Category Archives: animals

i love the sound of munching horses

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I sit here, at the outdoor table, in our yard. Surrounded by horses munching on the grass and dogs under the table, hiding from the horses.

Its a glorious day.

Wayne trimmed hooves today cause our farrier is out of action for a while. I held horses. Dancer, who had never had her feet done before we got her, was the best. Wally was like a bucking bronco with his back legs. Ben was just naughty with his front.

After that, neither of us felt like doing much but sitting in the sun and just enjoying. Listening to old 60s British pop bands, including Herman’s Hermits.

For some reason I woke up this morning with “No milk today” on my mind. Love that song.

So here are a few photos of the broncs enjoying the grass.

Ben, below, has started to fill out and put on weight. He’s looking good.


 I love Ben’s stripe and the way one of his eyes has a spot of white on the lid and some white eyelashes.

Ben and Wally, best buds.



 Dancer, also filling out, outside the woodshed.

Dancer eating around the pom pom bush and the columbines.

A close up of the columbine buds. Obviously the ones in here are purple. I wonder where I put the white ones…

Dancer and Wally. See the difference in colour? Dancer is going lighter and lighter as she loses her old coat.

The family… you can just see Mishca and Barney under the table. They stay out of the way when the horses are in the yard.

Wally, in front of the house.

So now you know why I’ll never have a nice yard. Horses and nice yards don’t go hand in hand. I think I prefer relaxing weekends with horses in the yard to a perfect garden.

z

day 9 – so much work, so little to show for it

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 It was a gorgeous day. We planned to get home early to feed the animals and relax a while. Didn’t happen.
I had a toothache/headache so I had to go to the dentist after work. 
Result: its not the new filling. It may not even be the tooth.
Am I stressed?
Isn’t everyone?

No, am I especially stressed right now?

Um. No… Yes.
We put tenants in my house in Fentonbury cause selling wasn’t happening. We thought it’d take a load off.
Since the new tenants have moved in we’ve had:
– the chimney top was blown off in strong winds. Twice. Get someone to go fix it. Mortar it in. Glue, sticky tape, whatever works.
– the cooktop wasn’t working properly. I had to buy a new one, in an uncommon size, so I had to order it in which took 4 weeks
– the electrician went up, looked, said it didn’t fit and left
– problems with overflow pipes, the plumber looked and went on a trip for 4 weeks and will fix it when he gets back
– get the septic emptied cause it was full
– the hot water pipe broke, plumber is away so I had to find an alternative plumber
– the hand held shower I bought to replace the one the previous tenants broke doesn’t fit… buy a spout for the bathtub instead
So, do you think I’m stressed? Clenching my jaw at night maybe?
Go back to wearing the mouthguard at night – see if it helps.
Back home, luckily it was still sunny. Thank dog for daylight saving. I helped feed animals, rug horses and then I got stuck into working website work. For hours.
So much for my creativite endeavours!
Here’s Rodney with three of his girls.
And here’s the old doghouse the ducks use as a nesting box.
 
There are 9 ducks, no idea where the others are right now. Probably sitting on eggs.
On the weekend Wayne put in a new fence and gate leading up to the back of our property cause the horses escaped. Here he is checking it.
 And here is Ben munching on grass while Dancer rests.
I’m loving daylight savings. It means that I get home and its not too cold to go out and spend some time with my boy. He’s finally beginning to fill out and he sure is a big boy. He’s 4 years old now and I think he’s still growing!
To recap –
Things I did:
Bonded with my horse, fed the dogs, cuddled poodles, hung out a load of washing, added a few more things to my to do list.
Things I didn’t do:
Almost everything else on the list.
z

wild horses couldn’t drag me away

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What a great way to kick off 31 days!

I was just about to go out and feed the horses when the neighbour behind us called. Our horses were in their yard.

Their beautiful manicured acres of lawn.

Not so beautiful any more.

Seems the horses either knocked down the temporary gate to the ford, or took advange when it somehow came loose by itself.

I’m not pointing fingers, but I suspect Wally had something to do with it. Why? Cause that horse is like the schoolyard bully and class troublemaker all rolled into one really big package.

I walked over there with a bucket of feed and tried to coax them back. Ben, my sweetie (and a guts) came over straight away for some treats and followed me back to our paddock. Dancer followed and Wally held back a while, then galloped full pelt towards me.

I almost peed my pants praying he’d pull up in time.

I got Ben in our paddock but Wally refused to come. He stood outside the gate, then turned and hightailed it out of there, Ben and Dancer trailing him.

Repeat above 3 times.

3rd time they went down the neighbour’s driveway. All the way to the road.

By the time I got down here, walking, bucket of feed in hand, they were about 3 houses down, getting to know the gorgeous leopard appaloosa that moved in a couple of months ago. They were sniffing and fence racing up and down the paddock.

Again, Ben, the sweetie, came to me (eventually) and Dancer followed. I grabbed hold of Dancer by the neck rug, and walked her back to our driveway. Ben was following. Wally eventually joined us, stuck his nose into the driveway, then turned and galloped off again, luring Ben off with him.

Sigh.

Luckily I was able to keep hold of Dancer and got her in the bottom paddock.

Meanwhile I walked further up the road and found the boys in a neighbour’s front yard scaring the hell our of their dog.

Again, my sweet Benny boy came to me and I was able to grab him and lead him back to the bottom paddock. Wally reluctantly followed, taking off up the driveway in an effort to show he was no lamb being led to captivity like the others.

I lost the battle to move them back into the top paddock – I let them stay in the bottom paddock.

I’m over it.

z

where’s dinner and do you have regrets?

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Where’s dinner?
Do you ever regret throwing something(s) way? It isn’t something I think of often, but lately something I read reminded me of stuff I threw out many years ago which I now feel a bit bad about.
Not the photos of a particular ex-boyfriend…  I can live without that memory.
No, I don’t regret that. But there are some small things that I do regret throwing out.
You know how, when you’re in love and everything seems like it’ll last forever, this is the man of your dreams, the white picket fence looms in the future and your rose tinted glasses haven’t yet come off and been crushed underfoot? At that point in a relationship you think you want to erase all the previous loves of your life and begin anew. Wipe the slate clean so to speak.
So you throw away all those old love letters you cherished for years. The ones from your first boyfriend who you thought was SO romantic (till you realised that most of his letters were simply lyrics from his favourite songs). Or the great passionate summer romance you had where the guy could only speak french and italian and who’s letters you had to read with the assistance of a dictionary or a friend who spoke italian.
And the gifts. You decide you can live without that little heart charm given to you by the man you believed would be your life partner. Or the sweatshirt a two-timing louse gave you from Disneyland, telling you that he wore it while visiting there and felt like you had your arms around him. 
Uhuh.
You toss these things out, without a thought, without regrets. You give away the charm or drop clothing into the brotherhood bin.
(Now you kick yourself for not selling the stuff and making a quick buck out of it, but you never worked that way.)
No. The stuff I regret throwing away were things given to me by people (men) who I wasn’t actually involved with – thus somehow the stuff they gave me was more genuine. Untainted. And I still threw it away.
One of those things was a painting. A watercolour given to me by a french boy I met when I was in Paris on a school trip at age 16. We sat up all night, in the hostel kitchen where he worked while attending art school, drinking hot chocolate out of huge bowls, and talking – Paris by night outside the window… Then he snuck me out to see his place (a tiny loft) where he didn’t try to seduce me or take advantage of me, but instead gave me a drawing to remember him by and asked for a page from my visual diary to remember me by.
It was so innocent. So exciting! Doesn’t every girl dream of a romantic night in Paris?
Hello? Do you have my dinner?
The other thing was a poem, written to me by a guy I thought was a friend. Who it seems had more feelings for me than I was aware. It was a beautiful, sensitive poem, asking me to give him a chance, to stay in Greece and not return to Australia.
When I thought I was in love with Mr Right, I threw these things out along with old photos and old love letters.
Why would I throw away a painting? Or a poem? They’re art, someone’s hard work and talent.
Yet I did. 
I’ve also thrown away, given away, or sold (not so often) things I’ve grown out of or no longer need. Those items I don’t regret… in general.
I do regret not holding on to my mother’s old clothes however, even after they no longer fitted me. They were beautiful 1960s outfits, mohair twin sets and tweed pedal pushers. Nice.
Well… we can’t keep everything. We have to move on and make space in our home, our lives and our hearts.
And a clean out of the old is good for the soul, right?
Plus, there’s the added advantage that by getting rid of old stuff, you make room for MORE stuff.
Yeah. I like that.
Lets not look at it as throwing things away, but rather as making room for new (old) stuff!
Like these 7in long nails I found at an op shop last week. How wonderful are they? I can already see them as part of a project….
z

turbo chook lives to tell the tale

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I have finally finished the huge pastel of Fergus, a highland stallion, Barbara and their baby. I’ve been working on this since before Christmas. What with visitors, rennovations, work, heat and all the other things going on, work on it has been inconsistent. Then I also had a period of artists block (if there is such a thing. If there isn’t I’ve just invented it). So I’m quite happy that its finally finished. After blogging tonight I’ll be wrapping it in acetate and delivering it after work tomorrow.

That’s one thing crossed off my To Do list. Phew.

The weather has been much cooler, thank goodness. The fires which had burned around Bushy Park and Westerway are out and there’s no more danger of my house in Fentonbury being scorched. I’m much happier with 18 degree C than I was with 39 degrees. Hard to believe the temps could drop that much in a day, but hey, this is Tasmania.

Despite it still being rather warm yesterday the guys (Wayne and Chris) got stuck into enclosing the mud room. They’d only managed to frame in one of the walls last time Chris was here and now both walls are framed in, the window is in place and the outside of the walls is mostly lined. I say mostly cause while I was in the city on errands (mysterious doings I’ll tell you about when the time comes) they ran out of nails for the coil gun and called to ask me to bring some home. Of course, by the time I got here with nails Chris had left so the job wont be finished will next weekend.

However, things are coming along.


Of course, its looking rather ugly right now… and not quite as I’d envisioned it. But hey, we live and learn huh? I’d rather gotten used to that area of the house being open. However, a lick of paint and a front door and we’ll be in business.

The plan is to make that the mudroom, an area where, once you enter the house, you can hang your coat, take off your boots and step inside through the inside door….

Which will take you through the current teensy weensy entrance area which holds coats and the fridge, through to the kitchen and then through the hallway and into the living room.

Yes… this is actually the back door of the house. But the front door is on the OTHER side, which would mean you’d have to park the car, step up onto the porch and walk all the way round to the other side of the house to come inside. Forget that.

So, one day, the teensy entrance area will become a walk in pantry and the kitchen will be rearranged to allow for a door directly to the mud room, cutting out the middle room so to speak. One day.

The timber is green which means it will need to dry before I can paint it, but thats fine. Its not as if I dont have a ton of things to keep me busy meanwhile. I mean I could paint the whole rest of the house, couldn’t I?

Speaking of other things to keep me busy – I went tip shopping today! Actually, after work this afternoon I went to one of my favourite tip shops where I’d seen three old dining chairs for sale for $5.

$5 each! Thats a bargain. Even tip shops are asking a ton of money for broken old chairs these days. I couldn’t pass them up. One is broken at the back, another is missing one rung off its back, but they’re all strong and stable, not rickety like so many I’ve seen. A bit of glue. A bit of luck. And a ton of paint and I’ve got my new kitchen chairs!

Did I mention the kitchen table I got from another tip shop a week ago? Thats still sitting on the porch waiting for me to sand it back and put a new top on it. It’ll go well with the new chairs.

My car is a mobile store room. Its always full of things I am taking to work, bringing home from somewhere or need to drop off somewhere. I have a huge collection of ‘green’ shopping bags I invariably forget to take into the shop. I have extra clothes just in case, and after one memorable day where I was sent on a hiking program wearing dress shoes, a pair of old sneakers and socks. Today I also had 2 of Wayne’s carry bags, his work folder, the nails I’d bought yesterday, a paper making kit I need to take to a program at work on Thursday, some drying racks I found at a tip shop for the same work program, 2 jumpers (it pays to be prepared) and who knows what else.

I added 3 chairs, an old picture frame and 2 old boxes (I have a thing for boxes). Then I went to pick up Wayne and he said ‘”Don’t forget we need to get wheat for the chickens and dry dog food”…

Ooops. “Have you noticed the back of the car?”

I managed to squish it all in somehow. Wheat bags and dog food packed around the chairs in the back. At one stage I hit the brakes at a traffic light and everything shifted. I could just picture the headlines: couple killed in freak accident – decapitated by chairs weighed down and given impetus by bags of wheat.

Thankfully we made it home in one piece. 

On another subject, my kids made me so proud today. I was in the office when I heard a racket out the back of the shed and saw them in that ‘attack and kill’ mode. I ran out of the house thinking they’d gotten one of the ducks again. Our house yard fence is pretty good but sometimes things still manage to get in and we’ve already lost 2 ducks and 3 chickens to the dogs.

When they heard me yell they looked at me, looked back at whatever, looked back at me and they came to me!!! I was SO thrilled. The bird meanwhile, was a native hen. We’ve had a family of them move in lately and this one obviously decided to check out life on the other side of the fence where the grass is greener but deadlier.

Lucky for it, my dogs listened to me! While I lead the dogs inside Wayne went and opened the gate and shooed it out.

These chickens are known as ‘turbo chooks’ around here cause they’re native chickens and they run like Road Runner. I think this one might still be running, after the shock it got.

So thats it for tonight. Hopefully on the weekend I can tackle some projects and post pics. For now all I need to do remember to take everything out of the car!

z
 

Goodbye bandicoot

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On the way to Cadbury’s yesterday I decided to take the scenic route just ‘because’. I spotted a tiny creature on the road and pulled over the minute I saw what it was. A bandicoot.

These little creatures are nocturnal so this little fellow should not have been out on the road during the day. And he was moving very slowly. I jumped out of the car and grabbed him before the truck barrelling towards me got too close.

The poor little thing was breathing heavily, its heart beating rapidly. It didn’t look hurt on the outside but something was definitely wrong with it. I asked Caitlin to hold it in her jumper (to keep it quiet in the dark) and I headed towards the closest vet.

On the way there I asked how it was going, had it settled down.

It was dead.

I can’t describe how devastated I felt. I adore bandicoots, like so many native animals. And this little guy was so cute… I really wanted to save him. He was tiny, fully grown but still a youngster. He fit in my hand easily.

But when he was dead, he was so… dead. No other way to put it. He wasn’t limp and dead, he was almost immediately stiff and dead. He seemed to lose all his flexibility, his little legs just stuck out. It was just so sad to see him lose the spark of life.

It made me think about all my loved pets who I’ve lost. I was there to hold Billy and Scooter when they crossed over. I wasn’t there for Timmy or Pagan. Someone else was there for them. With Billy and Scooter they were gone and suddenly they were limp, heavier somehow. With the bandicoot it was different. I dont know why. Maybe it was my imagination and not reality, but with them it was like they just left their bodies, surrendered them and left them with me as they crossed over.

I dread to think of losing my poodles. When I think of the day I’ll have to say goodbye to them, or to Barney and Mischa, or the horses, I don’t think I can face it. I tell them every day how much I love them. I hope its enough.

z

Bats in my belfry and possums in my hen house

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Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE living on a farm? I love having animals around me. Sure, I hate it when some animals (or birds) kill the other animals (or birds), and I could do without the rats and mice, thankyouverymuch, but I love having animals around me even though sometimes I have no idea what I’m doing.

When we got the 3 new isa brown hens a while back we locked them, the black leftover hen and the rooster in the hen house to bond. Then we let them all out a while and after a couple of weeks I found one of the red hens dead. Looking back now I think her head was missing (I saw a mess and didn’t want to look too closely) which lead me to believe it was the work of a quoll… At least I’ve heard that quolls will kill chickens.

I love quolls. They’re gorgeous and its a tragedy that most of their species is extinct everywhere in Australia but Tasmania.

But I digress.

While the chooks were locked up they made a nest in some long weeds at the back of the pen and we didn’t know it was there. By the time I found it there were 13 eggs in there! Wayne thought they were holding out on us.

Needless to say, despite the lesson I learned from my mother early in life, I took all the eggs and the chooks stopped laying there.

“When you have free range hens and you find where they’re laying, always leave an egg so they return to that nest.” Wise woman my mother!

So for a while we didn’t get many eggs. Then one day I found 3 eggs in a nest on the floor of the hen house. Being a bit wiser this time, I left one egg there as a ‘seed’ egg. We marked it with an X and various threats to the life of the person who takes it, and left it there to encourage the girls to return.

A couple of days ago Wayne found the seed egg cracked open and sucked dry. We know the ‘egg sucking dogs’ didn’t do it cause they can’t get into the hen house. We blamed the theoretical quoll, but really we have no proof that quoll even exists.

Which brings me back to today. I spent some time out in the paddock with Wayne and the filly, Dancer, working with her, picking up her feet and just getting her used to me handling her. Then we messed around with the boys a while so they didn’t feel left out. Before heading inside to make dinner I checked the hen house, checking for eggs and to see if they were roosting in there or up the tree.

I looked, found two eggs, no chickens on the roost. But wait, there was the black hen in one of the nests, I could see her big black eyes and her pink nose…

Pink. Nose….???

That’s not a hen!!! That’s a black possum!

It was curled up and looking very snug and comfortable in the nest. I’m wondering if it was the possum who ate the egg… do they even eat eggs?

Its so darn cute. Wayne had to drag me out before I tried to make friends with it. That could be very dangerous… Those thinks have claws like Freddy Krueger.

Maybe its a female and she’s chosen to have her babies in the hen house! Maybe the hens moved out cause the possum moved in? Who knows.

What I do know is that my poodles are now eating like normal dogs. I mean, Montana has always been a fussy eater. She’d eat her chicken frames, loved disgusting canned food if she ever got it, would graze on dry food. But give her leftovers and she’d inevitably leave the vegies and eat the meat and pasta or rice. Romeo was still a pup when we moved in and growing, and just like any young male, he’s always hungry.

These days everyone eats their dinner and no one leaves anything behind. Even Montana is now eating like a dog, only a little bit more ladylike. She eats it all but takes a bit longer than the others who scoff it down like there’s a deadline.

I’ve never had dogs that ate like this before! When I ran out of chicken frames this last week and didn’t have time to go buy more, I had to resort to giving them all dry food mixed with whatever I could find, preferrably not canned dog food cause *PIEUWWWWEEEE!* I can’t stand the smell of that stuff coming out of the can or coming out of the dog!

I’d mix up dry food with canned fish or chicken soup and toss in some leftovers and YUM. Nice and disgusting. Just the way they like it.

Not the way I like it. I’ve had to pooperscoop about 8 times the normal volume in the last couple of days. Soon as I can I’m buying more chicken frames. I’d much rather the firmer, smaller poop which results from the raw chicken frame diet.

Yes, I am discussing dog poop. You’d have to scoop it up to appreciate these things. And while I’m on the subject I may as well add that Ben’s poop is finally solid.

Ah, its the simple things in life which make me happy…

z

Down by 14, remaining steady on 3 and 4

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It seems our excitement about 14 new mouths to feed was premature…. Our ducklings are all gone! One day they were here, then they were gone.

Wayne had seen them waddle up to the ‘feeding area’ with the parents one day and then they were never seen again. We thought they might have moved away cause the mothers were out of sight as well. But then the mothers returned… without ducklings.

Wayne saw one little guy swimming on the dam, right up against the reeds. We figure now he was trying to stay invisible. The general consensus around here is that the crows or hawks got the ducklings.

We’re devastated.

On a positive note, everyone else is doing fine. The crows haven’t got them!

Dancer is turning into a very affectionate little girl. She comes up to greet us when we get home after work and always wants a pat and her butt scratched. Incidentally, that butt is getting bigger!

The boys are both hanging around for attention in the afternoons too. Ben seems to be recognising me as his person now, unless there’s food involved, in which case he’ll just follow the closest bucket. We spend a bit of time together most afternoons, either just hanging out in the paddock giving eachother kisses (ok, ok, I confess, its mostly me giving him kisses!) or working together in the half-done round yard or at the box.

Did I mention I have box in the middle of the paddock? Its my ‘mounting block’ and my job has been to get him used to it so that when the time comes to use it to mount him he wont freak out. So I take out a brush and stand on the box and brush him, leaning over his back, walk up to and over the box, jump off it in front of him, make noise on it, etc. I think he’s come to think of that box as his safe place! Yesterday he got away from Wayne when they were working without a rope and he headed off to the box where he stopped and looked at me as if to say “Mommy, come save me!”

Turns out I’m good at handling, loving up and desensitising animals to things. After all, I’m good at grooming reluctant dogs. What I’m not good at is handling rope, whips or getting a horse to lunge. I’m forever getting tangled up in rope (trying Wayne’s patience) and Ben is forever testing me out cause he just doesn’t seem to take me seriously when its time to work.

The dogs are all great. Montana and Romeo look incredible in their short trims, more like twins than mother and son. I love looking at them. Barney is a little brat, he’s through a door before you even know he’s in the vicinity. Sometimes he’s so fast going through any open door that he ends up locked up in sheds. Stupid dog. Mischa is still hesitating at the door. “Are you sure I can come in? Really?”

Other than that, all is going well. Wayne’s finished the floor in the casita. We can walk across it now without having to balance on joists. Now I think it needs a coat of primer/undercoat and a topcoat of something water resistant. I can’t wait to clean out and deck out my workshop part of the casita. I have so many projects in my head I want to get on with.

The garden is starting to come together. Not so much the actual garden… rather my potted plants. I’ve repotted the 21 lavenders into larger pots till I have the ground ready for them to go in. I have started the spots for the hydrangeas but according to advice, I need to put them a bit further from the wall of the house than I’d originally planned. So it will be a couple of weeks till I have the time to prepare a wider bed for them.

I’ve chosen the colour I want to paint the house. I saw a house in the city which I just love. Mind you, the style of house is gorgeous where ours is a plain farmhouse, but the colour is just what I wanted for here. So I put a note in their letterbox asking what colour they’d used and they emailed me. How great is that? I now have sample pots of those colours and another I saw when I was searching. I just need to find the time to paint one window frame in Antique White USA and then paint sample swatches around it to make a choice on the timber colour. Then I’m all set to paint the house! 🙂 Just don’t hold your breath. Its a BIG job.

Its all a matter of slowly working on things and one day this place will be gorgeous. I mean, its already home and we love it, but one day it will be pretty to look at as well!

Its been a very long, hot and tiring day. I’m glad I’m home, surrounded by my family. Now if only the TV would work properly…

z

Fluffballs!

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We have ducklings! On Saturday morning Wayne went onto the front porch to drink his coffee (he loves sitting there looking over the dam and the view) and he rushed back inside to get me. There was a flotilla of ducklings on the dam! They’re tiny cute little fluffballs. A few dark ones and a few light ones.

We were thinking they were all part of one batch given that we knew one duck was sitting on eggs near the dam. However yesterday I went out to have another look and there were 8 ducklings in the dam with one duck and another 6 on the embankment with another duck!

There are currently12 new additions to the dam population.

I know you cant really see them in the photo, without a good zoom its hard to get up close enough to them to get decent photos. They are the specks in the water.

Things have been quiet at WindDancer Farm.

The boys are doing well. Wally is now officially fat. Wayne’s at a loss. He’s had horses all his life, but being in South Australia, he’s never had the problem of TOO MUCH grass. He’s always had to worry about hard feeding horses cause there was no grass.

Ben has gained weight too, losing the ribby look he had when we got him. He’s also rounding off a bit around his butt which was all angles. When you look at Wally and Ben in the paddock, trotting side by side, its incredible how different they look. They’re put together entirely differently. Wally is a quarter horse x thoroughbred and is pretty well rounded at the rear. Ben has the square butt of a standardbred and a shorter back.

Here we have grass up to our eyeballs. We’re more concerned about the horses getting too much green and foundering. A totally new concept for a South Australian.

I’ve been working with Ben almost every day. Mostly its a mix of things like round yard work, lifting his legs (for my benefit, not his), messing around with his nose which he doesn’t like much, grooming him and teaching him small things like ‘stand’ and ‘come up’ and stuff like that.

The saddle’s been in to be fixed. When Wayne took it off a couple of weeks ago he didn’t have to undo the girth. The points had snapped on one side. It now has all new points, stock double points. (Thats the straps which are on the saddle to which you buckle the girth – thats the strap that goes around the horse’s stomach. I can see Diane going cross-eyed at this point).

Anyway, we got the saddle back, bought a 30in girth and got home all excited… And the girth was too small! Since the guy we got the girth from (a saddler) didn’t have any bigger girths he’s making us one. Thats put a stop to working on backing Ben. (putting weight on his back for you non-horse people).

All I can say is I’m glad I wasn’t on Ben’s back when the point snapped!

I’ve been getting Ben used to walking up to and standing next to a big box in the paddock. Its there for 2 reasons: to allow us to stand up alongside Ben and lean over him, to allow us to get onto him first time without bouncing around on the stirrups, and to allow me to get onto a horse I have to look up to.

He sure feels bigger now, the closer I get to getting onto his back!

I always wanted a big horse, didn’t I? Don’t they say be careful what you wish for or you might get it?

Dancer is going well. She came up to me the other day and nuzzled me and let me touch her for quite a while. She’s so pretty, very elegant on the move.

Isn’t it funny… I realised the other day that my posts are now more about horses than about poodles! The poodles are still a HUGE part of my life. I clipped Montana and Romeo this weekend and gave them a wash and I love them clean and bright white. I love the look of two white standard poodles together. They are such beautiful dogs. I can’t get enough of watching them, looking at them and touching them. When I sit down I feel like my hands seek them out, its like a security blanket or a sensory addiction.

So, though I may write about chickens, horses, ducks and pumps, trust me. The poodles are the centre of my universe.

z

Thistle breath does it again

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We’ve had a pretty action-packed week. It all started when I went to water the vegie patch and found the taps were dry.

Now, let me explain. We’re on rainwater here, but we’re lucky enough (or unlucky enough, depending on which way you look at it) to be sitting on top of an underground spring. Our dam is spring fed so it never runs dry, we have a bore to pump water into a tank for watering stock and plants, and our lawn never entirely dries out cause the spring seems to run directly underneath it.

So, when the bore water tank turned out to be dry my first thought was that Wayne had forgotten to fill it up on the weekend (long story… among all the pump/water challenges we’ve had, the bore water tank stop valve was malfunctioning so we decided to over-ride it and fill the tank by turning it on manually).

Anyway… naturally, being the caring sharing partner that I am, I instantly lay the blame on Wayne. Of course he swore he had filled the tank the day before. So where did all the water go?

He suggested it was Wally’s fault. Ever since we got Dancer and put her in the paddock opposite, the boys have started to hang around near the water trough like any teenage boys hanging out on a corner trying to look cool. Other than staring longingly at the new girl, there’s not much to do over there. They munch a bit of grass, they gnaw on some old bits of wood, posture trying to look tough, and they play with the float in the water trough.

I scoffed. No way could Wally’s bouncing the float cause the entire tank to run dry!

So we filled it again and sure enough, next day it was dry again.

Grrrr.

We filled it again, turned the tank tap off and checked next day. Yep, still full.

Ok. Time to get down to business.

Wayne got into CSI mode and went out to look at the tank. The float had taken a bashing but was still working. However, as he investigated things started to look bad. Very bad.

Somehow (and I blame Wally, Ben is entirely innocent) the horses had kicked the pipe going into the trough and broken it so that it no longer connected with the wall. In other words, water was going into the tank to replace the water the horses slopped over the edge when they splashed around… but it was also running down the outside and seeping into the soil. So it was pouring out in a steady stream.

Wayne locked the boys out of that paddock and was soon up to his shoulder in trough water, up to his knees in mud (again) and up to his neck with the whole pump/water/trough/horse ownership thing.

He worked on that thing all day on Saturday. The result is a tank that actually has water in it for longer than 24 hours, a trough which could give Alcatraz a run for its money, and two very confused horses who’s toy has been taken away.

Two boys who were back in that paddock without either of us opening the gate. SOMEONE has learned to open gates…

Meanwhile, Dancer is coming along nicely. She still won’t come to me and she’s a bit too free and easy with her back legs for me to force my company on her. She’ll come to me and sniff but won’t stay if I reach out. So I don’t reach out. I want her to want me to touch her.

Yesterday Wayne and I were looking at her tiny paddock thinking its time to give her a bit more space. An hour later she was in the big paddock.Turns out Wally and Ben aren’t the hoodinis round here!

Ben is doing great. He’s lunging well on both reins now, better for Wayne than for me of course. I just feel useless at times, but I persevere. Wayne’s been building a round yard so things will be easier… I hope!

Yesterday was an eventful training session. We lunged him for a while, him testing me out and seeing what he could get away with with me and behaving well for Wayne. Then Wayne stood on an old barrel and I led Ben up to him so we could mess around with him in a different way.

Wayne swears he told me to ‘step aside’ cause he was going to jump off and Ben would no doubt startle… I heard ‘step to his side’…

I stepped to Ben’s side.

Wayne jumped.

Ben jumped.

Onto my foot.

I landed in a mass of thistles.

I had a bruised foot and thistles on my butt.

I put ice on my foot and indulged in some self pity, but I’m fine today. At least the foot’s fine. Bruised and a bit sore to touch, but working as you’d expect a foot to work.

Ah. The joys of horse ownership!

z