I've been meaning to get this whole blog thing underway but with everything that comes along...it kind of gets pushed to the back of the pile. I have a book I write ideas down in and there are a couple of posts in my draft file. My mind seems to be on so many things at once these days that writing things down is the safest way. My pondering thoughts are often lost when I discover a new place that the chickens have been laying eggs in or that the kids have been sneaking into the store and eating all the marshmellows that I bought for the next camping trip and all I seem to remember is that there WAS something that I thought would be good to write about but it seems to be floating beyond my grasp at the moment.
The stallion and the broodmares are about three kilometres away from 
the house, in a holding paddock next to the cattle yards. We've had a bit of rain lately which has made it hard to get out to them and put water in the few dams and depressions in the paddock meaning they don't have to come in to the water trough. I've been driving around and seeing their tracks. New rain means I know they are recent and Bardie's are pretty easy to spot seeing as though they are twice the size of the others! But I always like to see the horses, give them a treat and a brush if nothing else and although I can see they have been walking in and out everyday I couldn't help but imagine some disastrous wound or infliction. The longer it went the more disastrous my imaginary wound got.
the house, in a holding paddock next to the cattle yards. We've had a bit of rain lately which has made it hard to get out to them and put water in the few dams and depressions in the paddock meaning they don't have to come in to the water trough. I've been driving around and seeing their tracks. New rain means I know they are recent and Bardie's are pretty easy to spot seeing as though they are twice the size of the others! But I always like to see the horses, give them a treat and a brush if nothing else and although I can see they have been walking in and out everyday I couldn't help but imagine some disastrous wound or infliction. The longer it went the more disastrous my imaginary wound got.
So yesterday we went out again but this time in a new car that has just arrived on the station which happens to have a louder horn-which my three year old girl can easily push. Turns out that's all it took. The horses came cantering up to the fenceline (we had gone around 3/4 of the paddock by then) looking just as happy to see me as I was to see them. It was then that I realised that I needed to worm them (the wormer sitting on the table at the house ready to take with me) and I didn't have a halter, brush or even a carrot on me. It didn't take them much coaxing to follow me back to the yards which I then decided to lock them up in overnight. The yards have been locked off and are full of growing oats and wheat from the hay that has been fed there in the past six months so they were pretty happy with that.
After school we were down there again, this time with a tray load of feed, wormers, brushes and treats and the kids and I spent a blissfully warm afternoon with the stallion and his mares. I don't think I can solely credit the recent warm weather for happiness that I felt this afternoon. There is something truly wonderful about spending time with a horse that wants to spend time with you. He is the first to call out and canter up and the last to follow out after the mob has left. He will follow you around while you do the chores, scooping poop and cleaning troughs. He is ridiculously hard to take photos of without help as he will keep coming in for his cuddle or to see if that camera may be actually have turned into a treat this time. So selfies are the only way to get him on your own and it wasn't until I got home that I realised I had taken quite a lot and even managed to get a few good ones.
So this is a feel good post, to remind myself and others to take the time to lean back and enjoy the company because I'm pretty sure they enjoy our company too.
...and if you can't find your horses in a large bush paddock - get a louder horn :)
