The Horses Part I

The Horses. Part I 2010

TOSS

Toss. The Boss Horse of the herd as he has been since we bought him in 1995. He has just turned 26 and is beginning to look like an elderly horse. When Toss wants a drink at the trough it is like the parting of the Red Sea, as he plods his way through the mob, drinks his fill at his leisure, and then stands broadside to the trough and goes to sleep. The rest of the herd can die of thirst while he snoozes - he cares not! Toss is mostly retired now and only does the flatter rides when we are short of horses. He lives on our Bottom Flat with other pensioners, where there is shade, the river and no younger horses to have to boss around. In the Winter storms he has a cover on and gets a hard feed, but his biggest joy is to be let into the garden where he thinks he ought to live all the time, or to be allowed to drift out on to the roadside and be forgotten for a while. The infrequent traffic just has to treat him as a roundabout!!

ROO

Roo. Ruby Doo. A VERY large lady and the Boss Mare of the herd since she arrived in 1998. She came from the Molesworth Station and is part Cleveland Bay, part Stationbred. She is Rod's Mare and that is that, no argument. None of the mares would dare challenge her, but she is still under the three top geldings. Usually has a much smaller gelding in tow who she allows to nibble her neck when she is in a good mood

ELLIE - [EL CASINO]

Ellie, Ellieburgle, Ellie Wellie. Ellie is a Standardbred, black and very, very fat. She is now 16, and the 2nd in command mare under Roo. In the last year we have taken her off the customers' list as she can be quite stroppy to ride, and likes to boot lesser horses on the trek. I am currently using her as a guide horse and we both have to suffer the awful "electric" shocks when she spots something SPOOKY.Really terrifying things like me sneezing or a quail taking off near her.. She is a really good "Doer" and never loses weight or needs feeding

CLONBERN - [Clonbern Lady]

Clonny has been here from 1995 and she is now 18. She is my main and "bestest" guide horse and after 14 years of working together she is my best friend. She will go anywhere I ask her, at any speed, and if there is a problem with a customer's horse, I can put them up on her and know that she will toddle home safely. We used to have a Family Fun Picnic Race Day at the local track, and Clonny LOVED being back on the racetrack. In the Allcomers Dash, with our local vet up, she used to be at the front after 50 metres, before the polo ponies and quarter horses overtook her. In her youth there wasn't a horse up here that could overtake her. She is very competitive and bossy in the herd and I love her to bits

POD [ POD ]

Pod, Poddles. A large lady, very good doer. We have never seen any ribs on this horse. We originally got her because she was a runaway freight train on the track. Having pulled her driver's arms out for most of the race, she had nothing left for the finishing straight. For the first few months up here she was very shy and wary of humans and never came near us if she could avoid it. Now being a slightly older lady, [ in her prime of course !] she is happier to be close to us and is wonderfully quiet to handle and cope with. Out on the treks she occasionally lobs a boot at lesser species behind her. She particularly enjoys being hosed off in the summer after a sweaty ride. She tucks her head into her chest and expects us to hose under her chin, and, once turned loose, she is one of the horses who comes back and expects seconds. - and thirds and fourths !!

DARKY [ TERRYN ENIKA ]

Darky. Just turned 16. Jet black mare with attitude. Turned up here with bowed tendons as her legacy from the racetrack. She has always been a goer, can't tolerate being at the back, loves to lead and explore and definitely not suitable for beginners. In 2000 next door's stallion got bored with his own mares and climbed through the fences to get to our mob. The only mare who was actually ready for him was Darky, and eleven months later she presented us with a bouncing, similarly attitude filled daughter - Dusky.. Darky was not delighted with motherhood - we had to catch her so the foal could nurse. Most of the mothering was left to my big Blueprint, who taught Dusky manners and herd ettiquette. Because Darky is so high powered she gets used far less than other quieter plods but she fits in here very well, never needs extra feed and still drifts around with her daughter

DUSKY

Dustball. Dusky is our 9/11 baby. Darky having had a wrong side of the blanket pregnancy,she finally gave birth late one afternoon, just before dusk. As our previous foal was born at dawn and called Sunrise, and I was looking for a "D" name for the new arrival, I picked Dusky. I came in and was too excited to sleep and was listening to Talkback Radio and, later in the night, they were telling us all about the World Trade Centre being attacked. Dusky was rubbed all over within seconds of birth, so she has always been very quiet to handle, but she is as bumptious as her mother, another very good doer, and difficult to keep where you want her as she climbs through any fence with ease. She is the main girlfriend of Sultan, but leaves him at a whim to chase anything in trousers, which drives the old boy scatty .He is living on next door's property and she may well climb back to him when she is bored here!

SULTAN [ TARZAN ]

His Royal Highness The Sultan of Taylor Pass. The old horse was at a riding establishment in Wellington and was going to be shot because he kept bucking people off. To cut a long story short, but via Rod's horsey cousin Robin , Tarzan ended up here and was re-named Sultan. He is a magnificent looking old horse, station bred so very hardy, and he mostly lives next door where he is quite happy so long as he has his sub herd of mares to keep him busy. When our very good equine chiropractor came by he found thet Sultan was in agony with lots of vertebra out of place, so he was entitled to buck, bless him. His teeth were also a disaster area with sharp bits and tusks all over the shop. So, these days he is a very happy horse. We love him and I think he quite likes us!

SERGEANT PEPPER

Sergeant Pepper

Sgt. Pepper was born in 1998, another wrong side of the blanket liaison, to a mare some local people owned. The children named him and he was wonderfully handled and did absolutely everything without a problem. The children loaded him on his first ever horse float - ours - and he travelled as if he had done it every day of his life. Up here he is seriously bossy in the herd, and is horrible to all horses under him in the pecking order. Nothing phases him, just one of life's relaxed characters. When he is very, very good on the rides we promote him to Captain. If he is less than perfect he gets demoted to Corporal. He LOVES children. Current girlfriend is a rather portly pony called Chile, who has just been contained in a smaller area of the hill as she is way too fat Sarge's summer nickname is Supersplosh, because once he gets in a deep waterhole in the river, he goes into manic overdrive and everyone gets wet!! - except Rachael, who seems to be immune whether she is on him or not!!

BOOGIE [ HOT SHOE BOOGIE ]

Boogie. Boogie Boy. Now 10 years old. Although we didn't pay a lot for Boogie, he cost $83,000 as a yearling because his sister, Hot Shoe Shuffle, was winning everything. He would never have made a good racehorse as he lacks the killer instinct, being one of life's cuddly horses. Our chiropractor had his work cut out with Boogs, because the poor horse had so many vertebra out. Since the day of his treatment he has just been so easy to look after, a bit like Daniel in the Lion's Den - you take the pain away and the animal never forgets. Boogie is a great big softie and loves being tended by keen young hand maidens. If his trekking career is even half as long as Toss's, we shall all be very happy. His Best Friend is Coco. another huge horse and very patriotic as he is All Black!

COCO - [ FINAL CLOUD ]

Coco is also 10 and we got him the year after Boogie. They are both 16 hands plus but Coco is absolutely massive - a very good doer, whereas Boogie tends to drip weight off in the Winter and need extra feed as well as cuddles. Coco has attitude problems. He likes who he likes and makes it quite clear if he doesn't like someone, man or beast. He has been plagued by awful feet, with seedy toe a regular problem. Rod selected him to be his guide horse along with Roo as Coco is so big and solid, and up to Rod's weight. Coco is actually much fatter now than he is in this photo, but I liked the way he was peering at the camera as it so HIM.

GLEN - [ BULL WEAVER ]

Glen is the third horse we got in a few years back as our other weight bearing horses were all getting older. Glen had a nasty accident on the racetrack, and completed a few circuits without a driver, but with sulky still attached, falling several times. He was very agressive when he arrived here and in immense pain. The chiropractor couldn't get near him to treat him, and we had to lead him into the solid wooden crush we had built for just this sort of purpose. He walked in one end lashing out and snapping, and, after treatment, strolled out the other end with a great big soppy grin on his face! He has never looked back and really likes people now. Glen has also had seedy toe problems, which has slowed down his training, and this is his second season of being ridden out by good riders. When he became scared by calves chasing him we turned he and HIS Best Friend, out on a neighbour's property to live with cattle for a week, and each day they were seen surrounded by cattle and quite happy.

May 2012. Glen has had digestive problems and now has to have yeast powder in a daily feed. This, as you can see, has put the weight back on his frame and he is a very content horse these days.