Kinglake, and a new horsey friend!

[maggies_lens]

Tanya and Shar were going to come down this morning for some Danny goodness, when I got a phone call from Tanya. She was calling to say sorry we can't come because we are going to go have a look at a possible horse for Shar! Did we want to come for a day-trip? DID I!!!! Dragged Al out too and off we went.  Met at the girls' place which is in Cockatoo, beautiful sort of suburb in the hills. Met their cats and the foster kitten (they foster kittens in need of homes or respite care) who is MENTAL! Then off we went to Pyalong, which was 2 hours drive away! In order to get there we had to drive right through were the Black Saturday fires raged in Feb this year. I have been avoiding going up there because I didn't want to be a looky-lou, you know? We headed into Tolangi State Forest, that was the first look I got at the devestation. I was last in Tolangi some years ago on a school excursion, back before the drought. I remember vibrant green, as far as rain-foresty you can get this far South. I remember the deafening bird sing, the under currents of insects, and the rustling of un-seen small creatures. When we stopped at a view-point to stretch our legs, I got some photos. I stood next to the burnt trees and looked up at the burn marks, so far over my head.... and shuddered. We travelled on into Kinglake itself. The burnt out houses, collapsed barns with their beams all warped and twisted from the heat, excavators everywhere, Aussie flags flying proud, all to often at 1/2 mast. But you could feel the spirit coming through. It was the weekend and LOADS of people were up there. The Melbourne community has come together and everyone heads up to the areas on weekends to put coins in charity bins, buy food from the local shops, and take photos which will one day form part of this nation's history. But not of properties, not without permission. You never know which house someone was hurt in, our passed away in. Photos below the cut of what we saw. Vid clip loading at we speak of the drive up through Tolangi. Despite the vast, vast tracts of burnt out land, the green is coming back. In fact, nature is coming back faster than the man-made stuff! In a years time the scars will remain, but they will be almost hidden by the new growth.

Shar's new horsey is a Clydie x Arabian gelding. Well, he's not technically HERS as yet, the sale is pedning a vet-check pass, of course. I forgot how old he is, 11yrs old I think? he was an oppsy-daisy foal; the mare was supposed to be infertaile, her owners had been trying to breed her for a while to another Clydie (I think it was?) but with no joy and she was declared infertile. The people who took her on had an Arabian stallion who needed some company so in she went with him. Some year and a bit later.... :-D You would think a horse with this breeding would look a bit odd, but in fact he's quite perfect really. Imagine a Clydie but finer, and you have this little guy. Little at some 16hh! BIG white blaze, socks, and one of his eyes has white eye lashes :-D VERY lovely boy. Very calm, willing and a bit or a slow-motion rocking-horse type :-) I did the eagle-eyed-horsey-friend thing and watched his every move. He dishes ever so slightly but nothing atrocious. His hooves are in need of some attention and he could do with some muscle and fat but all that will come with time. Tanya rode him and he was a real gentleman. I hopped on and did some VERY basic flexation with him at a walk, trying to feel how his back moved under me, how his legs felt and how willing he was to give his mouth to me. Considering he'd only been ridden 3 times since November, he was incredible. If anything, a bit on the slow side, but he's going to be a school-master/pet, so a steady, gentle personality is a must. He didn't feel ponderous like I thougt he might, quite cat-like on his feet. A little resistant when I asked for his head but once he understood what I wanted he was happy enough to drop onto the bit. He felt like I was driving a big ol' comfy V8 cadillac :-) PLENTY of power in reserve but happy to be in cruise control :-D Shar hopped on and was led around to see how she liked him and I dare say she did! He's hunted and his mane was roached so it's growing back all funky now, but his forelock is sooooo long! Lovely deep mahogany colouring. No sigh of scratch on his fetlocks even tho they are pink-skinned. In all, a friendly little guy. If he passes vet check, he's off to a VERY loving home. AND I get to ride him up in their area when he comes home :-D I need a cherry-picker to get up there, but I'm already very fond of him. Photos under the cut, of course.








Just look. Look how high those burn marks go.


I loved how this looked. The brown and black. The amounst it all, the BRILLIANT GREEN of brand new growth.


Temporary houses for those who lost everything. These kit homes were donated by various mining companies and other business that offer their employees accomodation in other-wise un-settled areas. They can have them, rent-free, for as long as they need. Fully furnished. And filled with donated clothes, toys, you name it


he's named Mocha at the moment, pending whether he'll be keeping that




Hooves def need some TLC, the lady who owns him currently insisted on a dressage whip and spurs. God knows what the heck for. I rode him without either and he was a perfect gentleman


















Pretty little fellow, isn't he?
 

Comments

[dawning-horizon.livejournal.com]

Oh! So the inside leg on the girth to wrap him around, and the outside leg back a bit to stop him from ass-flinging into a slide around the corner.

So I just had them the wrong way around! Much better and that explanation makes heaps of sense, esp with the outside leg which was a bit I wasn't getting.

[maggies-lens.livejournal.com]

That's it! You don't want ass-fling-age. Ass fling-age is bad! Makes them fall in to a turn which means they are unbalanced and not ready to respond to you or get themselves out of trouble if something happens. Case in point, you go around a cnr on a track and it crumbles on the edge where he has stepped after rain (HA! Remeber that stuff?) undermines it. If he is balanced he will simply shift his weight autimatically to the other legs and apart from stumbling, will go on like nothing happened. If he's unbalanced he could loose his footing, the stumble could be worse, or as happened to me once, he'll slip down the mountain side on his ass and scare the living crappola out of you :P Also you will find he will be better prepared for your signal to either go slower or speed up if he's working with his butt 'engaged' and the whole thing will just be a hell of a lot easier on you both. It takes a bit of getting used to so don't stress. Kind of like learning to drive a stick-shift, just got to get the co-ordination. Saw you ride, you move naturally with your horses' movement and compensate for the ground level automatically, plus you listen to your horse. You'll be out riding the rest of us in no time :-)

[ilikerivers.livejournal.com]

I am giggling so hard reading this! :D

who did you slide down a mountain on his ass? Dan Dan?

ass=flingage is bad"" is lolworthy. :D :D

[maggies-lens.livejournal.com]

Well now, surely you agree ass-flingage is a bad thing :-D And that's a lot of ass on that pony to be flinging around :-D. Hopefully it all made sense.
Nah, I slid down a hill up in Gippsland when I was about 15 years old or so, on the back of a very young, very stupid, but very pretty little TB who was not very used to not going in circles. We were taking him out for a stroll and he was VERY unbalanced, more so than Ry even. He slipped, was tilting rather than flexing around the cnr, backl egs went over the edge, I managed to SOME how swinghim around on his ass so he was pointing nose down the slope and down we went about 8 or 9 feet. Front legs straight out, apparently. Very odd sitting on a horse that lands in the sitting-dog position.... Not an experiance I care to repeat any time in the near futire :-)