My First Horse

Today I became a horse owner!

She doesn’t actually arrive until Sunday, but the money was paid today, and she is on her way.  A big trip, about 1000km, from Mount Tambourine near the Gold Coast in South East Queensland, to Mackay on the Central North Coast.

It is a bit risky buying a horse that you have never ridden, and only seen in photos, but here is hoping that everything is ok. Her owner and I have sent each other lots of emails and talked on the phone, and she seems genuine.   I know that my mare is an Australian Stock horse and she was born in September 2006.  I have even found her on the Australian stock horse register.  She was broken in by parelli instructor Julianne Tetlow of Stonefox Ranch. She is barefoot at present, and has recently been wormed.  She also has  a little cut on one front leg. Looking at the lush green grass she has been grazing on, I think she may be a little overweight (but so am I!).

She will arrive on Sunday at my riding instructors ranch at Walkerston, just out of Mackay.  I will be agisting her there for a few months until we get our own acreage.  She will have a introduction period on her own, but then she can join the herd of about seven horses.  Her companion horse was sold last week and she has had only a Shetland pony for company, so I wonder how she will adjust to that.  Our paddocks aren’t as lush either, so that will also be interesting.

Meanwhile I am reading all I can about natural horsemanship and natural horse keeping.  I have just read The Smart Women’s Guide to Midlife Horses, by Melinda Folse, which is excellent for those of us in our middle years, and also Paddock Paradise by Jamie Jackson, which I think will be my new bible!  It answers a lot of questions about the best way to look after horses, which Jamie came upon from studying horses in the wild in the US.

 

Both are available in Australia from Horse Books.com, my new favourite bookshop, that offers free postage for orders over $30.

Next on the list is Revealing Your Hidden Horse – A Revolutionary Approach to Understanding Your Horse, by Mark Hanson.  I bought my copy from the natural horse world store.  I have also downloaded a book on clicker training by Elaine at Training horses naturally.

 

I had better get busy!

Deb