4 Years....Blood Sweat and Tears

Wow...Four years...really has it been that long?

It would take a blog of epic proportions to catch up on all that has happened since my last post. The great news is that Roxy is still with me and we now have a new addition. Since May last year Jerry has joined us. A purebred Quarter Horse who is Palomino and whose ancestors go back to the very first Quarter Horses to come to Australia (one day I will go into more depth regarding his line). He is an absolute delight and I am very blessed to have him on my journey, there are great things to come with that young man...yes he is real young, still a baby but will be three this coming October.

So what has prompted me to return to my blog....well there are major changes afoot and today proved that the path I have chosen to follow with my horsemanship is the right one.

It is hard to put into words but in the last two years the influence of Mel Fleming, a wonderful human being who teaches true horsemanship, has had a dramatic impact on my horsemanship, one that has only really sunk in during the last year. 

I have always felt myself to be a spiritual and connected person, I loved trying to meditate into 'out of body' experiences as a teenager and dabbled in the way of Wicca, loving that idea of connection to elements. I have always felt like I could naturally connect with a horse, but in hindsight, I can see I was only dancing around the surface of what is truly possible. I dont know if I will ever be as far into the spiritual side of things as some are, but never say never.

I now have a strong urge to continue my blog and document what is happening with Roxy, Jerry and I because, more than anything, I want to sit down as an old lady and read back through my adventures, but also to share this journey with those who might be open to the idea of something that is more than they could imagine. A connection with horses that doesn't mean you have to be an elite equestrian, win ribbons or be the best, but allow yourself to be open minded to what horses are trying to communicate to us and how we can help them and they can help us. 

Welcome Jerry aboard and get ready to watch us all evolve, it is subtle at times but when you really soften, relax and receive, then it can hit you like a tonne of bricks only to show you a much lovelier way to live with horses.

This picture was taken after Jerry and Roxy had finished their dinner. They often compete for my attention which results in a group hug.

Until next time and I promise that won't be four years from now. ;-)

A Tick for The Bucket List

We all have one. A list of things we want to do before we kick the bucket. Some things are relatively straight forward some are more complicated and to a degree less achievable. At least they seem so at the time of said list writing.

I have proudly ticked many items off my list in the last few weeks, and amidst health issues and horse issues found myself in the middle of the Snowy Mountains with Roxy and my friend Christine and her horse Neville.

List Item A: Overcoming Lack of Float Towing Experience - You could count on one had the amount of times I have towed a float in my life. Thanks to my hard working hubby and Christine's float, we towed both horses 6 hours each way with the super powerful Mitsubishi Triton. The horses were a dream to float and we did it in style.

Item B: To See Wild Horses - We hoped to see Brumby's but I don't think either of us imagined we would see so many and that they would be so beautiful! Small mobs of three or four up with some mobs up to eight or nine. What I wouldn't give to be able to study them full time! (Something to add to the list maybe?)

Item C: To Ride in the Snowy Mountains - Thanks to maps and the modern technology of the Personal GPS we covered over 80kms of trails on the western side of the Snowy Mountain Ranges of NSW, incident free, and saw some breathtaking views as well as some of the most beautiful high country terrain I have ever encountered.

While these are three achievements off my bucket list, there were a few little personal ones. Mainly recovering from an appendix operation in time to actually go and to also have Roxy be able to do the trip and not flip out at any point.

Although the lack of proper preparation meant that Roxy was less fit than she should have been, (she has pulled up a bit sore and is having a few weeks off), I really couldn't fault her bravery and courage. There were also her funny quirks like putting her head down and tracking Brumby's like a blood hound, thinking that every stump was going to eat her as she gave it an evil look and getting busting her in a mutual groom with Neville. There are the moments you don't forget and those which create bonds that are priceless.

What I wouldn't give to be back there. Under the gum trees with a cuppa, a roaring pit fire, birds singing, a cool late afternoon chill against my back and watching the horses hang out after a good days riding.

It really was a taste of adventure's to come....look out Australia!

Lorrie and Roxy

The Months Roll By

Well as it tends to happen months have flown by since my last blog. Christmas, a trip overseas to Canada and the new year brings tonnes of riding adventures ahead. It turns out however that the Tuesday (and now often Wednesday) riders don't have to go too far to get themselves into trouble or find adventures.

Myself, Rhonda and Chris ride without fail and weather permitting every Tuesday. The last few months of rain and humidity has seen several of the good riding tracks overgrown with lantana, a weed that has a life of it's own and is spiky as hell! Along with the weeds we have grass that is well over the horses belly as you ride through.

We set off a couple of weeks ago to ride through the 'cutting'. Well I went first and there was no way Roxy was getting through so we turned around and tried the track from the other end. With a cry of 'the bush pony will get through' Rhonda gave blazing a trail a good hard crack, only to find herself reversing out fairly soon after. After making a promise to bring pruning shears next time, we headed home.

The next day however we discovered that hundreds of ticks had hitched a ride home with us and Nev and Roxy looked like bubble wrap! The bush pony Monty however had once again returned unscathed.

Deciding that there were too many problems heading out that way again we attempted to float to Yellow Rock where a lovely mountain bike track heads up the steeps of the escarpment. This all fell on its face when a horse in the paddock needed a vet so we had to wait around. We did some flat work instead and I did some float loading practice with Roxy.

As things go with Roxy these days she was a legend and was self loading with confidence.

The next day, Wednesday, we attempted to float out again. This time I had to put Roxy on a different float and assumed that she would just walk on...what is that they say about assuming? Well after a few attempts and refusals, Roxy was made to go backwards for a very long time until she finally realised if she just got on the damn float it would be less work.

We floated out, saddled up and headed up the hill. Lots of traffic for a Wednesday but these horses are becoming seasoned professionals and traffic is really becoming a non-issue.

We start on the track and quickly realised that again lantana has taken over. Just as we reach a dead end, Roxy put her head down to scratch her leg and then exploded! As she lurched forward she ran into Neville who proceeded to hump up and let rip with a double barrel, luckily Roxy sensed it and spun out of the way to face the other direction. Somehow I stayed on.

Roxy was snorting and fidgeting and I hopped off and checked her. I thought maybe she had stuck a branch up her nose when she put her head down? We turned out of the there and I was back onto the track, when Neville decided to not move and start reacting badly as well in the same spot that Roxy had. Christine tried to push him on but he was freaking out. She jumped off and pulled him out of there, when she realised that her legs were stinging. At this point we are all assuming we have come across the plant from hell!

Christine had what looked like red dots on her legs (yes pants came down, there is no shame in the bush in an emergency situation!) but she said the stinging was going and the horses were fine...we continued on and planned to get a sample of the plant on the way back.

When we returned, I took Neville and Christine took gloves and pruning shears (yep we finally decided to carry some) into the bush to check it out. She was also considering a bathroom stop and in hindsight I am glad she looked for the plant because not long after we heard a cry of, 'I know what the @#%$ it is!' quickly followed by her phone ringing...and she returned to us at speed. It was a wasp nest and she almost put her face in it!

Rhonda almost fell off Monty laughing, I couldn't stop laughing at Rhonda and the comic timing of the cry of terror and the phone ringing. Christine headed back out apologising to Neville and all of us understanding that the poor horses had been smashed by wasps!

We continued our ride chatting about how much worse it could of been and shaking our heads again in disbelief at the things that happen to us on our rides. If there is a postie bike, we are there. If there is a huge bus on a narrow street, we are there. If there is a wheelchair attached to some high speed road device, we are there. If there is a bird crapping from a tree, Christine is there. And as it turns out, in hundreds of acres of bush we have the ability to track down and ride over the smallest wasp nest as well.

These are skills that can't be taught, they are skills that come with months and months of Tuesday rides and unless you are with us, you and your horses will never be capable of doing what these three amigos can do!

Love Lorrie and Roxy

What A Difference A Year Makes

It has been a little over a year since the MS Ride 2009 that had me completely re-assessing where I was with Roxy and her training. Seven saddles later and I found I had a horse that had a locked pelvis and I was resting and rehabilitating her back AGAIN!

I sit here now, tracking through Fed Ex, the arrival of the 7th saddle which I pray will be the end of my saddle fitting issues. It would seem that they just don't make stock saddles like they used to and the new half breeds just don't suit my girls back. I have resorted to A) having more faith in my ability to ride. I really don't need all those pads to hold me in and B) going for an endurance style saddle that I am told by my farrier/horse body worker, is the only saddle he knows of to be straight and balanced. It should arrive today from England, as it just landed in Alexandria NSW...a lovely set of endurance stirrups also made their way to my door today, but given all that has happened I reserve judgment. :-)

Last Sunday after deciding that Roxy was ok to handle ride for charity, I tested her back on the Friday and Saturday and saddled up with my light dressage saddle on Sunday. I tried to remain calm as 12 months preparation was about to be put to the test. I was riding out with 104 riders and horses, none of her usual riding partners and the said dressage saddle which isn't exactly built to hold you in.

She was wary but remained relatively calm. I used the circle back around tactic when she got antsy and by the time we got to the main road and heading past her paddock she was relaxed and walking nicely. Even with several dramas already taking place including one woman falling and needing an ambulance 30 mins into the ride.

I quickly realised also that one of her paddock mates was at the front of the group so I needed to stay well away from that horse, so in the middle I meandered all the way to the lunch spot.

However upon arriving at the lunch spot, which meant turning to face her towards home, she got a bit frisky again, nothing bad though...UNTIL...I pass a horse that snaps the branch it was tied to, takes off with the branch in tow and it starts panicking TOWARDS us!!! As I try to steady Roxy I realise that I am fighting a losing battle and decided as the horse comes past at speed that I will take off with the horse and use my favorite riding technique... 'ride it OUT!!!', off I went but after only fifty metres or so I was able to pull Roxy up and get off safely while the other horse did a full bolt lap of the large paddock. Thinking I was out of the woods, and watching the drama unfold, I noticed it was a friends horse as the horse completed it's lap and headed back to the group. Did it stop at its owner NO...it kept going, straight for ME...ok so I like to think I am ok with horses but would prefer not to be their choice at times like this. Luckily it had lost the branch and trotted up next to Roxy and I huffing and puffing and I just casually took its lead rope. Roxy did not put a foot wrong and crisis was over.

We had a lovely lunch and headed back home. Given that horses are usually more skittish on the way home and again Roxy didn't have a companion horse to rely upon she did well. There was lots of stopping and starting too which didn't help but she handled it well.

The only other dilemma was my ongoing ability to attract rogue horses, when in the last paddock two white horses that were loose in that paddock (we had to ride through paddocks with adjisted horses) decided to come straight for me and Roxy and go either side of us. Needless to say her little brain was almost in overload and she started dancing around. I kept her moving forward and circling back into a different part of the group and she calmed down as soon as we left that paddock.

Last but not least was a horse in our home paddock standing with its rug around its neck and leg straps broken...Roxy and I took a short cut and left the trail group to walk over and rescue the silly thing. At least it had the common sense to stand still.

Lord it was finally over! I have taken a couple of days to mull over how she went and I am happy to say that she was a trooper. A year ago a situation like that would have been too much and I would have found myself in a lot of trouble. I am proud that my work is starting to pay off and that hopefully with the new saddle we can have less set backs and more miles under saddle.

So I wait for the Fed Ex guy and the rain to clear and I look forward to getting out more on the trail and enjoying all that I have to look forward to.

Love Lorrie and Roxy

Down Time and Waiting for Daylight Savings

I would love to come in here and talk of the latest achievements for Roxy and I but the fact is we have both been on holidays, her hanging in the paddock and me skiing. We also had a situation on the property which meant many of us were confined to our paddocks for several weeks. This combined with pretty severe and foul weather meant we all took a 5 week break.

Back on Rox last week and she was better than I had expected but a bit rusty with her ques. It would seem some flat work is in order over the next few weeks as we all slowly get our horses fit and back into work...AGAIN. :-)

One issue that Roxy and I had to resolve was that of the string girth. I bought her the most beautiful soft Angora ropers girth, having noticed that that is what Parelli used and Mohair or Angora was apparently definitely the go. Roxy could not disagree more and she began to show me in no uncertain terms what she thought. She has always been a bit girthy but the rope girth brought about some very undesirable behaviour and it got to the point that if I so much as brought the girth under her belly I would be ducking for cover from her teeth. This week I switched back to her favourite synthetic anti gall girth. Initially she expected the pinching so turned to nip me but I took it slowly and hopefully over the next few rides she will improve and stop being a bitch.

I also have a new addition which Leah and I purchased together and his name is Bundy. He is a rescue with 12.3hh of attitude but a clever little guy with loads of potential. We just need to find a confident kid rider to take him on and give him a new home that he deserves. We are getting back in condition and doing some ground work with him. Soon I will ride him a little as well just to see where he is at and assess him.

Summer is here soon so looking forward to the return of daylight savings and sneaking out for late afternoon rides. The sooner the better.

Talk soon
Lorrie and the snobby Roxy

A Glimmer of Something Great

There are moments in your life when you have to just stop and think…did that really happen?

I have watched countless You Tube videos of people playing with their horses at liberty and dreamed of what that might be like.

This afternoon after a quick trip out the paddock with two arguing kids in tow, I resigned myself to just doing some hill therapy with Roxy and giving her a groom and a feed.

While lunging she mucked up a bit on the right lead (normal) and the moment when I was distracted by screaming from my car, she took the opportunity to spin and start circles to the left (her preferred direction). She did it with a bit of speed and was actually cantering around using very un-characteristic speed. I tried to get her to face up and yield her hindquarter but she just kept on going like an energizer bunny. So instead, using drawing soft hands, I made her canter circles smaller and smaller until she was within 6 ft and then asked for her butt to get out of the way and for her to face me. Yep it worked.

We finished up and I fed and groomed her then let her out.

My friend Leah showed up shortly after and was doing some lovely ground work with her mare Bubba. At one point Roxy saunters over and gives Bubba a nicker, sniffs her rump and then comes in with her neck all arched and sniffs her muzzle! Then Leah sent Bubba to the right and Roxy circled with her following Bubba for about 2 circles before drifting off. Roxy was clearly in a playful mood!

I decided to grab my carrot stick and a pocket full of cubes and see what would happen if I went in and tried to play. Roxy had started to walk off so I sat in the grass and called her while Leah threw some carrots in my direction. Roxy started heading back.

After rewarding her for coming back I sent her to the right and she circled then drifted off. This continued with me getting her attention and getting her to walk with me before asking her to stop, back up and circle. All of which she did if only for a few paces it was something! Then I started running next to her, stopping suddenly, backing up and turning to go the other way, hoping that Roxy would mimic me. For the most part she did and it was FUN! When she drifted off I simply walked up to her and either dropped in beside her to walk next to her and get her attention back with me or tried to get her attention and draw her to me while walking backwards. Roxy did know that I had a pocket full of treats but she wasn’t pushy and for a left brain introvert the biggest reward for doing the right thing is a treat!

You could just see her starting to think ‘wow you are being a bit interesting?’

Leah called out ‘I feel a blog in this’ and at the time I was too focused on thinking and playing but when I got home I realised what a huge achievement it was. I truly believe that one day I will be that person with that horse doing those things and some person in the crowd will be wishing they were me.

Roxy's First Year of Life

I spend alot of time thinking about where Roxy came from and who her parents might be. Recently I have started to think more about how Roxy's first year of life might have affected her as the horse she is today. By 'reading the horse' I am starting to believe that you can probably tell quite a bit about a time that you know nothing about.

What I do know is that as yearling Roxy was subjected to the Camden Sale Yards. Bought by her previous owner as she was 'too cute' she then spent the next 3 years in a paddock near a main road and a little time somewhere near Yass after being started. And we all know what she got up to down there!

So I have been thinking about some of the things Roxy objects too, her possible breeding and her lack of brands and basic behaviour and this is what I have come up with.

I believe that Roxy was born in a rural area maybe further out west of NSW and possibly by mistake. Given that she has no brands, she wasnt bred for a specific purpose and or the people who had her, didnt have the money to go through with the paperwork and processes involved and or she just had no breeding.

Once she reached one year old NSW was in the grip of a massive drought and a foal was an extra mouth that they couldnt keep feeding and she was, like most extra horses at this time, just sent to the sales.

Again referring to the drought I doubt that Roxy has seen much if any water over the years. Her preference for drinking is from muddy dam water or troughs and when I first purchased her water crossing of any kind was a real issue.

Roxy hasnt been mishandled as she really doesnt display any psychological scars, although she does get grumpy when trying to put on the bridle and she is a bit cinchy. This leads me to think that she was broken in the 'old' way and probably a bit rushed. Being left brain the process was probably all a bit quick for her. Despite this she still maintains a basic trust in humans but a preference for the herd. Roxy always places herself at the back of a herd. Her previous owner would have had alot of horses coming and going, so for Roxy being at the back meant safety and protection from new horses and new events. To this day she still prefers the back of the herd but now I find her sometimes in the middle.

The confidence that Roxy lacks is just because she is green. Traffic and the bush has never really bothered her given where she grew up this makes sense but like any horse in a new environment all the other stuff is just a learning process.

Now back to the fact that Roxy has had to endure the sale yards at such a tender age. My main clue to her left over objection from her treatment there is her dislike of cemented yards and mud. Of the few I pass she shows a minute but true fear which get's me thinking that she still associates that environment with the overwhelming fear and terror that she must have felt being herded in there and luckily for me saved.

On a positive note Roxy really likes cows and sheep, another clue to her possible first year of life maybe on a large cattle farm or sheep farm?

Finally to kind of summarise. Roxy was born and allowed to be a horse, she was handled and probably very sweet but for whatever reason had to go. She lacks confidence at times,like any horse, and was rushed in the breaking process. She doesnt forget easily, and is learning to trust but not without asking why. She accepts things once she sees no reason to be afraid, but still relies on the safety of the herd.

I feel that as my relationship with Roxy grows she trust' s me more and more not to make her do anything that might upset her or put either of us in a dangerous position. My main goal now is for Roxy to WANT to do things because at the end of the day they are fun and safe. You cant MAKE Roxy do anything she will fight back and if you dont take the time to see things the way she does you will lose. She is not intentional in her arguments, I feel now that she just wants to make sure I am sure and then she tends to adopt her 'oh well ok then' attitude.

Whoever let that little yearling get on a truck to the sales all those years ago made a huge mistake but I am so glad that they did.

xxx
Lorrie