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On The Farm 

After years of breeding Angus cattle on our beautiful properties west of Esperance, as a family we made the decision to breed horses suitable for use on the farm, working the cows, and away from home, as mounts for pony club, campdrafting, eventing---whatever equestrian pursuit they are needed for at any particular time!

We decided that the Australian Stock Horses was the breed for us; purpose bred to work stock, but versatile enough to allow our children to enjoy pony club, polocrosse and hacking at local shows.

We are not aiming to breed horses that will event at Olympic level, though Australian Stock Horses have shown they can do that, or to win gold cups in campdrafting, but we are aiming to breed horses that will work at home, quietly and calmly getting the job done and allowing our children to do the job safely, and then calmly and quietly get on the horse float, go to town, plaited and brushed, and allow them to enjoy a dressage test or showjumping round. Safely and happily!

Up until now, the horses we have already had have had to do exactly that; stock horse one day, eventer the next. Ranging in size from 11hh to 16.2hh, we have been blessed with a range of equine friends to suit our children, aged from five to 17, as they have grown up on the farm.

But as those horses have aged, we have seen a need for more horses like them, and so the breeding operation has started.

After a search for bloodlines that suited our needs, we purchased two fillies, Cunnamore Slingshot and Cunnamore Calibre from the Cunnamore Stud at Mount Barker. We also purchased Easterly from the same stud. She is a Brown Chans Way mare, and was in foal to Tinagroo Winchester when we bought her.

We also purchased a gelding, Cunnamore Huntsman, who at four years of age slotted in to the family like an old hand, going to pony club, hacking, doing a few dressage tests, attending the pony club riding camp, and chasing a few cows at the local campdraft.

To increase broodmare numbers, we purchased Escholar October from the Esperance Senior High School's  horse stud.

Recently we purchased a yearling from Qualia Stud: Qualia Cufflink, by Binnia Impressive Destiny out of Haydon Brooch. He is a lovely little chap and we hope his bloodlines and temperament will work well with what we already have, and resulting foals will be just what we are after!

So that is that, the start of the stud! The first foal is on the ground and in the process of being weaned, and the horses that we already had continue to form the backbone of the team that carries out the stock work and off farm work on a regular basis, but we are confident that the animals we have purchased, and those that we are breeding, will ultimately take their place as all rounders doing whatever they are asked to do!



 

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Easter and the Rabbit's (or Bilby's) Dilemma....

Posted by DE&DL Henderson on Monday, April 21, 2014




Well, the Easter weekend in almost over. Yesterday was Easter Sunday, and every year this day coincides with the second day of the annual Munglinup EASTER Campdraft (funny, that!). A marvellous weekend, and sensible planning because it gives plenty of people time to travel to our part of the world from far afield.

But the timing presents the Easter Bunny (or Bilby, depending on your background!) with a few issues. It is hard enough having children spread all over the place at the best of times, but at a time like Easter, when a child really needs to be at home to ensure the bunny doesn't miss the swag during the deliveries, it is especially awkward!

Children in swags dossed down all over the place! Sometimes in tents, crammed full of friends home from school or uni for the long weekend, or on the clubhouse floor, or in the float: who knows where they could be---and the weather: though it has been cold and wet in the past, more often than not it is still hot enough to reduce to a tin-foil laced mush any deliveries that go undetected, ensuring a washing nightmare for someone, somewhere down the track!

And just how much chocolate should you give children who are camped out, but in public, for the whole weekend? By 6.30am Sunday April 20, there was a bunch of young draft groupies between the ages of 2 and 13 running noisily around the camp, playing chasey and hide and seek while laughing as loudly and hysterically as possible: perfect start to the last day of a big weekend! Nothing like the sound of happy, chocolate hyped children to get you off to a good start!

Towards the end of the day, the news came over the loudspeaker that the Munglinup Bushman's Committee had declared beer and chocolate to be vegetables, and that they could be consumed in copious quantities with clear conscience. This edict must have been balm to the ears of the parents just wondering about their parenting standards as evidenced by the choccy smeared and dusty faced children sliding up and down the hay bale grandstand.

It's all OK: chocolate, children and horses---a mix made in heaven!!


Tags: easter campdraft munglinup children chocolate