Seems that Minky has taken Alpha Mare status in the paddock. I noticed it at feeding time last night when Minky went for her to get her to back off when I was bringing the feed over.
So now I have to feed Minky first but I decided if that was the case I’d teach her some ground manners first, so out came the stock (bull) whip.
She has an annoying habit of trying to eat her feed out of the bucket before I have had chance to put it down, and also tries herding the other horses out of the way. I tried pushing her back but that didn’t really work.
So I started cracking the stock whip at her to make her back off, which worked great, and now she just stands about 20m back and waits for me to invite her over. Grotty is a bit nervous about the whole thing, she runs off as soon as I crack the whip and very slowly and cautiously comes over when I call her to feed.
Saying that she’s getting much better by the day, she realises I’m not angry with her because I call her over and call her a good girl and all that, and she gets the feed when she gets there, but it’s the whole whip thing, don’t think she likes it because it reminds her of trotting maybe.
I’ve put both Grotty and Minky on extra feed for now. Grotty has a conditioner mix and cool command as well as her chaff and Minky has conditioning mix, cool command and a grand prix high energy mix with her chaff as she’s in full work now.
And I also got them a mineral lick block which Grotty was happily slurping away on when I saw her this morning
Bless em
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October 12th 2008
Well that was a long day
Me and Katie were up at 6.30am to get her over to the Ballarat PC venue for the horse trials one day event. Started nice and cool but not cold and by the time we left at 5pm it was a tad warm. Really good turn out from clubs all over Victoria and a great day had by all.
Now to Katie. Last Pony Club (which was in September) when it got to the Cross Country section, Katie said she wasn’t confident and sat out the lesson (as she had the two times before that). She didn’t have show jumping on at the last Pony Club so other than the one time during the Pony Club Olympics that was her total jumping experience at Pony Club, so this was something that Katie had set her mind to conquer.
To help her get her jumping sorted out, I set up a cross country course at the property and she has been practising on that most days and had one of her friends over last week and the two of them spent the day jumping in the paddock.
Dressage was something else that Katie hadn’t really done. She has been getting private lessons in the arena and has been working on her transitions etc but had never done an actual event or even been graded for dressage until a couple of weeks ago, so her last lesson was spent going through her dressage test that she had to do today.
So today was her first ever one day event, first time she had been officially marked on a dressage test and first time she had ever done a cross country event.
And how did she go? Welllllllll.
The dressage started with a bit of a hiccup because the arena had been shortened by half and roped off, no-one explained this to Katie so on her first ride back down the centre line, she just kept going to A. Technically Katie was right because the test said ride to A unfortunately the A marker was out of the arena because it was still placed at the original entrance
The judges realised what was going on and allowed her to restart her test, which was good of them
She completed the test OK, and came in the back two thirds which was still a great result for her first time out. She scored mostly 6’s and 7’s and the final comment on her score sheet was “Need to use your legs a bit more but well done, with more practise and outings you’ll both be superstars!”
So that was that, and on to the Cross Country.
Katie got off to an iffy start, Minky refused on the first fence but Katie turned her around and had another go and got over ok, aced the next couple and had Minky pull up but again managed to have another go and get her through. 8th Fence she ended up having four attempts, which was one too many, but still got her over and then she aced the remainder of the course and ended up coming 13th out of 23. And given that the last time she was on that Cross Country course she couldn’t even do one fence she did really well.
And so to the final event the Show Jumping. She had walked the course, she had everyone advising her about nice wide circles, easy pace, line up nicely for the next fence, take them straight on etc etc.
So what does she do!!!
She was obviously determined because she wanted to show she had got her jumping sorted out, so she basicaly ignored everything she was told, took the circles way too tight, took the jumps at angles where she was trying to go around so fast, cantered the entire course and totally blitzed it.
Clear round and in one of, if not the fastest time. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, she just totally went for it, threw caution to the wind and was out on a mission.
The idea was she entered the arena and had a trot around, she had about a minute or so to warm up and have a look around until the bell rang, she entered the arena, went around the side so she was pointing at the first jump and just took off and didn’t stop until she skidded through the finish line 10 jumps later
Guess she sorted out her jumping then.
Anyway, end result was she came 9th overall out of 23 in her grade. Which I think is a huge effort for her first time out.
Would have done wonders for her confidence and she had the best day.
Way to go Katie!!!
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October 11th 2008
Less than 24 hours to go before Katie has her horse trials, it’s sooooo exciting, she is pretty much all organised and has her tack all sorted and cleaned and oiled etc.
We are going to head over to the arena a bit later to go through the dressage test again before tomorrow. She is on at 8.30am so we have to get up early and get to the competition, saddle up and go through gear check etc before then.
It’s going to be a warm sunny day so that’s good, least it’s not cold and raining
I had a grooming day with Grotty, plenty of lurve :) Gave her a brush over which she loved and gave her beard a trim becuase it gets in the way when I do up her bridle
Oh yeah I put on her bridle again and then decided to saddle her up and go for a ride around the paddocks. She was good as gold, didn’t put a foot wrong and now understands what I mean by stop. Which is a bonus because she thought stop meant, when you feel like slowing down a bit and fancy a chew on some grass, stick your head down and at your own pace just sort of quit the moving thing
Now she stops dead with her head forward waiting for me to either move her on again or slack the reins so she can stretch.
I also treated her to a fly cover because the last owner told me she was alergic to mossies, so I got her a snazzy white and black number with a tummy section to keep them for nibbling her belly. Her fly veil slips through the loops at the top as well so the neck section can’t end up sitting on her shoulders.
Will be interesting to see if it lasts the day :) Last one she went for a roll and trashed it.
I had to cut the nose section off the fly screen though cos it was all tatty and tickling her nose
Anyway here it is
October 10th 2008
Kharn the Saints!!! Sorry I’m still laughing at that. Saints just so you know are the St Kilda Football Club. That’s AFL by the way, or Australian Rules Football, not to be confused with Football (Soccer) that’s played in the UK etc, or Rugby.
In Victoria the AFL is massive, average crowd for two Vic teams in the finals series is 90,000+ fans at the stadium. In NSW Rugby is the main code, but they only get crowds of like 20,000 people cos it’s so boring to watch.
Sorry no idea why I felt the need to share that. Anywayyyyyyy big weekend coming up.
Katie has her first ever horse trials at Ballarat on Sunday. She has been practising hard all week and is now cantering over the entire cross country course I set up around the paddock. Which is a big win because she was really struggling with jumps up to this point.
She’s now jumping 60cm which is well over the grade 5 max of 45cm. And she has learnt her dressage test and had a few goes in the arena, so we will get back over there on Saturday and have a few more goes before she has the trial on Sunday.
I’ll let you all know how she went and take some pics etc etc.
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October 6th 2008
OK I know I said that this blog would be about all things equine and normally it would be , but for today I am going to digress, because frankly I am troubled and need to vent.
Please explain !!!! what the heck am I doing eating an entire packet of mince pies in the first week of October, actually why are they selling the stupid bloody things in October anyway, they are suppose to be for Christmas.
Now I am going to have to go buy another box :) Might have to get a Christmas pudding as well, actually forget that, I’ll just wait a week and get an Easter Egg whilst I’m at it.
I gave Grotty a hug today
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October 5th 2008
Wooohooo clocks went forward last night, got an hours less sleep but an hours extra sun. How good is that, this will set the farmers off again, they don’t like daylight savings because the hour of extra sun fades the curtains and the cows wont milk.
never mind, it’s a hick thang
Anywayyyyy I have a question. I don’t mind asking questions about horses because I have been upfront and declared I know nothing about them, so that means I don’t get to feel stupid for asking.
So, here goes. I noticed in the comments section a few have mentioned that when Grotty comes into season she may go all “Marey” on me and start being naughty and all that. I know with humans the horny season is every 4 years and that the menstruation cycle is every three days but I have no idea what it is with horses.
So if you could help me out that would be lovely
On a seperate note, Katie my 15 y/o TB Mare just got accepted at that local uni for a Certificate ii in Equine Studies. Wayyyyy cool. She really has her heart set on working with horses when she is older and the local high school here has a program called V.E.T which is basically vocational training. So she gets to drop one of her crappy subjects next year and replaces that with the Equine Studies course instead.
That way she will already have the certificate she needs to go on and do her diploma and not have to wait until she leaves school to start on it.
And on the Katie note, or Katie and Stinky Minky note, they both just got back from the Pony Club camp today and she had an absolute ball. Went for a full blown gallop across the hills on Minky, cantered her along a river and through a dam. Minky was so well behaved the whole weekend and Katie got signed off on all her disciplines so she can start competing now. Her first comp is next weekend when she has the horse trials at Pony Club and has to do dressage (gay), show jumping and cross country.
Totally gorgeous weekend, weather was perfect and loads of horsey stuff going on, even had time to do some more ground work with Grotty. I almost have her lunging without a rope
October 2nd 2008
Time and effort.
There you go that’s all I have to say about it.
oh, and there are so many cliches, catch phrases, summaries, points of view etc etc about how to work with horses it’s hard really to get your head around the best approach.
I have tried parelli, with success I might add, I have read, listened to and seen other “Natural horseman” and have to say I do swing towards the natural side of horsemanship, really do not see either the need or the point in flogging a horse (live or dead) to get what you want out of it.
I do believe it’s an understanding built between a prey animal and a predator that is the basis of getting the best out of your equine friend and a mutual respect built upon trust. Trust you are not going to harm or eat it :)
And I also believe that when someone says I know a really good horse person and they can jump on any horse and get the best out of them in minutes is talking complete and utter poo. They can get something out of them but I do not believe the best out of them. That takes more than just getting on them.
I have now had Grotty for just over 4 weeks, I have achieved more in the last 4 weeks with her than I ever dreamed of and every day is a step forward with her which gives me great enjoyment.
She has her nervous or naughty moments the float for example. Didn’t want to know about it, took 2 of us nearly 2 hours to float her when I bought her, 4 weeks on and she self loads. Today, again, I opened up the float, pointed her towards it and gave her a tap on her shoulder and in she went. Door closed, all up 10 seconds.
Earlier this afternoon I though I’d give her a quick ride around the paddock. Didn’t want the bridle and then she got spooked when someone came up behind her and ran off. I walked over to her, took her back to the tack area and tried again. Took about 10 minutes to finally get her bridle on her and fastened up.
I then took it off and put it back on, again and again. After about 8 goes she was lowering her head for me and it was taking about 60 seconds to put on and fasten.
I went back out an hour later with the bridle, she walked over and I popped it straight on, no fuss.
Once she knew what it was I wanted to do, she was more than happy to help.
Time and effort.
I’m stood by the tack area and there is hay on the ground, Grotty decides to have a nibble, and she lowers her head I pop my crop under her chin and she lifts her head back up, she tries again, I pop the crop under. After about 1/2 dozen goes she gave up and stood there head forward not moving for about 10 minutes before I offered her some hay.
When she had finished she went get some more, crop under chin, gave up and then stood there looking at me almost to ask for some more hay.
NOOOOOO Not the hay!!!!!! Ha ha beat ya.
Anyway my point being and I’m probably preaching to the converted is time and effort, take it slow, build the trust, build the bond and make them feel safe, that’s the key to getting the most out of your horse.
I see way too many examples of riders unable to control their horses on the ground, horse has no manners and has been allowed to get away with it and will continue to until the issues are addressed. They are not difficult to address but it could make the difference between a safe experience or a dangerous one.
And if they are not well behaved on the ground, I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be riding them.
Now it is starting to warm up, I think I might take Grotty out for a ride soon
September 29th 2008
YEEHAAA!! BANG BANG!!! Had the camera out again today, couldn’t resist it. I had been moving a load of hay over to my barn so I kept chucking the odd handful to Grotty and Stinky so by about the third trip they had pigged themselves silly and spent the afternoon collapsed in a shitty heap in the paddock.
I was really pleased because, yet another first, Grotty let me go over and give her a cuddle whilst she was lying down, I figure either she was happy me being in her space or she couldn’t be arsed to get up and hoof me, either way it was nice to get close up with her whilst she was having a rest.
Stinky trashed, check out the close up below
She was so tired, look at her mouth buried into the ground
My girls resting up after pigging out
Toothy grabs the moment to finish off the hay
September 27th 2008
I’m so chuffed with myself that I didn’t get involved in the comments about renaming Cherry now she’s lost hers It was so tempting but it just would have got real messy LOL
Anywayyyy
Look what I saw this morning when I woke up. Grotty must feel pretty settled here now, that’s the first time I have seen her having a lie down in the paddock and then she went and had a nice big roll straight afterwards.
All three of them when just lying in the morning sun having a snooze, soooo cute
Grotty having a little lie down
And then she started having a roll and scratch on the ground.
And then she got up and had a big shake and came said hello to me
September 26th 2008
Well I thought I might have been able to duck a day’s post as I was waiting for a write up on the cherry bonking thingy but that will have to wait
Anyway I had a good result today with Grotty. I was trying on her new, new saddle. This is not the new saddle I tried on a couple of weeks back, cos the seat was too big for me, so I had to go get a smaller one. The other day I found this awesome saddle shop in a place we affectionately call the “back of yer arse” or as it is correctly named Bacchus Marsh.
And in the shop I spotted this ripper Australian made Poley Range Rider Deluxe stock saddle, I have been after one of these since I first started riding, the leather is really good quality and it has a nice deep seat and heaps of buckles to hang stuff off, but I really like the stock saddle with the horn combo.
Here it is below. This is not the deluxe edition, but I’ll be buggered if I can spot the difference between this one and my one. Maybe mine is the deluxe version cos it has a brass plate on the back saying deluxe edition and that’s the only difference
Anyway it fitted her perfectly, much better than the old, new one and it was great to sit on.
Anyyywayyyy, that’s not the good bit, the good bit is I decided seeing as I had her in the house paddock I might try giving her some float / trailer practice and see if I could improve on the 15 minutes from last time.
10 SECONDS!!!!!! I swear to god, on my own as well. Katie went to hold the door to stop it swinging and she turned around to say something and before she even had hold of the door, Grotty was already stood inside the float and I was closing the door
The look on her face was classic, she just stood there going “What the?” “How the?” “But, but” “Eh?”
It was brilliant, it just took a couple of taps on Grotties shoulder with the crop and she hopped straight on.
I am so chuffed with her
September 23rd 2008
I thought a picture of a humping horse might be innappropriate so here is one of the stallion not humping Cherry the Hussy.
Oh and I got a new martingale for Grotty :)
The weather is nice
Ermmm I’m thinking ….. Nah can’t think of anything
What a hopeless and pointless post LOL
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September 21st 2008 (After 6pm)
BLOODY HELL CHERRY!!!! Hope he took you to dinner first.
I’ll fill you in with the details tomorrow, have to go find Bazz and break the bad news
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September 21st 2008 ((Early Afternoon) About 4ish)
Well I had a nice day today with Grotty.
Did some ground work with her and she was really well behaved, got her walking through some tight spaces and stuff and then gave her a lunge.
SHE CAN CANTER!!! ok, in a circle with a rope on her and me swishing a parelli carot stick behind her, but it’s still a canter.
I then got her trotting over some small jumps, she didn’t like it at first but once she knew what I wanted her to do, she did really well.
I picked up the last of the poles so set up three more jumps, so now there are 8 in total, and I added some double poles to a couple of them and had Grotty jumping one of those.
And when we finished up she gave me the biggest cuddle for about 10 mins. I had her head resting on my arm and I was stroking her head and she started relaxing and her head was getting heavier and heavier :) I think she started to fall asleep on me, it was soooo cute.
September 20th 2008
Well what a day that was, had more horses here than you can shake a stick at, which is not a good idea by the way as they tend to get a tad upset and run away.
Anyway someone brought her broodmare over to have it’s hoofs trimmed and her teeth done, and someone else turned up with a couple of arabs, not the sort that try to blow your house up but the horsey type ones.
The grief I am going to get for that … Anyway these two blokes, no idea where they came from, put some new shoes on the arabs, cos they needed new shoes … I think they used their old ones to beat someones feet with.
Anyyyywayyy after that they did all the horses teeth, never seen a pair work so fast and do such a good job. Really happy with Grotty getting done because I think it’s been a good few years but she was really well behaved, so I was well happy.
All they had to do was stick a nose ring on her, stick a big vice in her gob, grab her tongue and one of her ears, and it’s no wonder I don’t want to go to the dentist
September 19th 2008
Opps missed yesterday cos I was soooooo busy.
Katie had her riding lesson last night on Stinky Minky and Bazz was there!!!
Sounds like he’s still up to his old lazy tricks, that’s my boy. I heard he was bridle lame :) As soon as his bridle went on he started limping LOL that’s brilliant.
And I also heard a rumor that Cherry is about to lose her virginity …. again ;) But this time to a real horse with proper dangly bits and stuff, not the Bazz bits :) She went over to the vet yesterday for a pre-sprog check up and then she’s off to see some stallion dude to get the deed done (Cherry that is)
I think it all sounds boring without pics so I want to take some photos so I can post them up here and really make this a tasteless blog :)
Annnnnnnd it looks like there will be another mare preggers at the same time so Cherry has another mare in the paddock going through what she will be going through and they can have foals together and go to creche together and share the ute (Pickup truck) to go baby horse clothes shopping and whatever else mares do when they have foals.
JShdeu 43%$#sb qw
Opps sorry that was me trying to type whilst rolling my eyes :)
I DON’T GET IT!!!!! Maybe I need to get more in-tune with the horsie pyschology bit. Why would another pregnant mare make a difference? It’s not like they can chat about it, is it??
Ouch!!
What’s the matter Cherry?
Something hurts in my tummy
ohhhhhhwww I knowwwwww, Oh that’s ok sweetie, that’s your foal, you can feel him moving inside you
But it hurts
ohhhhhhwww I knowwwwww, You wait if you think that hurts
What’s happening to me???
ohhhhhhwww I knowwwwww, Oh look sit down sweetheart and I’ll tell you all about it.
WTF!!!
Seriously, someone should have put Cherry in a paddock with a broodmare for a couple of months BEFORE the stallion jumps her bones and warned her about it first and then spent some time at least preparing her for motherhood!!
Bet she has no idea where Baby Target is, poor horse
Think I’d better shut up and go have a nice cup of tea.
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September 17th 2008
No it bloody well was not me and Grotty!!!! :)
In back to back news here in Horsetralia this week, the giggles started with the following article
Horse rider charged with drink-riding
A 22-year-old man allegedly caught riding a horse while intoxicated in north-west Queensland has been charged with drink driving.
The man allegedly recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.146 while riding a horse in Mount Isa, about midnight (AEST) Monday.
Police said it was a timely reminder that regardless of a person’s choice of transportation, all road rules still applied.
The man will appear in Mount Isa Magistrates Court on October 13.
Now obviously that’s very wrong, I know I came pretty close to getting a speeding ticket when riding Bazz once when he clocked 120km/h in a 100km/h zone but drinking and driving on a horse, is just silly. Mind you not as silly as going on a trail ride with a hangover eh ;)
Anyway at least the horse did nothing wrong, unlike the next article that just had me laughing all morning
Australian police hunt for drunk rider and his flower stealing horse (Thanks Thea for mailing this in)
Australian police were searching for an allegedly drunken rider last weekend after he refused to pay for flowers eaten by his horse.
The horse began munching on AUS$40 worth of flowers just after 9pm on Sunday night (14 September) after he was left outside a service station in McGraths Hill, New South Wales while his rider went shopping.
The service station owner confronted the rider, who appeared drunk, but he refused to pay — and after a short scuffle, rode off.
Australia’s Daily Telegraph reported that the man, nicknamed ‘Cowboy’, was riding his horse ‘Donkey’ home from the pub because he had lost his licence for drink driving.
Police inquires into the man’s identity are continuing.
Puhahahahaha Ohhhhh Nooooooo not the flowers
LOL Sorry just after I posted this, I spotted up another article on the second one .. check this out
Hungry horse cowboy: I wasn’t drunk
A man who refused to pay for two bunches of flowers his hungry horse “Donkey” ate was riding it home because he had lost his driver’s licence for drink driving.
The man - nicknamed “Cowboy” - said he had been “drinking Coke” at The Royal Exchange at Windsor before the incident on Sunday night.
Cowboy revealed he had to restrain himself when a service station attendant tried to make a citizen’s arrest because he wouldn’t pay for $40 worth of flowers his horse consumed.
“He was annoying me,” he said.
“He was a dickhead… he was a total dickhead.”
Cowboy said he was “minding his own business” when Donkey ate two bunches of flowers worth $20 each outside a service station on Windsor Rd, McGraths Hill just after 9pm.
He called Merrick and Rosso and Kate Ritchie’s Nova 969 breakfast show this morning after they put a call out for him to ring in.
When asked if he had lost his licence for drink driving he replied “maybe”.
A pub patron, who wished to only be known as Tim, said Cowboy had arrived at the pub around 4pm.
“We thought it was a bit unusual - a horse tied up out the front of the pub,” he said.
“We thought it was funny without the horse eating the flowers.
“I live in Parramatta so to the locals it might have been a normal thing but we don’t get to see that very often.
“He had his white cowboy hat on - he’s a real bushy.
“He got up and grabbed one of the mic’s and sang Kenny Rogers’ The Gambler with the band halfway through.
Tim said Cowboy had had a few beers.
When asked about Cowboy’s claim he was drinking Coke he said: “There must have been bourbon in the Coke.”
“We had to go outside to smoke and he had the horse tied up in the laneway where everyone was smoking,” he said.
“He was raving on about his horse.
“He hopped on and rode off and he said he was going to Vineyard which is a good 15km away.
“We thought he couldn’t be going that far in the state he was in.”
I loves Horsetralia “He was a dickhead… he was a total dickhead.” puhahaha
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September 15th 2008
Nothing much to write about seeing as it decided to absolutely bucket down all day.
Except it rained but I already said that :) It did stop long enough for me to feed the horsies though except I had to go through two paddocks to retrieve the feed bin after hurricane bollox blew it half way across Australia.
Grotty was pleased to see me though, I know it’s only cos I had food, but she’s taken to talking to me when she see’s me getting out of the Jeep, which is kinds cute, or very cute even
I’m really happy I got Grotty now I’ve spent some time with her, didn’t really click with the mares before, cept Cherry cos she’s a sweetie. But Sally was a bit marey and that bugger Bonnie bit me, clarity was ok but not my cup of tea, Minky is a sweetheart though. It’s about now I’m realising I have no idea what I’m going on about or what point I’m trying to make, especially when I think that Nobby was a pain in the butt, Jacko was gay as you like and bucked like a mule, and Bazz … well, other than being my best mate, he’s a big scaredy cat and a wind sucker, oh and he could be a bit of a tosser when he wanted to.
So in summary, the geldings were pretty hopeless too
Maybe I’m just lucky with picking them. The only horses I actually said we should buy without riding them first were Taffy, Minky and Grotty, and they have all turned out to be really good. I know with Grotty it’s still early days but both Taffy and Minky have been sensational.
Mind you, I think getting Cherry was a great find, she is a stunning horse and with some more education she will be fantastic to ride.
Anyway seeing as I wasn’t going to say anything cos I had nothing to say, I’m going … cya’s
September 14th 2008
Well I finally, finally finished clearing out the barn, which was great because I really needed to create some space for all the crap I keep buying for the horses :) Borrowed a trailer to haul all the rubbish over to the dump and then swung on back to grab some hay and some jumping poles.
I decided to put some jumps up in the bigger paddock so Katie could practice her jumps on Stinky Minky, it ended up looking really cool, set up 1/2 dozen jumps on a mini cross country course through the trees.
Katie on the cross country course with Minky
Grotty and Toothy having some chaff. I had to laugh when I saw this, Bazz would have taken Toothy’s head clean off if he had tried that one on him.
Grotty is such a sweet natured girl, she was more than happy to share the bucket.
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September 12th 2008 (Again, just cos I can)
Can’t be waiting until tomorrow
Now this has nothing at all to do with horses except Russell Crowe sat on one, anyway, latest news from the land of Oz is that Snoop Dogg has finally been given a visa to visit Australia as long as he has counselling for his anger management problems after Russell Crowe personally vouched for Snoopy Gobb Dogg or whatever his face is, to immigration.
Now I really don’t care much for rap, I think it’s crap but that’s beside the point. What I do think is funny is that Snoopy Gobb gets a visa based on the support of a New Zealander (Russell Crowe is not Australian by the way, unless he wins an Oscar that is) who got busted big time for lobbing his phone at a hotel employee when he had a temper tantrum.
There is some irony there, I just know there is. Whole story made me bloody angry, wow more irony. Fantastic…
Anyyyywayyy I didn’t do a special post to carp on about (No that was not a typo, I really did mean carp) Russell The Kiwi Crowe and Snotty Dagg, I actually thought I’d show you some photos of Grotty I took with my new Canon Rebel (YEEEHHHA BANG BANG)
I should point out these were all taken using “I can’t be arsed to read the instructions” mode so I was pretty happy.
Enjoy
Bazz in disguise :) Sure looks a lot like the big doof
The Girls first thing this morning (ok about 7.20am) coming for a feed
Waiting patiently by the electric fence that now has a pic of Muzzy on it
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September 12th 2008
Two goldfish in a tank. One says “you get the gun and I’ll drive”.
I woke up really missing Bazz this morning. He’s back in his mums paddock with a sore hoof. He has picked up an abscess on one of his front hoofs, his mum said he was shuffling from one hoof to another like some big goofy tap dancer :) anyway she’s on to it and hopefully he will be back to normal (if that’s actually possible) in no time.
Meanwhile he’s turned out and not being ridden. Anyway I still woke up with this real feeling of loss and really missing him and then I realised why. They do say abscess makes the heart grow fonder!!
Boom boom, puhahah I can’t believe I typed all that just for that punchline, I should go back to bed.
And thank god it’s Friday, forcast 25 degrees this weekend, which might not sound like a big deal but it was only last week I woke up and it was -1.
Time to turn off the heating, put on the paddock clothes and go do some horsie stuff. I got a new camera yesterday (Canon 450D Rebel x2) So I’m hoping to get some noice pics of Grotty, if I can get those bloody elephant ears of hers in the photo. I swear she’s a Std Bred / Mule cross.
And just because I said “Rebel” don’t all you Texans start going YEHAAA!! and firing your guns in the air, it’s only a camera for gods sake
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September 11th 2008
I worked out today that I have C.D.O (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) I know it should be OCD but I like it in alphabetical order, as it should be.
Anyway, sorry about yesterdays post. I thought it would be harmless enough but that’s before I took the comments into account
Finally, we have some nice warm weather coming, so this morning it was rugs off time. Well for Minky anyway as she is the only one that has a rug in winter. Toothy doesn’t need one because he looks like a yeti as it is with all that fur of his. On that note I better get him checked out cos he’s started getting bald patches, looks like some sort of fungal condition, mind you he is a fungi to be around. PUHAHAH I crack myself up sometimes.
Grotty was being extra cute this morning, she cantered across the paddock to see me, yes I know she wanted feeding, but it will still nice to see, sort of miss Bazz’s 20 minute stroll across the paddock greeting though.
I use to be able to call Bazz, go make a coffee, have a wash, feed the kids breakfast and then pop outside just as he got to the gate
On the Bazz note, Bobbie (Indy’s mum) spotted the hall of fame is up on the old Bazz website. All Bazz’s paddock mates are up there as well as some of Bazz’s frens. Need some more pics from the old regulars!!!!
September 10th 2008
Ok, this is horsie related, honest, I promise :)
I had the most bizarre day. It all started with an email from my boss alerting me to an incident at the head office.
I then got on the phone to him to find out what was going on, couple of calls later, and a flurry of emails, this is what transpired.
Someone (Who shall remain nameless cos I want to keep my job thanks) is in his office on the phone to a customer, the guy from reception walks into his office with a package. The “Exec” asked what was up, and the receptionist, very calmy said, I just had to sign for your Viagra and handed the exec a package with VIAGRA written in bold on the front of it.
Exec (Now lost for words and still on the phone) turns purple and receptionist bolts back to reception. Turns out the exec in a fit of boredom actually did respond to the spam email offering cheap viagra and promptly orders some and has it sent to his work place that happens to consist of 28 guys who now all know that the exec just got a viagra package.
Yes I know us blokes are childish and immature but I just couldn’t stop laughing all day about it.
Anyway the next minute, emails are flying around about Mr Floppy, penile dysfunctional problems etc etc.
Next thing is I get an email from the exec (who’s also a mate of mine) offering to off-load some on me :)
Obviously, as I told him, I don’t need any help if that department so I promptly said no and continued to take the piss out of him.
I did ask him what on earth he was thinking sending it to the office, and he said he didn’t want his missus to find out, and I’m like, err mate, I think she might notice when you are still going two days later
He then sent me an email saying .. quote “Go on, One of those little blue pills and Bazzy Boy would have a little more respect for you” (See told you it was about horses)
WTF!!!! How the heck did it go from Mr Floppy buying viagra on-line from some sleezy back door (Pardon the pun) Chinese drug Company, to Bazz?
It all went totally wrong after that, none of it can be repeated here unfortunately, but suffice to say I will now be entertained for weeks after this.
Silly people
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September 9th 2008
Ok my horse is stoopid, actually Stinky De Minky is not so smart either. I went to feed them earlier and had a big red feed bucket with 4 scoops of chaff in it and a small green one with two scoops in it.
So they both went for and started fighting over the small green one.
Could I get Grotty Dotty to eat out of the red one…noooo, so I thought I can’t be bothered with this and offered it to Minky who just went straight for the small green one again.
It took me having to seperate them so that Grotty could finally figure that the red bucket had exactly the same feed in it but more of it. Sighhhhh….
Annnyyyyway. Here are some before an after pics of the horse float / dunny / trailer that I picked up on ebay. Spent about two weeks de-rusting the float, repainting it, adding bits and stuff.
Repainted front panel dark grey, repainted all frame work and added flamming horse head
Added small tack box, new water bottles, repainted sides and added art work
Added new water tank, repainted and added art work, painted top rail dark grey
Added 4 bump stops so tailgate is kept off the ground, repainted and added art work
Repainted inside and repaced black and white check on the shoulder cushions and tack box lid with red leather from an old sofa
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September 6th 2008
Well it’s Saturday here and I promised I’d give it a go, so I did.
It’s now day 6 since I got Grotty. Really four days because I didn’t really do anything the first couple of days she was here because I thought I’d let her settle in.
So, 6 days on and I can approach her no problems at all, plenty of rubbing and bonding and she even stays when she knows there is no food She’s happy for me to put a halter on and lead her out of the paddock.
The floating was a problem, as I said been a couple of years since she was last floated and that was on a truck not a poxy double horse float like I have.
Yesterday I managed to get both of her front hoofs on the tailgate. This is where I got to after 15 mins today
Taaaa daaa, single handed as well. My daughter held the breaching door open because I wasn’t parked level so it has a tendancy to swing shut, and I managed to float grotty on my own, she stood inside the float and stayed still so I could shut the rear breaching door. I’ll knock up some sort of retainer on the float to stop the door swinging when open.
All it took in the end was gently tapping her on the nearside shoulder with a dressage whip, she had a tendancy to not move forward and if she did she went side on to avoid getting onto the float. This helped to move her forward and stop her from turning side on.
First attempt using that method she had her front hoof inside the actual float, not just on the tailgate, second attempt she went right inside. I am sooooo stoked (happy) :)
Woohoo, locked and loaded. (Do you like my restored float btw)
Anyway, next thing was the getting on her bit. That turned out to be no problem at all getting on to her, she stood perfectly still whilst I was on her and she moved forward really well. Didn’t have a stop button, so I need to work on that
Had to wait until she bent down to get some grass so I could get off because I didn’t want to yank on her mouth and spook her, little steps
Main thing was she behaved when I got on her and stayed put till I told her to move
Also worked on her ground manners a bit today, gave her a couple of japs when she got too close to me so she’s not trying to stand on me anymore :) She tried walking over me during float practice and got a swift slap on the chest and she stopped doing that, I can back her up now by just putting my hand on her chest which is good as well.
So all in all I’m pretty happy with her progress, she’s a lovely horse, really nice way about her. She’s not as stand-offish as Bazz was which makes working with her a lot easier. Maybe it’s because Bazz was such a rat bag sometimes it’s just seems easier this time around, or maybe she is just behaving at the moment and will start trying it on later
Either way it was a gorgeous day, sun was out and it was warm for a change so spending a couple of hours in the paddock with Grotty was a perfect way to spend it.
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September 5th 2008
LOL Couldn’t wait for the weekend :)
Took a day off work so spent some time with Grotty.
Still getting to know one another but her behaviour is getting better every day which is great. I thought the bridle and saddle fitting was going to be a nightmare but she was really good. I had to faff about with the bridle to get all the straps to the right length and once I got the bit in her mouth she was as good as gold and just stood there.
Same with the saddle, I was half expecting her to get shitty when I tightened the girth but she didn’t flinch and didn’t run off!!! So, sorry, no photos of me having to chase her around the paddock
I gave her a bit of a lunge with the saddle on, she seems to struggle with the whole walking bit, prefers to trot all the time so I’m having to teach her to slow down a bit but she was great, didn’t pull away or anything and seemed to enjoy it.
I then decided to climb up on to the saddle to see how she responded to me adding weight to her and again she just stood there, didn’t try to walk off, buck, pig root or bite me :) so I was happy with that. I only leaned accross the saddle today so will try sitting on her at the weekend.
And if that wasn’t enough, I decided to get her use to the float, obviously some trust issues with me there When I picked her up she hadn’t been floated for a couple of years or more, so wasn’t too keen to get into a strange float with an even stranger human, she wasn’t that keen today either but I managed to get her to get both front feet up on to the ramp, I banked that as a win and called it a day.
I could see she was trying really hard to trust me and unlike Bazz who would pull right away if he didn’t want to get in, as soon as there was some tension on the lead rope she would pull back slightly, back down and move forward again. She is trying so hard.
Oh and now I can approach her in the paddock no problems and catch her without her moving, so I’m happy with that.
September 4th 2008
Ahhh bless her, when I came home tonight she was stood by the fence waiting for me, ears up and forward and when I went over to say hello she let me give her a big scratch and just stood there until I got bored and walked off.
So she either likes me or someone drugged her whilst i was at work :) or she was stuck in the mud, or got bitten by a tick and is paralysed, or is just stoopid.
Either way it’s an improvement on running away
September 3rd 2008
Well I never, honest it’s true
Anyway guess what. I went over to say g’day to Grotty today and she didn’t run away .. woohoo.
She walked straight over, had a little nicker and then just stood there and let me rub her head and I finally worked out that if I turn the electric fence off she doesn’t mind standing still. Funny that.
Well I’m starting to psych myself up for the big event at the weekend, I have oiled the bridle so it’s nice and soft, got my saddle all sorted and ready to be tried out on her, got the camera for when she legs it.
I’m actually getting excited
September 2nd 2008
Well I thought it might have been the sudden blooming of the new seasons flowers or the sudden appearance of little lambs, roo’s, koalas or whatever that tipped me off to the fact that spring has finally arrived. But alas no, it was definitely the comments to yesterdays post
No I’m not going to publish pics of me in nothing but my cowboy hat and boots, me in chaps or me in anything else for that matter, ok maybe the chaps.
Sooooo soon the warm weather will be here again, followed shortly after by the baking hot weather, shitty killer snakes and rock hard riding surfaces, I so can’t wait.
Almost as soon as the clock struck midnight on Sunday night signifying the start of spring, Willow the house cat started howling out of the front room window for the local feral tom cat to come pay a visit. Grotty Dotty came into season, sprayed toothy in the head and then proceeded to back up to the fence and start calling over the stallion shetland pony in the paddock next door.
Today, it was actually surprisingly warm and even despite yesterdays rambling about stoopid amounts of money spent on horses I find myself walking out of the Ascot Rd Saddlery with a new bridle for Grotty, a girth strap, some rubber bit guards and some leather softener. I am, I fear, bloody hopeless.
Mind you the new pair of RM Williams jeans I picked up at half price are fantastic, shame they only have one leg.
My target for the weekend is to tack Grotty up in her new bridle and try on my new stock saddle and spend the next hour chasing her around the paddock to try get my saddle back, I know this is going to be so much fun once I have broken through the pain / despair / frustration / search for shotgun stage of having a new horse.
But hey, it’s spring so it can’t be all that bad.
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September 1st 2008
Ya know, I get cats and dogs, actually I don’t get cats but that’s besides the point. I understand dogs though, they are simply, loyal, obedient creatures who give you heaps back. Chewed sofa’s, pooh in the hallway, that sort of stuff.
I don’t have a dog now because their incessant barking every time something comes within semi close proximity of the house does my head in, and the last one I had ate my electrics, but I do have a cat.
My dog had a collar, a lead, a food bowl and a bone. My cat has a food bowl, a scratchy pole and a couple of play mice.
My horse, or horses, because my daughters horse is only her horse when she’s riding it, when she’s not riding it and it needs something it’s my horse again :)
My horses have 3 feed bins, 3 saddles, 2 saddle holders, 8 saddle blankets, 4 bridles, one bitless bridle, 6 sets of reins, 9 rugs, 1 tack box, 1 hay bag, 2 spare sets of stirrups, 1 horse float, 4 brushes, 3 combs, 5 headstalls, 7 lead ropes, 2 bot fly knives, 2 bath tubs for water, 2 riding helmets, 1 dressage whip, 1 lunge whip, 3 parelli carrot sticks, 3 crops, 2 lunge ropes and a big pile of crap in the corner of my tack room which I am too scared to look under to find out what else I have.
That’s before we get into the 5 pairs of jodhpurs, 2 riding coats, 3 sets of gaiters, 3 pairs of riding boots, the cowboy hat and the sheriffs badge.
Last night whilst sitting at my computer Willow the cat climbed up the back of my chair sat on my shoulder and licked my ear.
Bazz never did that, even after I spent a small fortune on him. I’m going to train Grotty Dotty to come into the house, climb up my chair and lick my ear, don’t want her to learn the sitting on my shoulder bit though.
My point, if I have one, which to be honest I’m not sure I do, is that for a return on investment horses are pretty crap when it comes down to a spend v payback scenario compared to most other pets, that is.
On the plus side I would never have been able to explain all the leather, ropes, straps and whips without the horses in the paddock which reminds me I should probably get them out of the house and back into the shed.
So why do we do it? And yes we all do it. Not the leather and whips thing… sigh … I mean the spending of hideous amounts of money to pursue our love of horses.
I guess if all my horse had was a food bowl, a scratchy post and some toy mice it would be boring as hell and I wouldn’t feel inspired to do much with it, but driven by a vision of riding through the sunset on a magnificent steed, dressed like a cowboy and going places that no-one has ever ventured before inspires me to put myself through all this, spend the dosh and risk near death experiences just to be able to ride something that was never intended to be ridden in the first place and should for all intense and purpose be running like a horse possessed in the opposite direction from the meat eating predator approaching it with a chunk of metal for it’s mouth and a big slab of leather for it’s back.
Not sure who’s more stupid me or the horses….. shut up!!!
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August 31st 2008
Well folks here she is ….. ittttttttttttt’s Grotttttttyyyy
Decided to call her Grotty Dotty :) Her original name was “Dorthydeedinosaur”
She is a standard bred and has been broken for saddle and harness, they had high hopes for her on the track because she had a really good Dam and Sire, but she was pretty hopeless so never really raced.. why does this all sound so familiar
Anyway I decided to get the carrot stick out today and have some fun with her, turns out she has never been lunged, so that was a nice surprise having her totally spacking out every time I moved the carrot stick behind her. I forgot they tend to whip the crap out of them when training them under harness.
Oh well at least she didn’t stamp on me, that was a real bonus. She’s still a bit nervous but every time I go see her she seems a little less likely to run away from me :) We are going through the whole herd thing at the moment, she has already dominated Minky and Toothy and now she’s turning her focus on me