Horses – Page 2 – Brave New World of Blogging

Teamsters Ride : Barellan NSW

I was invited to enjoy

“a unique slice of Bush Heritage

and ride alongside a wagon,

creating unforgettable memories.”

As the brochure continued

“ the sound of the chains, the creaking wheels,

and guidance from expert horsemen will give you

a sense of freedom and camaraderie like no other.”

How could I resist?

I Didn’t – resist that is. 😉

Rather, I paid and packed.

the road…

And Drove, and drove and drove somewhere,

to where the land is flat, flat, flat

and the soil is red, red, red.

And the people are great, great, great.

Australian Saddle Safaris,

aka Brad, Michaela and their crew are Fantastic hosts

and their horses are equally great.

And so we settled in ……

Met the crew:

Both big and small….

Found the ‘kitchen’ and the fabulous chef….

with special meals offered along the way….

Even had a room with a view 🥰

And so to Day One

There is always a mix of emotions on this day.

(Memories of other ‘day one’s’ come to mind : https://leepowrie.com/2019/03/21/morocco-ride-day-one/)

Personally, I am usually nervous

wondering who will look to the heavens

when someone (almost always me🤣)

has an unplanned dismount!

No one did – lift their eyes to the heavens,

and while for me it, it was a close thing,

it was only that –

Close.

Very Close. 😉

The horses and riders meet and need to work out how the gears work,

where is the brake;

ah there,

now,

does it actually work? 😜

Meanwhile, the horses, bless them, have not read the brochure.

They do not know it is a leisurely 100km walk; a gentle time warp.

But they DO know there are

donkeys,

bullocks,

draught horses and the absolute Final Straw –

CAMELS

To begin with, they lulled us into our comfort zone.

We walked behind the creaking, squeaking carts for a good junk of time.

with them apparently quietly absorbing the scene;

with them apparently nonchalant about the whole ‘affair’

Confident, therefore,

that we were all on the same page,

We planned to pass ‘the mob’.

The plan being to do it quietly,

in a disciplined, controlled manner.

A bit like ‘the movies’ 🤣

And just like that,

our beautiful steeds,

whether on a lead rope, or ‘free wheeling’

reminded us they didn’t care at all about

any advertising brochures, time warp, slow paced walk.

All they cared about was getting away from those CAMELS,

those dragon breathing,

fire generating, smelly monsters,

surely out to destroy us all?

As is always the case in moments or such excitement,

no photographic evidence of the chaos.

We all grabbed hold of anything that seemed vaguely stable,

be it horse,

ground,

or each other 😉.

So a bit of imagination is required for this day one excitement

as we look at more relaxed ‘holding on’ photos 🙄🤣

Having survived day one, we carefully negotiated our way around ‘things’ and spent the next six days doing precisely as we anticipated.

Enjoying a unique slice of Bush Heritage,

riding alongside a wagon,

creating unforgettable memories with the sound of the chains,

the creaking wheels

and guidance from expert horsemen

giving us a sense of freedom and camaraderie like no other.

With grateful thanks to amazing new friends;

for the company,

the sharing,

the laughs,

the nervous moments

and for generously sharing your photos.

Evening Vibes

100km done and dusted – literally – red dust 😂🤣

For those who don’t ‘have the bug’ this blog may be a bore. I know most of my friends think I am a little crazy and there is no doubt that my father would have something to say about the absurdity of a 60+ woman starting to ride horses when it hasn’t been part of her life up to now.
But then of course, one of the marks of a madman (or woman) is that they march to their own drum and don’t ‘toe the line’. So here I am, riding, more or less efficiently and thoroughly enjoying every moment.

So after the tentative Cape Trail Day zero – Farm 215 (that’s a link you can click 🙂 )and the glorious one to Margaret River (That link again 🙂 )I ventured out into the High Country, Victoria – almost down the road from where I live and did a 6 day trail there. Thanks to www.hiddentrails.com.au (You get the picture – links 🙂 _

It was AMAZING – so to my non riding friends who think I am crazy, I apologise, but blog I must and to my crazy friends, well you will get the madness 🙂 🙂 🙂

16 of us met up in Mansfield for dinner the evening before our Big Ride. 5 of us ‘were single’ and knew no one prior to that dinner, the others were couples/friends. Again riding brought together people from all corners of our country, our neighbours (New Zealand) and across the Pacific, from the USA. By the end of day 1, we were one big happy family gathered around a huge fire, sharing stories, drinks, laughter, memories, food and the marvel of our surrounds.

19238442_1856944080991355_1606487513_o — While our 5 Star chefs prepared the MOST

and a welcome board each day to remind us ‘where we were’

28342703_1856944464324650_445900562_o — Strangers were….

For 6 days we traversed the High Country as it is generally known. From Mount Stirling, Craig’s Hut, Lovicks Hut, Mt Mandala, miles and miles and miles.

This country is stunning, the gum trees like ghosts with so many stories to tell, curled and misshapen from heavy snow, miles and miles of rolling hills as far as the eye can see where almost no man has been, reminding me of British Columbia, steep edges with the Howqua river below. The Low Country with forests, koalas, birds, insects, flowers and so many river crossings we lost count.

Hells Pass

There is no doubt that It’s all about …. (yup, you got it – a link 🙂 )the horse and once again I won the jackpot with Audrey. Yup, as in Hepburn, although she was neither slim, nor elegant but very large and quite heavy. But a lady nonetheless with an appetite that defies description – she tried to eat at every opportunity and for a day or so it was a battle of wills between her and I as to who was going to get their way. We compromised a great deal!!!!

But these horses are remarkable, faithful, strong, willing and so so kind. All of us were constantly grateful for their stamina and sure-footedness as we climbed up and down the MOST awesome hills (some would say mountains!) – and while it is difficult to take photographs and ride at the same time, we do have some and I will let them ‘do the talking’.

We wandered through the terrain used for the film “The Man from Snowy River” based on a poem by Banjo Patterson and relived a moment or two.

With a kiss at the ‘kissing tree’ as we called it, where Craig and Jessie from the movie are believed to have ‘spent time together’.

This kiss marked 44 years of marriage – a celebration worth most definitely a kiss!

And as each day took us up to the top of the world, or down to a beautiful valley, we drew closer through our shared experience and gratitude to the Hidden Trails crew who worked tirelessly to make this one of the most remarkable weeks of our lives.

Whether it was the amazing food, or the incredible work involved in caring for our horses, feeding, shoeing, washing, saddling, unsaddling, corralling, the transferring of our camps, the attention when one of us didn’t feel well, and most importantly, keeping our drinks colds!!!!! It was a trip of a lifetime.

28460641_10156228324947560_1913206501_o — Heights and edges

28696121_10157167946639746_2039189737_o — the likes of which

28407903_10204400039996776_379107526_o-2 — …too often

28685541_1871274449558318_5397022475848667342_n — Spectacular as it was

28407312_10156228325687560_1203204991_o — The real Man from Snowy River image

28503747_10156228327817560_163047238_o — Hells Pass

As wobbly as this photo looks – so we sometimes felt riding up to this point 🙂

And of course for every up, there is a down – debates constantly about which is more challenging!!!!!

scattered as we were in our swags under a sky alive with a million stars

Having been well cared for; fed. watered and doctored.

There were days of glorious views, river crossings, trees so tall I felt I was in a cathedral of some kind, birds calling, skies so blue and fresh, faint sounds of riders behind or front, the glorious silence of riding companionably, along with your thoughts, the creaking of the saddle and sound of their feet on the ground somehow at one with the earth. Old huts, with stories to each, a koala in a tree. Hidden trails indeed.

and in case you have not had enough : some more images and even a stunning video thanks to Rachel Meek of our epic climb to Mt Magdala!!!

And thanks to all my now friends, from this amazing adventure for your wonderful photographs.

Another day – Another lesson

Life is full of surprises.

I mean, take saddles for example.

Yes, that’s what I said, saddles. They go onto the backs of horses.

Ever thought about them? Well of course not, nor had I until last week.

Like chicken breasts from the supermarket, saddles, just ‘were’. How many of us think about the size of the chickens that offer us these juicy large breasts – when I did, I baulked at the thought that they may be the size of dogs!!!!!

So why would we think about a saddle? No reason of course since we don’t eat them, and most people don’t go near them in day to day life.

Except I am not not on of the ‘most people’ having decided well into my 60’s that I shall learn to ride. Which means sitting in most instances on (in?) a saddle. Still I gave it (the saddle, not the horse) little thought – it just Was.

Some saddles rubbed me in uncomfortable places, some buckles chaffed and left reminders long after the ride was over, but mostly they just came with the territory.

Until I changed my territory and went on a fabulous trail to the High Country (blog to follow: HiddenTrails,Globetrotting.com.au) where I met a Saddle Maker. Not just ‘a saddle maker’ but Peter Horobin and his daughter Marlee who make saddles which are sent all over the world; these are ‘bespoke’ saddles – think Kate Middleton Duchess of Cambridge and her bespoke dresses and you get the idea.

note the chalk diagrams of the ever patient horse’s muscles

Peter was amazing, teaching us about the muscles and bones around the shoulder of the horse, how saddles impinge or don’t on their movement, how poor mounting (climbing into the saddle for my non riding friends the wrong way) can bend the tree.

Yup, its okay I also didn’t know what he was talking about and heard the voice of a rather dumb naive blonde (that would be me) ask what on earth he meant. Turns out a tree isn’t what we were seeing all around us, but rather part of the saddle, a foundational part in fact.

And of course there was a next step – a visit to his shop/workshop/sanctuary/creative studio which I did today after my third only riding lesson put on the Mornington Peninsula.

And what a wonderland of energy, passion, skill and hospitality. The saddles – there are SO many different types, every one hand made, so many colours, so many uses, so many textures, it was like entering Aladdin’s cave, an abundance of smell, touch, leather, style and confidence.