
"There is
something about the outside of a horse
that is good for the inside of a
man."
SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL

24 March 1978 - 19 May 2006

Tammy was my first horse, a 13.1hh
palomino pony that I was given in 1988.
We had to round her up in a paddock where
she had been left un-attended for 3 years, her hooves were curled over and
she had lost large areas of her coat to mange.
There was no way were we able to load her on a float it was so distressing
for her,
so we walked her for 2 days to her new home.
Tammy had never really been broken in
correctly, and boy did she teach me to
fall off well. A stunning looking mare, but not as sweet as she
looked …
I lived in Canberra when we first got her and people used to think it was
terrible
that I would carry a crop on such a gorgeous little pony - little did they
know.
It was nothing for us to ride our ponies
thru the drive-thru at McDonalds and we would
load the horses on the float, get dropped off on one side of Canberra and
spend
the day riding home. Although she had no bite or kick in her, she could be
a real rat-bag,
rubbing your legs along barbed wire fences and taking you under low
branches, and boy
could she shy… But it was a barrel of fun.
Once I moved onto a bigger mount Tammy
was used by younger pony club riders - she was brilliant at the sporting
games so quick to accelerate and turn - pity about the non-existent breaks
:)
Luckily she did mellow with some age under her belt, especially once she
was retired at
about 20 years old… she was much happier then.

At the grand old age of 28 I made the
very hard decision to let her rest when nothing we
gave her could ease her pain from arthritis and poorly growing hooves. She
was still in very
good condition and looked like a much younger horse, but it was time to
let her go before
the real cold of Winter hit and made it even harder on her.
It is very strange indeed to enter my
paddocks and not see Tammy's outline somewhere,
to not have her waiting for her meals in her yard and calling to me in the
hope that a
carrot might be forthcoming…
After owning her for 18 years she has been a big part of my life and is
definitely missed.

RIP Tam.
"Somewhere,
somewhere in times own space,
there must be some, sweet pastured place;
of pastures green where fresh creeks flow,
some paradise where horses go.
For by the love that guides my pen,
I know great horses live again."
AUTHOR UNKNOWN

1997 - 2002

Babe was purchased as an
unhandled two year old with her half sister Stoli.
They could not have been more different in temperaments - where Stoli
settled in very quickly and was soon running the place, Babe was a very
timid girl, on a good day she would approach you for a pat - as long as
you were sitting or kneeling at her level… on a bad day she was flighty
and unpredictable and wanted nothing to do with people. After owning Babe
for over 2 years she had not changed at all, even with natural
horsemanship lessons twice a day, the moment her halter was removed she
would revert to her wild little self.
We lost babe at 5 years old to a broken
leg, poor nutrition in her younger years made her bones quite weak and the
vet blames this for the type of break she had, in her stifle, which would
have made repairing it almost impossible.

A lovely little type of mare measuring in
at approx 32" at 4 years, it's a real shame,
perhaps if she had had a better start to life things could have been
different.
RIP Babe.
"There
is no secret so close as that between a rider and his horse."
ROBERT SMITH SURTEES

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