This past couple
of months has seen many highs and lows for me with my trip to South
Africa a definite highlight of my year and teaching career. But then
2 days after my return, the biggest low of my life with horses came
when I found my beautiful Arabian stallion, Mandala Royale, or Roy as
he was known, dead, tangled in a fence. He was only 2 weeks from reaching
22 years and looked a picture of health when I groomed him the day prior.
It seems he most likely has a heart attack or an aneurysm which can
cause a horse to run, which he did – into the fence- and onto
a steel post as there was very little bleeding from his horrific injuries.
I just hope he died quickly and I am fortunate it happened while I was
there to say goodbye and bury him.
I am also fortunate to own eight of his progeny with another two due
to arrive in January.
I think I could safely say Roy was one of the most versatile and best
performed Arabian stallions in Tasmania. He had a roll of merit in performance
and working events with many wins and championships in everything from
halter classes to ridden stallion, champion hack, dressage, jumping,
Arabian costume, picnic racing and endurance riding. I was there when
Roy was born in Queensland from a ‘Fenwick’ mare, Gisela,
by Bremervale Emperor who was exported to the UK. He has 98.6% Crabbet
bloodlines and that showed in his height, strong bones and fabulous
movement. He was also a registered Australian stockhorse and sired 66
foals here in Tasmania.
There will never be another like him and I cherish the memories of the
22 years we had together, having fun, traveling many miles and breeding
many foals. He was the king of my pastures and his presence is sadly
missed.
My South African Experience
Well, all I can say in a nutshell is “I survived” despite
the fears of many people who think South Africa is an unsafe place to
be. In many respects its not that different from our country –
its hot, dry, tropical in some places, green in others, lots of gum
trees (mostly in plantations) and the areas I went (Johannesburg, Pietermaritzburg
and White River) were on a similar latitude from Sydney to Townsville.
So the weather was great – only a couple of drizzly days in the
whole 3 weeks I was there with temperatures from 20 to 36 degrees, a
nice break for me from our wet and cold September although I’m
sure the South Africans would like some rain being short of that over
the past 18 months.
The people were great too and I was looked after supremely by friends
and keen students of Natural horsemanship and despite the high crime
rate including car hijacking, I felt safe in their care. I guess when
you live in a country with millions of people (mostly black) out of
work, and no social security system, you have to expect more crime as
people struggle to live.
The longer you are there, the more you get used to locking your car
in your own backyard, having high security end electric fences around
your home, security gates and guards everywhere, even car park guards
to ensure your car is still there when you return from shopping! You
even get used to some business having locked doors that are opened for
you if you look like a safe customer – the hairdressers for instance!
Its very different from country Tasmania but probably not far from living
in Sydney these days.
The one big difference is that you see lots of black people everywhere
and there are often 3 or 4 people employed where we would only have
1. Even though their wages are lower, at least it gives them an income.
On the horse front, South Africa has a strong population of normal horse
enthusiasts who do a lot of jumping, dressage and eventing plus polo
and polocrosse. Their tourism industry is quite strong so there are
also lots of trail riding operators especially in and around games reserves
and parks as you get to see the wildlife who accept horses (like giraffes)
from much closer than in a car. Unfortunately I didn't’t have
time to experience such a ride much to the disappointment of 2 students
I taught who offered to take me – definitely something for next
time.
Interest in natural horsemanship is really developing fast and although
students only have access to the Parelli packs and the very occasional
instructor they are very enthusiastic and open which translates to fast
learning. All the students I taught had enough background to quickly
grasp new concepts and refine what they already knew. They were certainly
appreciative of having hands on help so my job was much easier having
a captive audience.
I started with 2 workshops in Johannesburg and some private lesson for
my level 2 host, Fiona Parkinson who came to study with me back in 2000
so it was good to see the progress with her own horse. I also helped
with some barefoot trimming as many people are keen to embrace all that
is natural and again, no instructors in this field are available there
regularly.
Here I got to experience how the city dwellers live and keep their horses
mostly on agistment in outlying suburbs, much like in our larger cities.
From there I flew south to Pietermaritzburg where I stayed on a 4,000
acre cattle and Friesan horse stud which was originally settled by the
Irish so there was a lovely old stone farm house similar to those we
have here in Tasmania. Carl and John Bronner were my hosts and it was
nice to experience farm and family life with their 2 boys, black house
helpers and farm workers along with numerous dogs and cats, cows, horses
and even a pot bellied pig.
Carl is doing her bit to help the education of the black children in
her area by leaving at 6.30am every morning to drive their 6km of road
and give all the kids a ride to the school bus at the main road. Often
on her way home from shopping or from the 3 workshops I did, we picked
up children and adults needing a ride and mostly this was in the back
of the ute (or buckie as they say) which is a common way for black people
to get from A to B as many don’t have their own transport.
From there I flew to Nelspruit where the Kruger International airport
greets many overseas tourists heading for the Kruger National Park.
I bet its one of the few thatched roof and timber international airports
in the world.
Here is was met by Tamasine Smith who I have been keeping in email contact
with for the past couple of years after being introduced by email through
my web site. It was lovely to finally meet her, her husband Michael
(who does the barefoot trimming) and all her horses I had heard so much
about. They run a 4* bed and breakfast at White River set in the bush
alongside the river which was a very pleasant atmosphere with lots of
shady trees and very tastefully decorated cottages where students stayed
during the courses.
In between the 7 days of teaching 3 different workshops, I got to see
many of the African animals in the Kruger National Park in 2 visits.
It was fantastic to see them in their natural environment and so unafraid
of man driving through their territory. I saw all the animals I wanted
to see – Giraffe, Zebra, Elephant and their babies, Impala, Wildebeest
and Warthog plus a lucky sighting of a huge male Leopard and a Hyena
feeding her pups. There were many different and beautifully coloured
birds to see along with baboons, vervet monkeys, various other types
of antelope, hippo and rhino but no lions (or tigers which don’t
actually live in Africa). Next time I might be brave enough to camp
in the park in one of the special areas where you get to see the predators
at night or very early morning.
Before I could really relax and enjoy more of Thobile’s cooking
and Flora’s washing and ironing service, I was back in JohannesBerg
and on a plane for the 12 hour flight to Sydney then another 8 hours
of customs and connecting flights to get home again.
It was a wonderful experience to meet so many people just like us on
a different continent who probably face many more barriers to learning
than we do, so make more of an effort to really get the most out of
their horses and life – for today is another day and like I heard
someone say over there “Live for the day because you survived
yesterday”.
Given the opportunity, I’ll be going back to experience more top
hospitality, more places and renew friendships with like minded folk
next year.
Thanks to Suzaan for the photos – the trail ride on the last day
was great fun - sorry there isn’t space to include more pics.
Possibly more on the web site later.
January Camp at Benham
Since 1997 there has been an annual 4 or 5 day camp at ‘Benham’,
the 40,000 acre property belonging to the O’Connor family at Avoca.
The first 5 were instructed by Ken Faulkner and varied from Level 2/3
to All levels with up to 20 riders. Last year, I instructed a Level
1 and 2 group of 12 riders who had a fabulous time at a reduced cost.
This year the focus will be on students who have reached a reasonable
proficiency with their horses to play online and at liberty and be confident
riding at all gaits in large areas. Depending on the number of people
interested, we will divide the day into groups of similar experience
so there will be hands on time and observing/ soaking time for all which
reduces the pressure over the 4 days. My aim is stretch everyone but
make it fun and not so demanding that you stop learning due to tiredness.
Arrival day this year will be Friday afternoon the 23rd with instruction
on the 24, 25, 26, 27th and departure after a morning trail ride on
the 28th. The cost will be $500 which includes shared accommodation,
all meals and non-alcoholic drinks.
If you would like to spend 5 uninterrupted days with your horse and
like minded people in a great learning environment, then send me your
$100 deposit before November 30th to secure a rider position. Observers
on any day are welcome at a cost of $20 which includes lunch if you
pre-book.
You can also spread the payment over the next 2 months by putting aside
$50 a week and sending me $200 by December 30th with the balance of
$200 payable at the camp. Knowledge and fun are a wonderful Christmas
present to you and your horse so don’t delay in booking as spaces
are limited. Post your deposit to Cynthia at the address below.
Christmas Fun Day
This year we will get together at Al and Sharelle Cartwright’s
‘Sulamien’ Stud at 2240 Pipers River Rd, Pipers River. This
may be the last opportunity we get to play at this lovely property as
it has been sold and Sharelle and All will soon be moving interstate
to be closer to their family. Come along to enjoy the river flats, huge
round yard, riding trail and fun challenges Al and Sharelle will provide
for us from 10am onwards.
BYO lunch (BBQ available), drinks and seat. We encourage everyone to
decorate themselves and/or their horse in a Christmas theme and look
forward to your company on the day. For directions or more info phone
Sharelle or Al on 63 954187.
Natural Weaning
Nature never ceases to amaze me if we can only be brave enough to sometimes
let it take its time. For all the years I have been breeding horses
(at least 35 if you count those with my parents) I have weaned the foals
at between 8 and 10 months, thinking that if I didn’t, the mares
who were often in foal again, would need my help so their milk would
dry up in time to produce a fresh lot for the next foal.
Usually, this is a traumatic time for mare and foal no matter how slowly
it takes place so this year, I decided to see what would happen if I
didn’t wean Pepsi’s filly. Despite her 22 years, Pepsi is
in good shape and is due to foal in January. She is a very gentle mare
with her foals so it surprised me when Fantasy, her foal reached 10
1/2 months Pepsi just stopped allowing her to drink with a firm nip
to the butt every time she tried. Sure enough, her udder was swollen
– it seems her hormones were telling her that she needed to dry
up in order to produce the colostrum milk for her next foal.
Of course the weaning process is only partially complete as I am sure
it is more the emotional attachment that is the difficult part. In order
for Fantasy to be integrated with other horses, my next 2 youngest were
introduced to her herd of mother and ‘aunty Sara’ and the
next step will be to add more horses to the herd before gradually separating
Pepsi and Fantasy for longer periods of time over a safe fence.
All horses develop pair bonds and I suspect a mother/daughter bond would
be very strong but with the company of other females, Fantasy will develop
another pair bond which will allow her to feel secure when she is separated
from her mother.
In the meantime, she is developing her confidence (which apparently
fillies have less of than colts) with Pepsi there to guide and reassure
her as she learns to float load, travel and move to different pastures
and be with other horses. This is how it happens in the natural herd
so its nice to know that if we can allow mother nature time, we will
be rewarded. Now I can just hear all those doubters who think it wouldn’t
work for them and there will be times when its not possible to leave
the mare and foal together for so long such as when the mare is to be
used as a riding horses again or is too ill to feed a weanling.
But before you engage in the traditional practice of weaning at an early
age maybe ask yourself a few questions and look at the possibility of
allowing nature to take its course. There is usually a way around the
perceived problem of leaving the mare and foal together whether is hand
feeding to keep condition on the mare, or occasional separation to ride
the mare, leaving the weanling with a companion in a secure yard.
Often we just aren’t flexible enough or trusting enough of nature
and that is usually because we just don’t know how it happens
naturally so we follow tradition. Imagine what we would miss if we had
just stayed with tradition for teaching our horses – the phrase
natural horsemanship would be unknown and we would be missing out on
learning so much from this wonderful animal, the horse.
Tasmanian Natural Horse Events Calendar
November
30th Lilydale Play day at Belinda’s place, Hextalls Rd, Lebrina.
30th Partnership Riding Workshop at Harveydale, Westbury.
December
7th Christmas Fun Day at Sharelle and Al’s place, 2240 Pipers
River Rd, Pipers River.
13th Harmony Group Workshop at Wynyard – Ph. Cynthia for more
details.
20th Tamar Adult Riders group lesson.
January
4th New Year Play Day at Paul and Karen Lockwood’s place, Jackey’s
Marsh.
24-27th January Camp at ‘Benham’, Avoca
March
6,7,8th Campout playday at Bakers Beach – contact Deb. On 63302136
to book in.
Study Group
Contacts
Natural Nous (North) - Deb Johnson Ph. 63 302136 1st Sun. mth.
Lilydale - Liz Stanfield Ph. 63 951590 last Sun. of month
Central Coast (NW) - Lee Davis Ph. 64 257287
Pontville - Tammy Miller Ph. 62 686699. Meet every Wed. PM
Student News
Nadeen and Lee Davis
introduce their first baby for 2003.
Introducing Wallbrook Neo. He arrived at 5.32 on Sunday the 2nd of November,
8 days past his due date. The foaling alarm went off and I looked out
our window and sure enough he was on his way. By the time we got to
Charlotte he was out, he was so cool and casual. Just stayed there checking
out the scenery. Charlotte rested which gave us time to imprint him.
His nature is a lot different to that of his half brother Wilem. Wilem
wanted to get up and get up NOW! But Neo was happy to stay there. He
was up and walking well within the hour and nursed not long after that.
Everything went text book. Already I have seen a levade, pirouette and
canter departs - anyone looking for a dressage mount, this is the guy
:)
Classifieds
Moving Interstate Sale
Percheron/Th’bred Warmblood yearlings to 5 year olds started under
saddle. Also black Thoroughbred mare empty or in foal to Percheron +
Percheron Draught mare in foal to Percheron. Phone Sharelle on 63 954187.
Looking for natural
horse equipment?
Check out the following web site:
www.naturalequine.com.au
www.horsemanshipaustralia.com.au
www.horsesandhorsemen.com
The latest Savvy
Up News on www.parelli.com
is well worth reading – just make sure you have lots of time!
