The New Year Dawns!
Posted by DE&DL Henderson on Wednesday, January 2, 2013
January 1 is here. As I write, the New Year has been off to a scorching start---with temperatures outside the house soaring to way above 40C and focus has been on celebrating the year past, the advent of the new one---and plumbing! Making sure all stock are watered and cool, and even with a house full of guests and fun to be had, plumbing problems must be solved!
With two new foals on the ground, Miss Moneypenny (Poppy) and Whitehall (Hal), all hands are vigilantly participating in foal handling and horse management activities! It is all quiet on the stock work front at present, with weaning over, culled cows gone and calves marketed, so the focus has been on looking after the horses on hand as the pasture quality declines and the temperatures soar.
We have two visiting mares running with Cuffy at present; a lovely strawberry roan brumby (Cafe Latte) and a TB mare (Golden Chalice), both being bred with the aim of producing foals for polocrosse, which is so exciting to us as that is what Qualia Cufflink was bred for, with Jodi Tiver putting considerable thought and effort into matching horses with horses to produce offspring that can meet the demands of such a game.
Lofty (Black Tave) and Guiness are about to start serious work with the State Tetrathalon and endurance rides in their sights (or in the sights of their riders!), while some of the others are being prepared for a breed show in Esperance on February 16. The early mornings and late evenings in summer are such lovely times to work horses, and the school holidays mean there is not the mad rush to get the horses done in time to get the school books out!
It is a good time to work with the youngsters, take the horses for swims in the Big Dam, and take some time off to enjoy the local beaches---with our without the horses!
With two new foals on the ground, Miss Moneypenny (Poppy) and Whitehall (Hal), all hands are vigilantly participating in foal handling and horse management activities! It is all quiet on the stock work front at present, with weaning over, culled cows gone and calves marketed, so the focus has been on looking after the horses on hand as the pasture quality declines and the temperatures soar.
We have two visiting mares running with Cuffy at present; a lovely strawberry roan brumby (Cafe Latte) and a TB mare (Golden Chalice), both being bred with the aim of producing foals for polocrosse, which is so exciting to us as that is what Qualia Cufflink was bred for, with Jodi Tiver putting considerable thought and effort into matching horses with horses to produce offspring that can meet the demands of such a game.
Lofty (Black Tave) and Guiness are about to start serious work with the State Tetrathalon and endurance rides in their sights (or in the sights of their riders!), while some of the others are being prepared for a breed show in Esperance on February 16. The early mornings and late evenings in summer are such lovely times to work horses, and the school holidays mean there is not the mad rush to get the horses done in time to get the school books out!
It is a good time to work with the youngsters, take the horses for swims in the Big Dam, and take some time off to enjoy the local beaches---with our without the horses!