National tv

Hey everyone, I know I've been slack on the blogging front lately but here's a little video that aired on national tv last week about some of the work I've been involved with during the previous twelve months, and yep I even mak an appearance in some photographs....

http://tvnz.co.nz/breakfast-news/police-dog-handler-s-overseas-role-video-5345444

The new wild one

It's been a busy summer, running riding camps, trying to keep my horses in work, organize the next trip overseas, which involves all the, normal travel stresses plus the added headache of fundraising for vet, farrier and dental supplies for the animals we will be caring for. There is  my normal business to run on top of this, I'm not really complaining its been a great summer, but having a spare second to sit down and type anything has been non-existent.

So now on a rainy Monday morning I finally have the chance to tell everyone a little bit more about Matariki, my newest wild horse.

Matariki did not come straight from the wild to me. He was mustered two and a half years ago, and ended up much further south down the country from me. I don't know the exact details, but as a freshly mustered colt he was far to wild for the people who adopted him. I can only imagine what he must have been like, he's a a horse with a lot of presence about him, the looks of a mustang and coming straight from muster, terrified of people, with a snort that sounds like a gun going off, I can see for someone with less experienced he would have been a bit intimidating.

It wasnt  working out where he was, there was talk of trying to tranquilize him as a means to tame him. Luckily others intervened and Matariki changed hands. A man managed to start handling him and did some basic work with him, so Matariki became a little less wild. Eventually he changed hands again and the wonderful people of the Kaimanawa Hritage Horses took him under there wing. He got lots of patient love and care, and this is where I herd about him, so eventually he's made his way up north to me. 

Although I heard a lot about him, the first time I saw him he was coming off the back of transport truck on my driveway. The  thing that struck me about this horse, is that he has presence, something that's hard to quantify exactly what it is, an elusive x-factor that makes you stand up and take notice,and draws your eye to that particular animal even when in a herd of others. Even his stance said "look at me , here I am" but had an edge about it, a wildness that showed any wrong move and he might decide to leave the area, quickly.

The truck driver handed me the lead rope and like every other wild horse before him, Matariki had to make the long first walk up the driveway onto the farm. For a horse that looked so wild, the whole way he stuck to me like glue, and anything that scared him, instead of turning and fleeing, he just snuck in closer to me and kept walking. Through a flock of the neighbors peacocks, chickens and ducks, across the creek and up the hill, he was great, mostly taking everything in his stride. Like a horse that been doing it his while life he marched straight into his new stable and settled in for the night.

Mostly he's been a dream to be with, every so often you'll hear a sound of a gun popping but myself and every other horse on the property has now learned its just Matariki letting the world know he's seen something suspicious. The snorts are seldom heard anymore anyway.

At first I couldn't put my finger on the  exactly what the issues were surrounding this little horse. He galloped around the the paddock like a completely wild thing at times before walking straight put to you and putting his head in your chest. From the moment the lead rope was on him he was by your side and the most attentive little horse in the world. To work with he was highly intelligent, willing and quick, and seemed to really enjoy it. Again when he did the right thing, he would let out a huge sigh of relief walk up to you and press his head against you.   He wanted security and yet was quite bold and afraid at the same time. Terrified of things behind him, yet turn to face it and walk right up to investigate what ever had just previously startled him. Something about him was so familiar though.

When I thought about to though, I realized that this horse was sjust like one of the stallions from last muster. Shy Boy, the wildest, spookiest and with that same presence,  but when he was haltered for the first time, melted and completely turned to humans for support and comfort, and became the most attached of all the stallions to people. Matariki would have been just like Shy, but unfortunately had a few bumps in the road to complicate things.

Horses are amazing animals, and Matariki is quickly adapting, once he learnt the rules and got over some of his anxiety he was happy out in a group of kids and ponies all going in ten different directions around him, calmly and happily allowing them to all come up and pat him.

Although its been a bit crazy around here I hope to get on with training and over the next few Matariki will begin his career as a ridden pony, for all his quirky way this is one Kaimanawa I absolutely love and think will be something very special in the future

Changes

When your used to seeing something everyday, you don't notice the gradual changes. Day by day littles thing happen, and they slide under your radar, maybe you notice but are oblivious to the whole picture changing, until some big event occurs to make you sit back,think and realize how big some changes have really been.

Last night I was unloading a small chestnut horse in the moonlight. The little horse just calmly backed himself out of the trailer and quietly walked back to the paddock with me. I took the halter off and he just stood there for a while as I scratched his neck and said goodnight.

This little horse takes everything in his stride, nothing to get upset about, calm, quiet and stoic, seems to be his motto. He's not stupid either but seems more to think about what's going on, weigh up the situation and react in a way that seems most logical to him. This scrawny little pony, who is still a baby at two and half, manages to bring this calm attitude and comfort to the horses he's around as well. So much so that he quite often is used as the baby sitter for the more brainless or highly strung horses on the property, despite his young age.

Over summer we have had School holiday horse camps on the farm, meaning each week a gaggle of giggling girls descend on us with their horses, for a week of riding, horsemanship and fun. One activity has always been to give some of the horses on the place a makeover. Washing, shampooing, brushing, hair spraying, plaiting, makeup (on the horse) and shining, the whole nine yards. Generally I don't use young horses for this, due to their unpredictability. But the little chestnut was different, and even though he's only ever had one person handle him before, stood quietly while a group of girls worked on him with brushes from all angles. He even seemed to enjoy it standing quietly and delicately sniffing the tops of the girls head as they crouched down scrubbing his white socks.

The reason though that I was unloading a horse with only the moon for illumination near the midnight. Is the little chestnut pony, is baby sitter to my colt, they are the same age, but the chestnut seems infinitely more calm and wise. So when the young stallion had to go on his very first ride in a truck to visit some girls, the pony went with him for support. While the colt trembled and worried about getting in the truck, the pony walked on and stood quietly waiting. Because of the pony the colt traveled beautifully, not even breaking a sweat. Arriving at the new place the huge young stallion at almost twice his size clung to the pony's side for security, and together they got to meet the girls, who completely intimidated the colt but not the pony.

We waited a few hours until the colt settled in his new surrounding. Loaded up the pony, and drove home again.

It was unloading in the dark that I really thought about it. This little chestnut pony, less than a year ago was a colt running wild. Eight months ago he was mustered off the mountains, put on a cattle truck and arrived on my doorstep. Six months ago he was still recovering from a massive head wound. Now he's the most trusted horse on the property, who is fussed over by little girls, babysits stallions, and goes on moonlit rides in horse trucks.

I never noticed before but little Oscar has come a long way.

Summer fun

Had to share this with everyone. There is more than one reason to have well trained horses, it not just to win ribbons at horses shows.

But so when you come up with crazy ideas like taking your horse to the beach and towing a wakeboard behind it, you can.

This is my best friend, her dressage horse, me and my dog at the beach on the weekend. Life couldn't get much better really......

Meet the new arrival

My news for the New Year.... The newest wild horse to arrive on the farm today, meet Matariki

So far so good, settled in well and met the rest of the Kaimanawa crew

More to come...

Watch this space.....

Exciting things are about to happen around here.... I'll keep you posted on my new years surprise over the next couple of days. Watch this space....

Cats

For anyone who doesn't believe in global warming, its probably because they spend there life indoors, never dealing with the weather. I'm dealing with the weather alright, typing from the kitchen table looking out the window, the rain is pouring down, and the noise at it pelts the veranda roof is deafening. If it wasn't for the humidity, I could be fooled into thinking this was winter weather, but here were in the southern hemisphere in what should be summer time.

On christmas eve, it rained so much we canceled all our dinner plans, and spent the evening flooded in, the road out impassable. Now New Years looks like it may go the same way. I had all my camping supplies and my kayaks packed and ready to go for a few days exploring out in the islands. But in the early hours of the moringing as I a woke to that sound of heavy rain on the roof, that sound when you know it's not just a quick down pour, but will be steadily falling for many hours to come. I turned my alarm off and went back to bed, thinking that I would at least have a rare sleep in, since camping plans were obviously out.

But there is a reason sleep ins around here are rare. At first light I felt tiny pins pricking at my feet, ignoring them for a few minutes, I finally pulled my feet back under the blankets for protection. Something ran across the blankets and next there was swatting and clawing at my hands and arm, irritating little scratches than wouldn't relent. I pulled my arms back under the blankets, and fell back to sleep listening to the rain.

A minute or two later though, and I was wide awake as tiny teeth embedded themselves into the side of my chin, the pain jolting me awake. Sleep was out the door, and I tried in vain to swipe at the little ball of fur,
that upon seeing I was awake, was trying to use my face as a trampoline, leaping and pouncing all over the show.

I have a new kitten, today is the one week anniversary of Paul, the biting, scratching, face pouncing pest joining the family.

I'm not really a cat person, I love all animals, but given the choice between cat or dog, and I would choose dog. My friends are always surprised to find out I actually already have a cat, although I justify this by saying she's more dog like in behavior than feline. So to now have two cats, no one is more surprised than me.

Paul, a little white and grey spotted tabby kittem,came into my life in the most unexpected way.

I'd had a night out on the town with the girls, we were all done up, high heels dresses, make up, and I had at least washed my hair that day. It was past midnight when we hopped in a taxi and asked to be taken back to where we were staying. A friend remembering, this taxi driver used to drive her mates home along the back roads trying to hit possums on the the way, asked if we could do the same. So four girls crammed into the back seat hit the gravel roads.

We didn't hit any possums, but coming around a corner, stuck in the beams of the headlight in the middle of the road, we're two tiny kittens. The taxi came to a stop, and my friend shoved me out the door " catch them Chloe" and came scrambling after me, clambering over our other mates in the process.

I didn't need to be told twice, still in my high heels I ran up a bank after the kittens, and just as they headed for the underbrush, managed to grab the one with white on it which was easier to see in the dark.

I held onto the yowling ball of fur in a death grip, as finding itself caught, it fought like a banshee scratching and hissing. My friends all of who were now out of the taxi searched for the other kitten but it was gone.

Paul, named after the taxi driver, came home with us. He was mot an appealing character at the time. Obviously a wild cat, he sunk his teeth deep in to my fingers and didn't let go, every chance he got. He was sticky and dirty and smelled like a mix of cat urine and turkey shit. Skinny and covered in a large selection of parasites, he was not the most appealing chap I'd ever come across.

But I love a challenge. How hard could one little kitten be after dealing with multiple wild horses, surely I could tame it.

A week later typing this, I think we're well in our way to having a domesticated little cat. Paul has been, de-loused,de-ticked, wormed, washed and fattened up. He doesn't smell any more, his coat is glossy and silk to touch. More importantly he likes people, food and picking ticks off were two of the things that convinced him we might be okay.

He's sitting here , now that he's exhausted himself playing wake up games early this morning, purring like a motorboat in my lap, totally blissd out and content with life..

Even for someone who's not a huge feline fan Paul's pretty cool, and temporarily the Wild Horse Project, may become the Wild Cat Project instead...