# Kaimanawa's @ Tumai's.



## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Well...what a day! we waited all day for these horses to finally arrive at around 6pm tonite(Sunday 10 June 2007) in the dark.
Where in winter here and the temp is about 2degrees celcius and its raining ice.....these little babies did not want to get off the truck and who could blame them! One could only imagine the levels in which these animals have mentally shut down............................
Only ten got off a truck and trailer unit here in Pahiatua where I live, out of around 65 who's day has not ended. The eight extra that were mean't to also get off will go to Masterton which is about 45kilometres south of me just for the ride where 45 will get off tonite and then head north again to a place called Rongotea which is about two hours drive I estimate before finally stopping for the night around midnight tonite! They will spend the night on the truck with food before being unloaded and reloaded on another truck to head to Ruatoria which is about a six hour drive............ They were loaded on today at Waiouru at 2-30pm this afternoon and have done nothing than be hauled halfway across our small island we call the North Island of New Zealand. My heart aches for these creatures and I pray that my lords hand is firmly on them and that they are safe.........My head is heavy for these babies whose journey has not ended and my heart cries for what we as a so called superior race inflict upon our fellow creatures of this earth.
I know that this knowledge will haunt me as I have played a part in this.....I am as guilty as the man who tears a child from his mother as we have torn these horses from there mothers and there land, there home..We as the human race have a lot to answer for, for what we do to animals for our own amusement........all of my excitement is gone and I feel deeply ashamed....


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Photo's.....lots of them.


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Day 2, some movement and stringing through my yards and all bronc's drenched with pour on in race....no photo's of that and just as well because one mare let me know that that was way too much pressure for her! Anyway no broken legs and all eye's etc intact. Just aiming to have them used to me moving quietly through them and getting them to string out through the yards and seperating before they band up and form tight bonds. Proving harder with sooo many people coming and going and supposedly checking and working with there horses if you can call standing in the corner and teaching the horses that the space between them and humans is highly attainable! Very Frustrating!!! Why do women squeal and talk to there animals in stupid high pitched squealing voices with the whole face on(aggression) flat ears with tied up hair (aggression) and teeth baring smiling faces (aggression) stances? My stress levels are rising very quickly.....doesn't help when I am so used to working alone. I am thinking that the sooner they take there horses and leave mine and my freinds (5 in total) in peace to do some real work the better. I guess its just the differences in everyone's ideas to handling horses...a bit like raising children really! I am vastly different in my ideas than most except one other couple. I have found that the Kaimanawa Society have a touchy feely attitude with these horses and yet they have ignored there initial mustering practices....I don't think they are all they crack themselves up to be. I am pretty disgusted with them and think they have alot to answer for, typically another money hungry group getting a peice of someone elses pie and taking all the credit for it. I have found that the $200.00 I requested for care of the extra's while here has been denied and all they can offer me is a pathetic $35. 10 hungry







horses are going through almost 4 bales of hay a day and I expect that to rise as the week progresses. Alot of work to be done before I can let them hit the paddocks, let alone one stupid women who thinks we should just round up her horse and chase it onto a stock truck alone.....totally attainable of course if I went in and roped her and dumped her on the ground....mmmmm yep and we'll pay for that later with a kick in the head. Some people have barely got a brain cell knockin about in their stupid heads. I worry about the future of that pony. No doubt she'll come back and I will have to attempt to right a brain thats been wronged! OK RANT OVER! here's some photo's from the day.







The Chestnut in the last pic looks like she may be growin a baby in that belly.


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Well here I am at day 5! Alot has happened in the last 2 days...emotionally and physically! What happened on day 2 was the big wake up call.....The call to step up to the game!
Day 2 we had to drench the horses and we found the panic button in the black mare and she told me stuff you t I am outa here come hell or hi water even if it means I die trying! although she didn't as I managed to get her out of the race the adrenalin was running and still did that nite when I last posted not that I am retracting my emotions because that is how I felt.......I have learn't that MY PANIC BUTTON IS JUST UNDER MY SKIN TOO!
Ok now where at day 3, Time to step up T coz this is real!
So my goal was divide and conquer.....or disband the herd.....had my decoy tu in hand who I had put in with the herd the nite before! Tu in hand back and forth through the yards that were opened right up, walking back and forth countless times untill I started to see the herd relax and string out and behave like horses...I started to see the lower in the order stay close to tu and the alpha's bring up the rear so I decided time to act....take them all to the large metal pen draw them through and get the alpha's in and close the gate, trap them there and have the lowers still following. Ok gate's closed. so here I am waiting any panic buttons hit? A little but did I see the lowers relax.....I think I did.....following my instincts I carried on and split the lowers into three groups, Then I stood back and relaxed, breath now T it's all OK! So the chestnut filly's owner was coming today and she's in with the alpha's....next step is to draw her out....tu's next door, lets open the gate and see if she steps through, she did.....yes....almost too easy! Her owner gets in and does her version of join up.....an hour later they are freinds..GREAT! My next job was to fine tune the groups into there people groups and everyone's mixed up!
My head is telling me to use the join up...,.talk to the ones I need and alpha them back through the gates. All these guys want to do is fly so gently gently! Alot of me facing up and backing away stringing them out towards the open gate but not letting them through, I'm thinking string out guys show me the boss move back come forward no I don't want you, yes I want you keep going, you can go and you lot can't, step forward and block there path, ok close the gate. After doing this half a dozen times I am mentally exhausted and John (one of the owners) turns up. Like fate because there is still some sorting to do and I am exhausted, I tell him what is needed and he says he's up for it, I have a feeling that this guy who's a bit of a dark horse is the real deal. And he showed me he was and completed the job for me and then offered me a huge honour of allowing me to stand in the pen while he started his join up with his mares (he has 2) who are also with my mare and one of my colts. Its hard for me to explain what happened next but as I stood stock still John divided off the black mare and challenged her and boy did she step up to the game and before I knew it she was challenging me and she faced up to me with it. This is what I saw.......She came face on to me about a metre away and stopped from a canter right in front of me slammed her front feet down layed back her ears snaked her neck hissed and stared me straight in the eyes.........she spoke to me.......boy did she what.....Are you up to it little girl? Have you got what it takes to tame me? You think you can just reach out and touch me? C'mon I dare you.......I don't think you can!!!! and you know she was right!
I stopped breathing and my heart is pounding in my heart and my head......my heart was out on the ground and as much as I knew that I should stand my ground....I felt my whole body jump and I stepped back......and as she bounced away from me she knew she'd won and I could here her laugh as she went back around the pen. Your not ready child it's time to wake up and step up to the challenge! Another wake up call! Thats ok plenty more days yet as I chided myself, and left the pen. John carries on with his work, He's there, he's up for the challenge and the horses know it and I am left in awe as I watch him move and speak with them and when he's finished and I watch him drive down the driveway and am left believing that someone or something has put him in my path and I have to keep him close so as I can learn in this world where I have realised that I am just a child. The day is done and I see to everyone's needs and then knock off for the day....I am exhausted.


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Ok so here I am playing catch up on the blog pages.....Day 4, mmmm what happened, The owner of the chestnut filly turns up and prepares for the truck to arrive and then the truck arrives and everything goes well until we get to the ramp and one of her helpers decides to physically push the filly up the ramp, I'm ok with that as the aim for them is to get her home and work there. Everthing goes to planned and I feel a little sad as they drive down the road..Goodbye little filly, I wish you well. Back to the yards and everyone's settled in there groups and two colt foals need handling. One for me and one for Heidi, I am a little apprehensive as I am used to working alone and my head is saying don't take the easy road...do the join up. Its really interesting to see everyone else work with there horses and as usual it dawns on me that I can appear very aggresive in my join up. However we seperate the colts one in my pen and one in Heidi's, we wait until they settle as they don't want to be apart and then we start.....I can't concentrate, I can see the other horses and they look hungry so I drop what I am doing and head off to feed them and expel my tension. Ok back in the pen.....face up, face away, he steps forward and then back and bum to me, so I give chase....get away then I say to him....get away, get away, get away, ok the time is right, give him a chance T, I have my back to him, I am offering a chance and I hear him move to me and I look and **** I blew it!!, he's gone, so I chase him away again and then offer it back and he comes in from behind and gives me a nudge, Yes! So I back up until we are side by side and reach out to stroke him and he melts, probs because they are covered in lice and itchy as one thing. Over his neck goes my rope and then slowly on goes the halter that proves to be too big, nevermind it will still do the job...after I calm myself I ask for some basic yeilds, first left and then right...all I am asking for is a try and sometimes a step and then rewarding with release, so I am happy with that and he decides that when I step forward he would like to follow, well thats great I think, thats enough for you as thats all I need to get you out to your paddock so I end the lesson there. I look over to see the progress between Heidi and her colt and Heidi is smiling and I can tell that her lesson has gone great as well and both of these colts have shrunk in stature and appear relaxed with themselves so we end here and see to the needs of everyone and watch John work with his mares and then we called it a day.


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Photo catch up time.







The chestnut filly that went to her new home on Thursday.







Heidi's blue eyed boy.







My little boy.







The black mare.


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Well here we are at day 5. Heidi has been here all day and handled her colt again and as we have the horses in their people groups, she took the oportunity to hang out with the horses in her group, she has two and Sharon has two, but as all four will be going to Heidi's initially it made sense to have all four together. Her style is vastly different to me but successful nonetheless and this afternoon I witnessed her colt looking for her, that is a huge step for her and her horses considering less than a week ago her colt had never known humans. 
My second colt up until now had been in with the mares and since I knew Heidi would move blue eye's I rose early this morning and alpha'd the second colt from the mares and placed him in with my other colt, fairly simple then spent some time asking him to face up to me in with the others, seems bizarre facing up with your back to them and edging backwards in order to invite them to you....but well I guess I don't feel that the submission and wanting to be with me is real unless I do it this way, anyway I received a nudge on my arm and edged back further so as to reward him with a rub on his head and decided that was enough. I needed to move them as the yard they were in needed to be cleaned and I want them closer to there next destination, the paddock, but that will come tommorrow.
I have found it is getting harder to alpha the foals around the yards as they are becoming more and more familiar with me and have found I have had to be more asertive in my working them around, however it is not a bad thing as I see now that they are looking to me to relieve there worries with a nice scratch and gentle cooing. The foals havn't been too demanding or really very hard in a sense to become pals with but am not holding my breath as I know only too well how cocky young boys become as they get older....anyway thats a worry for another day.....more pressing is the need to have them on the paddock so they can eat better food and stretch those legs....basically they need to go away and grow, so that is my aim for tommorrow.
After that I will turn my attention to the mare that is to be mine, here comes a challenge or as some would say....the bussiness end of the deal..... I am full of fear and anticapation and excitement all jumbled up in a tangled ball, I almost can't wait but am not in a hurry. Anyway here's some more photo's.







My mare.







all of the mares...the cattle having a jog on the hill seemed most interesting.







tucker time for my two colts.







Tucker time for Heidi and Sharons horses.


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Day 6, I rang the vet this morning as I am hoping to get my foals out onto the paddock and am hugely concerned about the worms coming out of these babies.....some are the width of your finger and 2 to 3 times as long....urghh, ewww, ewww,ewwww!
Ok composure T, Vet has advised to drench on top of pour on with three in one and quarantine for 48 hours so that blows my getting them out today...not the best but have to choose the better of the evils. I seriously don't want blood worm on my paddocks! So today was basically feed and settle and wait for the worms to be expelled.
These two are handled enough for now, both approach to be caught and allow handling all over, and I am happy with that.
Then I turned my attention to my mare which is definetly not going to be easy and once isolated she allowed me within around 6 metres of her which in my eyes is progress and she will approach closer when being fed, so slowly she's allowing me into her space.
I wish everyone here at my place would shut up about her being a worryer, she does show a bit of worrying but moreso has no confidence in her self....,Her eyes ears nostrils and feet don't show half as much fear when I am with her than when others are there so I know she knows me.....slow and steady wins the race.
I know that I am starting to feel invaded with all these people coming and going.....but I have been given word that Heidi and Sharons horses will go to Heidi's on Monday.
I am now thinking of names for mine......Desert Rose or Mountain Rose for my mare? The colts can wait till later.


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## kristy (Dec 8, 2006)

I just now got a chance to catch up on all of this. If sounds like a novel. It's so interesting and I love the way you have written it.

You sound as if you have your work cut out for you but I believe that you know what you are doing. How humbling it is to find someone you can learn from (such as the man you met). I love moments where I feel small and completely overwhelmed with the thought that I am just a child compared to the amount of knowledge that can be learned. 

If things progress initially, I have the feeling you will become extremely close to the mare. 

It seems as if you have a much deeper value in the relationship between horse and human and I think that's extremely admirable.


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Thankyou Kristy  
Yep I do have my work cut out for me, but I hope that someday she(the mare) and I will be the best of partners. Thankyou for your encouraging words!

Day 7. Sharon came to see her horses today and appologised to them for not seeing them earlier and spent some time sharing space, cleaning there yards and seeing to there feed and was rewarded for her patience with an approach from her wee mare who we both agree is older than two and has had a fairly hard life.
Milly (sharons name for her) perhaps could have been vetted out in the muster process as her legs are not in the best of shape but Sharon is willing to give her a chance and that is good enough for me.........I watched Sharon from afar and she has restored my faith in humans.......she was kind and patient and non demanding of her horses, she did not expect her horses to let her touch them and was rewarded for her nonconditional ways. It has constantly amazed me this week at the way in which these horses have responded to being treated respectfully and kindly. Sure they are terrified of us and each one has a panic button we could push and over or through the rails they would go, but on the same hand they are inquisitive and downright nosey and I believe would never approach us if they felt threatened by us.
John and Prue came today as they do everyday and I look forward to seeing there car pull up the drive and everthing is dropped to watch John work......................He has named the black mare Desert Road Breakout and Prue has named the chestnut Buttons and Bows, I love these names and I think they suit them. Breakout has some fire in her belly and shows some real spunk and can spin on a dime, John says that if he were riding her his foot would have touched the ground! I told him that if I were riding her I would have filled my pants! Anyway he worked with Buttons and she touched and chewed his communication stick, what a breakthrough!
Buttons is a real sweetie and more laid back than the other two mares so I can see why John went to her first....If he has the confidence of Buttons then she will lead the confidence of Breaker, very clever I thought but still always following a respectful and kind way of working with them.
I had my time with my mare, first with cleaning there yard and then with feeding.....both her and Buttons were really cheeky and stretched there necks longer than horsely possible and snatched a mouthful of hay whilst I was still holding it and then just as quick took off to the other side of the yard as if the devil himself were after them and then stood there totally confused as I was left giggling like a silly school girl. Everytime I get an approach of sorts I become stupidly excitable and its gonna be my downfall as it seems to scare the crap out of them.
Ok so after they had eaten I alpha'd my mare into the next pen, cool and calm, no tension and just asked her to stand in our already predetermined space of about 6 metres apart, my goal was for both of us to calm down in that arrangement facing eachother with her breathing calmly (not the big nostril flaring thing) and for me to slow my rapidly speeding heart. I'm looking for a resting hindleg from her and it wasn't until I could feel my own legs starting to cramp up that I saw her start to shift her weight, back and forth on her hindlegs and slowly she started to lower her head and there it was a resting offside hind, YES! So I hobbled out of the pen as I had gone all stiff and left the gates open for her to go back and she chose not to race back to the others...Yes another breakthrough, she is finding her confidence alone. Now this will make you laugh, when I was excitedly telling John about what had happened of course expecting to be showered with self serving praise and glory all he said was.......good job! and then Prue said Good for you!
I laughed too, it was there way of saying stay grounded!


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Today was a terrible day for me as the truck arrived to take Sharon and Heidi's horses home....they took it all in there stride as we followed them quietly through the race and up the ramp into the truck, over and done with, within a few minuites and I desperately wanted to scream out "Let Milly Off". Me and Milly are freinds and I want her to stay with me! crooked legs and all! As I have fed and cared for these horses this week it was always she who was happy to see me and her gentle nicker went straight to my heart. I stalked away from the drive as they readied themselves to go with tears streaming down my face, I did not want them to see me, Its not fair! Why couldn't she have been assigned to me! Out of all the horses that have to go I will miss Miss Milly the most.
I couldn't really cope and realised I needed to get out for the day, so of course seeing to all needs decided to give horses the day off and myself too. One of my daughters sings in a school choir so decided to go to the night concert in Palmerston North (closest city to us) and listen to my baby sing like a nightinggale and I was glad off the lights being turned out.


Throw down your guns and your weapons of war,
Throw away your hateful words and thoughts,
Throw to the wind your superiority and perpertration,

Wash away from your hearts and minds that we are the better race,
Wash away the blood we spill of the creatures that roam this earth,

Look to the horse I say, for I believe he is the king of this world,
Look to the horse I say, for I believe he paves the road to peace.

I know that Sharon is kind and good but I pray that she understands that Sweet Milly must never be trained to other than what she is and that Sweet Milly must never be burdened with mount and most of all that Sweet Milly must never be broken.


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## meggymoo (Mar 10, 2007)

Hi Tumai, I've also enjoyed reading your journals. Kristy's right its like a novel and so beautifully written.

Have you heard how Sharon and Heidi's horses have settled in, especially Sweet Milly. I'm so sorry you had to part with her.  

I hope you are ok.


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Thanks for your message Meggymoo!  I do like this forum as it has a lot of diverse members who all have one thing in common....You all care and like me are not scared to stick up for the so called underdog.......being kind is a virtue that doesn't come easy for some and I am privileged to be part of this community and whats better it was just what I needed to give me a kick in the pants to get me out of my feel sorry for myself mood!  Thankyou for your kind words!  

I have since heard from Sharon that Milly is destined to a life of love and pampering and her job will be Paddock Boss/Aunty...she will train Milly to saddle, but only to establish respect and trust..Sharon thinks she is special too and I feel very confident that she will have a good life and of course that makes me very happy  Heidi is going well with Mickey blue eye's, I hear that he approaches to be haltered and is leading well. Heidi has now turned her attention to the other colt which at the moment is proving difficult because he has not had as much attention on him, but I trust that she will be patient and he will think she is not so bad afterall. Sharon has worked with her filly who has already had the vet as I had noticed a little lameness over the week they were here and then on the day they were trucked to Heidi's it all came to a head with me thinking there was an abcess brewing in there. However it was found that she had old and new scabs the whole way around her coronet which in turn was slowly becoming infected. I did wonder if this had happened at my place but the vet thought it had been present in the wild as well and the stress of being mustered flared it all up. It was found to be mud fever and not a stone bruise which I had originally thought.......so on the bright side her handling was fast tracked to help her out and not only halters but picks up feet as well!!! She is on the road to recovery with antibiotics and daily foot baths in epsom salts. Mud fever is common in New Zealand and especially in Pahiatua where we live because of our high rainfall and muddy conditions, Its a pain in the back but something we tend to live with! It presents like rainscald/rot but appears on the legs and is painful and can get nasty if left alone....so to manage it most of my horses live on hills out of the wet.....ha not that we have many flats where we live.
Anyway it is good to hear that all is well with Heidi and Sharons horses


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Day 9...which was Tuesday here....I'm playing catch up again!
My colts much to there disgust have gone through there quarantine after being paste drenched and it was time for them to go out to the paddock. They had come to that greiving stage in weaning where they just sulk. They don't care about anything and almost don't care about food....almost. I decided that Jack the welshie should be paddock uncle rather than Tu as Jack is older and far more sensible and as those who have welshies will know, there lives are governed by food so would be a great rolemodel for teaching the colts to forage within the confines of the paddock. Welshies are beautiful and very clever but total and utter gluttons and will quite happily eat themselves to death literally! So I had to think how am I going to combat this problem.....the temp is hanging around 0degrees celcius so the cover is not going on this winter and the paddock they are going into is a steep hill with a very small crease type valley in it so to eat he must climb around the hill, I decide that will be ok so long as I put him off and yard him for a few hours everyday....I think it will be good for the colts to wing it alone regularly to help them become more acustomed to being without an older horse. Ok plan in place, I was a bit worried that once the colts realised they were in the open that they may have kicked up there heels and ran for the hills so I put them into the smaller paddock before there final destination and they trotted around like a pair of siamese twins.....what a scream, they looked so funny and cute as they trotted along side by side and both jumping identically at anything that looked remotely scary......so funny!
In all my excitement I realised that I hadn't even haltered them....goodness what a duufiss(my kid speak when someone does something stupid!)...so yep I cheated......armed with leads and halters and an armful of hay I set out catch them and yes food is a great motivator and as soon as they spotted me they came trotting and it was very easy to halter them and a colt in each hand I lead them to there paddock...a wee bit unerving as they both felt the need to prance along tossing there heads about....one consolation at least there not sulking!


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Day 10
Something that has been on my mind over the last few days is the need to let the mares out onto pasture...I know that no matter how much space and different yards and amount of food and water and careful and limited "handling" there is nothing better for the mind of a horse than to have space, lots of it and somewhere to graze. I comer that word handling as we havn't actually laid a hand on these girls but have gone into differing levels of join up and all of our girls knows us repectively and each has there own communication stick that they accept and chew or sniff at...I will add here that it never ceases to amaze me that when we ask them to sniff the stick initially they do so almost nonchalantly but then when we take it back and run our hand over it and then offer it back, the reaction we receive is very different, the mares are taken back by the change in smell, It brings home to me how sensitive and how so fine tuned a horses senses are. Each of them views me differently and I in turn have formed an opinion of them. Buttons and Bows the chestnut mare appears to be very easy going and cruisy, almost too cruisy....laid back and has been stroked all over with the commy stick and Prue is within two metres of her when working now...we wonder if she is the middle of the herd which brings me to Breakout the black mare who views me as the hired help or maid and watches me with superiority as I go about the yards topping up the hay supply and mucking out, I chat away to them all and she just stands there watching me carefully and snorting her disaproval of me, I think she is the alpha and a bit of a live wire but I can't help viewing her with awe....she is very beautiful. When John worked with her today he decided to step up the pace as she is choosing to climb the walls rather than face up to him so John sent her away and then finally after what seemed like an age John was crouched in the middle of the yard and Breakout was facing him with her chin touching the ground and accepted the commy stick lightly between her ears!!! I am so in awe and when I questioned John about it after, he divulged to me that she had been trying to tell him that that was how she wanted to do it but he wasn't listening and he said he started to think about how the Aborigines in Australia do it and then it all came to him...he said that he had never joined up with a horse like that before, but had watched the Aborigines do it in Australia and he said they crawl along the ground to catch the horse. All I could think was...Scary! Well now to my Rose, she definetly knows who I am, we have a predetermined space of four metres now and I can stroke her face, neck and shoulders with the tip of my commy stick but I am not allowed any closer but a different breakthrough is when I turn to walk around the pen...my little Desert Rose is following me and I daren't turn around and look for fear of scaring the life out of her but I know she is there...I can almost feel her breath on me and yes I am in love. Anyway back to the fact that they need to be on the paddock...I feel this way because I feel like we are holding them prisoner which in a huge sense I am because I have to teach them about our fences. My husband and I are farmers here in New Zealand. We make our living out of farming sheep and cattle on steep to slightly rolling hill country with about 5 acres of flat around the house and adjoining buildings and as much as it would be nice to have all post rail fences it is not practical nor affordable! So our fences are post batton and no8 wire which is high tensile (animals bounce off) with outriggered hotwire or electric fence, we do have two paddocks that are fully Deerfenced but no longer keep Deer. Yup not very horse freindly and extremely dangerous to a horse trying to go through it.....ok for my domestic horses as they know nothing else as the majority of NZ is fenced this way but not for three wildies that only know freedom and open spaces. So as you may have picked up, I'm the sort of person who likes to have a plan of action, so here it is....In the largest yard where the horses were we strung across one corner an electric wire and waited with our hearts vomitted out on the ground. The horses are inquisitive and all go and look....It is extremely hard for me to stay quiet so they don't associate my voice with the shock.....but one by one they do the inevitable and touch the wire and each one jumps back violently...that is enough I say and strongly tell hubby that they have learn't the lesson and he is to takE THE WIRE DOWN NOW! This may have been hard for some to read and believe me when I say that I found this THE most distressing lesson and am glad to say that I will not do it again. I do know from experience that once is enough for a horse and he will learn from one time that he must sniff at a fence and sense that it is electric or not....I am glad of the end of that lesson and retrieve my heart from the ground. You may ask why I did not let them learn the lesson in the paddock? Well imagine you are a wild horse and then suddenly someone throws open the gate and your first instinct is to run like the wind because you are free and you are galloping as fast as your heart will let you towards a full wire fence and you collide with it...........It does not bear thinking about.
As we throw open the gate and the girls cautiously step into a paddock awaited by my dear Sweetie my retired AngloArab that sinking feeling of shame that I have been trying to push away into the darkreaches of my mind suddenly floods into my eye's.....I have made this beautiful creature my prisoner.


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## meggymoo (Mar 10, 2007)

I'm so pleased they've settled with Sharon and Heidi, you must feel like a great weight has been lifted, knowing they are ok and well loved.
Your comment about Welshies was spot on, I have one and boy, if there is grass, hay or anything else around, its all he thinks about. :lol: 
John sounds an incredible horseman. I can see (read) why you are in such awe of him.
I've decided you must have been a writer in a previous life, your journals, words keep me fascinated and eager to read the next installment. I'm sure if you were to contact a publicist, these journals would be a best seller! :wink:


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Day 11 and 12
In the old testament God created the world and then he rested and so we rest and so do the horses or so we think....
The colts are starting to explore there paddock and when I take Jack away to be yarded they are distressed and so is Jack, he takes his job seriously but I know that it is better for his health and good for the colts to find some independance. Soon enough Jack will find the break from them a godsend as babysitting is taxing on the mind no matter what type of animal you are.
The girls on the other hand are exciting and heartstopping to watch. There paddock is adjacent to our driveway, and as John and Prue's truck pulls down the driveway they are all sent into a spin except for Sweetie who looks at the girls with disdain and looks at me imploringly as if to say "Do I have to look after the riff raff Mum?, they are so uncouth!" She is a lady is my SweetSage. Then of course there is the mail lady bless her soul who delivers my TradeMe purchases dutifully to my door, I say, who needs town when one has TradeMe? The internet is a wondrous thing!
Then there is I who delivers or taxi's the children to and from the school bus stop 4kilometres away 8.oclock every morning and 3.30 every afternoon. It must be amusing and terrifying all in one mixed up ball for that silly lady to stick her head out the window of the green beast (a Ford Falcon XR6 I might add, closet petrol heads we are) and tell us by name that its "OK ladies, no need to fuss".
And when I think all is lost our neighbour who does everthing very fast screams up our driveway in his bright red Ford courier ute with a load of our wayward sheep and screams back down without so much as a Hello that I notice the girls not even flinch but only look up as if to say hi, nice to see ya....what do you mean, you can't stay for a cuppa? So when my son who fancies himself as a Crusty Demon warms up on his horse on the driveway with his irritating noise I realise that no matter what the horses are doing they are learning.......it is both in my hands and out of my hands and quietly I am very proud of them.







Jarod and his horse.







The worlds bravest girls.


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

OK so here we are at Saturday and Hubby and I have just read your post MeggyMoo and he is now wondering how I am going to get my big head out of the room? Thankyou for your kind words!
Today has been one of those days where I have called the girls something other than Kaimanawa Babies.....I daren't say the word aloud! My darling Sweetie was hanging about the gate this freezing cold morning and I thought "oh she's hungry!" but on closer investigation I found that my darling was sporting a big guppy fish black eye :shock: So straight to the house I stalk and to the vet I talk.....Come to our place now...PLEASE! Somehow something has happened in the night and my big girl has been hurt and I am seriously not impressed! So it's fisty cuffs huh! Well we will see about that and I promptly remove Sweetie to some nice grass and when I go to feed the girls I don't fluff the hay! Take that I say as I leave the paddock without picking up the poo!
Debbie my favorite vet arrives about an hour later and checks my girl over and I tell her that those horrid girls did it....pointing at them accusingly! She tells them that they are horrid and does the eye dye thing and then tells me that its like a black eye and that she probably got a boof to the face but it will all be ok and administers anti inflamatory and leaves me with eye gel and granules to go with her food. I think it looks worse than it is but don't they understand that this is my girl.....Sweetie and I go back a long way....and I kissed the ground plenty in the first six months that I owned her, don't they know that Sweetie and I are TIGHT! How dare they play rough with my girl! And you know when I drifted past them with a bucket of yummy warm food for my Sweetie and I didn't fluff there hay tonite either, they new what they had done.................well ok maybe they didn't, but I did decide one thing, no more babysitting for them......they will have to make do with being home alone!
Sweetie is my precious girl and after many years of putting up with my bumbling and more so giving me a nice warm nape to cry into when I was frustrated with the world and guarding the bodies of babies we have let go of.........some things are sacred and she is one of them. I'm not mad at the girls as thats horses for you but you must understand that Sweetie is as important to me as one of my children......I love her.







SweetSage the lady of Glenhyde.


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Today is Sunday and I am very pleased at how much the swelling around Sweetie's eye has gone down and thought I would share some photo's with you all.








These are one day after initially happening, and already looks well on the way to mending.


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## meggymoo (Mar 10, 2007)

:evil: What a naughty bunch.

Glad Sweetie's on the mend (((BIG HUGS))) :wink:


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Well today is Monday......Day 15.
The colts are starting to find enjoyment back in their lives now, I spied on them as they were racing each other on the flatest part of there paddock as Jack stood in a high spot refereeing the game. Jack takes his job seriously and is surprisingly affectionate towards them but hands out a growling in the same breath. They follow him all over the paddock, if he eats they eat, if he drinks they drink and when I remove him for yarding he packs a wobbly, they pack a wobbly and when he is returned to the paddock a few hours later he is quick to set any wrongs right and then settles in for some mutual scratching which the colts love and sometimes they just stand with heads rested on his back enjoying the scratch they are receiving.
I have now enforced a new rule at feeding time and I have a long stick that helps everyone to see the rules.....when I am feeding out the hay no-one is allowed inside the length of the stick which I am holding and if the rule is broken then the breaker gets a poke with the stick....now don't get all upset and think that I am abusing them because I am not. They are not stabbed and nor are they whacked or hit with the stick they are merely poked and always at the shoulder and told "wait" and when I am finished preparing the hay the stick and I leave and they are told to "come up". Now there is method in my madness as I do not want a pair of boisterous boys to ever get the notion in there heads that they can bully me out of the food I bring them nor do I want them overstepping boundaries later on when those testosterone levels are rising, I am installing manners by asking them to wait which in my eyes is a precursor to Stop and then by telling them to come up I am installing them with a precursor to being caught. I have done all the haltering and leading that I wish to do right now so if I am to teach them anything else whilst they are left to grow it is manners using wait/stop and come up/be caught as my commands. I have used this method with alot of success and I know it will serve me well in the months and years to come. They were confused when I took the mornings hay and I only needed to touch them with the stick and they stepped back outside the boundary and this afternoon when I went out they stood respectfully outside the boundary and waited. It never ceases to amaze me how intelligent these little guys are. It did cross my mind that I should think of some names for them.

I gave the girls my attention today....the paddock they are in is joined to the yards and my aim was to have them quietly walking into the yards and out of the yards in the same fashion. So I started with walking behind them all the while speaking about whatever rubbish came to my head and when they were on the straight towards the yards I changed my talk to walk up, walk up. What I'm trying to do is ellicit a go response because when I ride I ask them to walk up.........anyway all was well until we got to the gate.....Buttons is a cruiser, anything else is way too hard :lol: so I know she's happy to walk into the yards...Rosey worries a bit about things and she will go where you want but you must assure her that its all ok and so I talk with her until I see her shift and turn towards the gate, she's now happy to go......then there is Breakout....now here is a different kettle of fish so to speak. As far as she's concerned, no-one is blimmin gonna make her do anything and that is that so she breaks from the other two hence her name Breakout and bluffs this way and I match her all the while talking to her and then she bluffs the other way...same again and then Breakout played her wild card and straight at me she came, I wondered for a split second if I should runaway but then I threw up my arms and told her not today young lady and she turned her shocked self around and into the yards she walked. :lol: Breakouts not the only one who knows how to bluff. The rest of the lesson played itself out perfectly for the magic three times and I called it a day with a huge fluffed up pile of hay.


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Day 17
Yesterdays work was fairly quiet, no steps forward but no steps backward either......the colts responded to the boundary stick being merely pointed at them in the morning so in the afternoon I decided not to have it with me and they new it wasn't there and thought they might test boundary's so I pointed at them with my arm outstretched and growled for them to wait and they retreated back beyond my boundary's for feed time. Great! They have learn't that the association is with me and the verbal command....they will test it again later but for now I am pleased with there progress.
I worked with Roses and now we are within a metre of eachother and she is starting to advance on me which can go two ways, either too me or through me but I chose to stop at the first advance, I want her to have some wins....build her confidence and make her feel in charge of her world...its not a competition but more a coming together of freinds, I want her to know that I acknowledge and respect her, and to know that I mean her no harm. Patience T, I tell myself....let her want to come to me.
Today was spent off the farm and tommorrow will be too as I am taking a horse from the centre I am a director at to Massey University Veterinary Centre and as the horse will be sedated I will be away all day so there will be not much headway made. Its Ok as nothing will be lost, the girls will just have an extra day to think about things and they will have plenty to look at as we have people shearing our sheep this week and I am certain that they will have not had seen so many sheep together in one place nor so many vehichles use our driveway in one hit. 
I hear from Sharon and Heidi that Milly has developed an infection in her offside fore which is causing some concern so I hope to get a chance to look at her tommorrow as well and with my girls playing Netball in the afternoon I am starting to wonder if the sun will hang in the sky for at least an hour extra! Some days there are just not enough hours!


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Today is Sunday...again. I feel like time is running away on me and here we are at Day 21.

My trip to Massey was successful in many ways, especially now that the poor ponies step mouth has been improved and she can now process her food properly! I am feeling very uncharitable towards the other directors of the riding centre. I have tried and tried to implement the simple and basic needs of a horse into their programs and for some ignorant high falluting reason they have allowed there own self importance to overlook that the vet who could do a simple float and instead choosing to use an equine dentist....which is fine if they actually got one....I know of three who operate the whole of New Zealand and they barely drive past little old Pahiatua let alone stop. Ironic isn't it to know Clemens Dierks comes to Pahiatua but not an Equine Dentist! Turns out that it was Vets (highly qualified of course) but nonetheless vets that repaired the ponies mouth. I am banging my head agains't a brick wall with this lot and really think my time could be better utilised elsewhere, and so my resignation from the board is in the pipelines. Iv'e made my peace with the riding centre horses and now I have to walk away.

I managed to look at some photo's of Milly's leg that I collected from Sharons work and discussed them with the head vet at Massey and we both came to the same conclusion that she has done this before and it will be OK. Milly had developed an infection in her offside fore and right on the fetlock joint which she has nibbled and licked at and opened it up to relieve the pressure and is allowing it to drain. Since her feet havn't been handled yet the vet advised that we leave it alone and perhaps intervene if she stops the wound from healing. I spoke to Heidi Friday night and she informs me that Milly hadn't licked it at all that day so all is well! Sweet Milly is a clever Milly.

The colts are doing fine and I have cut back hay from twice a day to once a day as I see they are going further afeild in the paddock and foraging for themselves rather than eating all of the hay I give them. They still come running when they spot me with the evenings hay and that high pitch nicker they give just makes you want to pick em up and cuddle them but I don't, as teddy bear horses never did anyone any good. I'm glad they are venturing out on there own and becoming a little more independent. Jack is to come in for the whole day tommorrow because I am going to clip him and start his program to get back into work....the season is almost just around the corner. Vicky will be brought in too so she can have a start as well. 

I worked with Roses yesterday and our space is now 1metre and she accepts my stick on her face so now I am looking at getting her to accept the stick all over her body. We were both behaving ((windy)) jumping at everything and at one point she decided she was outa here! I pulled it all together and insisted she stop and she did and faced up straight away. When I finished my lesson I turned to walk out of the pen and open the gate for her into the next and glanced over my shoulder and saw she was following me. She had no reason to leave as Buttons was on the opposite side in another pen but she did. I am gaining ground with her....My goal with this is to have her choose me, not because she has too because I take other options away but because she wants to. No ropes, no gadgets to stop her feet......only me and the communication stick as my extended arm and Roses in a very large hexagonalish yard....and of course our greatest tools....the mind of a horse and the mind of a woman.


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Well here I am at Friday evening...Day 26, and once again I am dragging the chain and playing catch up. I have been persisting with joining up with Rose and on Wednesday after what I felt was a difficult stage with her and I had decided to call it a day and turned away from her and immediately felt her follow me so I slow down and then even slower I step back into her space...no reaction from her so I turned side on and still no reaction and I notice the tell tale rested hind leg so I turn face on to her and place one stick on her wither and the other to the side of her face all the while moving the sticks back and forward and slowly inching toward her and before I knew it she was sniffing my fingers and then I was barely grazing her nose with my fingers and then softly stroking her face.  What an amazing feeling and not an inch of tenseness from my little Rose. John and Prue havn't been over the last two days but that hasn't stopped me. Everyday since I have been in the yard with Rose going over the same routine except I am using one of the sticks to rub around her ears and over her face down her neck and on to her front legs and even to her girth area....I feel like the hens have come home to roost and all of my patience has paid off.

I have realised that we are at week four and yesterday (Thursday) I brought the colts off the hill and down to the covered yards and handled them again and then let them stay in over night with Vicky and Jack whom I still havn't clipped because the weather is so icy cold and I am a big softy. I think they were all pleased to be stabled and it is lovely to have two supposedly wild colts yelling at me as I walk to the yards with hay. So for the next couple of days they will continue being taken to the paddock during the day and then brought back into the yards for the night....I am preparing to drench again in a weeks time and I think I will slip some floating excercises in too before they get sent out for another three or four weeks. When they come in next time they will learn to have there feet picked up, not that they need the farrier because they have the most tidy feet I have ever seen but an important lesson nonetheless. Obviously a helpful thing to know.
I have to keep reminding myself to take my time and not to rush and to remember that a well thought out job makes for a job well done. And besides there will be enough to think about as everyone else needs to come in for drenching and I am planning to have the vet come and float teeth and the farrier to see to feet so the week will be busy enough. God knows I am itching to ride which is something that hasn't happened much lately and I feel a good hack out coming on  At the moment I have to be content with feeding out hay and some get hardfood and working with Rose who is finally starting to put on some weight. The worms really take there toll and now I know why I have that distinct feeling of repulsion when I hear the word parasite.

Tommorrow (Saturday) Morning I am playing tag along with Prue and John to collect another wild horse that they have found...a supposedly unhandled 4 year old mare....this will be interesting and as I have a little experience with collecting unhandled(sometimes....well the majority of times have been abused) I am not holding my breath...I am not sure why they have invited me along but a privilege perhaps and will make for a nice break away from the little monsters...ooops did I say that out loud  of course I mean't my lovely children. :lol: Its the winter break at the moment and they are driving me a little balmy. Bless there little souls...I do love them dearly.


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Day 28....Today I realised that I am masking fear with patience....Yesterdays lesson with Rose was difficult and educational all in one, I had Rose with two sticks flanking her shoulders with ends resting up over wither and just back and forward in front of her face...square on in other words and less than a metre between us....now I have spent some time researching the body language of a horse and have learn't to pick up on subtle signs like ears looking, nostrils flaring and in Roses case the nearside nostril rises much higher than the other and the whiskers on her face follow suite, and also how the nerve endings in the skin around her shoulders will tick spontaneously when she is feeling crowded, which is different to the full body jump she can do when there seems to be nothing to have frightened her. She frightens herself most of the time. Right down to knowing that when she snorts her disgust at me that I am right to snort my disgust back....even if it is the shape of a full blown raspberry. Having dealt with unloved horses I have also learn't that the mostly hidden and used as a last resort stand and fight reflex will be used if pushed into a corner. I know that at any given second a horse could strike out at me and take out my leg or lunge forward and give me a face on bang or spin on a dime and deliver a series of unforgiving kicks. I know this doesnt happen often thankfully but does happen when all other avenues are exhausted like when flight is no longer an option. And lets face it, who in there right mind wants to have a go with that, so when Rose spends her time measuring me up and trying to find a weak spot in me which is where we are at as all other avenues are exhausted, she spots perhaps a little fear in the girls eye and spots something and steps forward to get a closer look and the girl second guesses herself and steps away. Rose found the weak spot in me on Saturday and I walked out of the pen the loser...not even confident to regain the ground lost.....

I consoled myself with the fact that I managed to lead the colts onto the float for the first time and they walked on like gentleman and backed off just the same.


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Well here I am at Tuesday and playing catchup, I am glad to say that Sundays lesson was alot more positive.....having helped John and Prue with picking up this unhandled mare on Saturday which incidently turned out to be a Kaimanawa from the previous years muster just made me remember that the fighters come from fighting hands and Rose has no reason to be that way inclined so I decided that this lack of confidence devil on my shoulder can be put in a hole and I walked into the yard Sunday on a mission and really got in Roses face and she was as uncomfortable as ever constantly evading by turning her head this way and that and not wanting to look at me which is a little difficult when I have a stick either side of her face steering back to me. It ended a very positive lesson and I felt on top of the world. 

So then came Monday and Prue came in the morning to work with Buttons and as I said before everything is dropped when they are around. I have found some really lovely and GOOD freinds in Prue and John and I find there willingness to be honest just gives me such strength and I feel like I can conquer the world.
So as the lesson went on I realised that Rose was putting up more of an evasion argument than the day before and I could feel mentally that I was losing so I had to make good timing to finish that part in the split second that she did look at me which was proving to be hard but I did catch that second and then I had a rest.
The second time I went back to her, I went to her shoulder and very quickly I was touching her shoulder. Yes! ended on a positive note.  
Prue worked with Buttons and I kicked myself for not having my camera because Buttons smelt and perhaps nuzzled her face and then if that wasn't enough Buttons stretched forward and smelt Prues hair and looked over her shoulder at me. I made a mental note to have camera ready Tuesday.
Later on in the day I went for a stroll in the girls paddock and stopped half way down the length of it and who should be walking straight towards me at a decent walking pace only to stop directly facing me....Rose so I turned away and played follow the leader and she followed me all over the paddock..Buttons and Breakout followed respectfully behind but Rose wanted to be right up there with me. I ended that with feeding them and went about my other jobs feeling like I am finally winning.
Well about an hour later I couldn't help but go back and before I could get in the yard Rose had walked in the open gate to greet me and it didn't bother her that I had the stick with me and she had all the choices to turn around and bolt back out the gate but no she wanted to see what I was up to, so immediately I put the stick on her wither and moved up over her head around her nose and under her jowles and onto the underside of her neck and stroked and then walked straight into her shoulder and reached out and stroked her forever...................what a feeling...I now feel like truly she is not scared of me and nor I of her. 

Rose is joining me up with her now.....when I walk into that yard and she looks me over, I feel like she knows everything there is to know about me and the last couple of days have almost felt like a trade off....as I feel like she is saying to me to ditch those insecurities and worries before you come to me and when you do...we will partners forever.


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Well it still Tuesday, Day 30. I plan to go and work with Rose soon but I feel the need to bury that Devil thats been sitting on my shoulder. You know the one.....he says things like this is out of your league T, remember all those times it turned to custard, like when you caused the horse to bolt or buck or rear....or the times you pushed that boy into a corner and he came out fighting and struck out at you, or the time your father ridiculed you for weeks because you tied the horse wrong and he pulled the fence down, or the time you got on the back of a mare as a ten year old and realised you were 16hands from the ground and crapped yourself and listened to your mother tell you that you were weak and the fact that the mare was only greenbroke shouldn't have mattered because you had been helping your father break in horses all along. All the things that ridicule and create self doubt and chew away at self confidence and self esteem.....all the things that tell me that I won't succeed.

Well Devil...go back to your black hole where you rot in your self pity and moan about the tall poppies of the world, because this chicky is made of tuffer stuff than that and I will succeed....sure I have made many mistakes in my life and I am sure that I will make plenty more....but they are mistakes to learn from....not to bury myself with!!!!!!!

I have so much....my family who love that the work I choose gives them the freedom to have me when they want and shower me with love, I have my horses that work with me and constantly reward me, I have a lifestyle and living that allows me to exist without want and I have two new freinds that are honest and kind and supportive enough not to judge me harshly when I hit a wall and encourage me to keep going and I have a horse who has changed the tide and instead of me being the healer....I am the one being healed.

I CAN DO THIS.


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## Friesian Mirror (Jan 11, 2007)

Of course you can Tumai! I can tell from what you've written that you know what your doing and your very good at it, you love the horses and I know that they love you. Just pray for the lord to get rid of that Devil, you don't need to listen to him! Don't let him tell you that you can't do this, you know you can, you just need encouragement  Never give up on what you love no matter what, just keep trying and do your best and when you hit a wall, just take your friends to the stall and give them a good brushing and it will do you both a world of good. Never give up and never let ANYONE tell you that you can't, because you CAN!


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

CRIKEY! Its been a full week since I last posted and once again I am behind! There are just not enough hours in the day!

Well how to put this week into words........Here I am at Day 36.

I have dragged myself out of the hole that I put myself in and come back with a renewed sense of self, Its funny how when you lose faith in yourself that you forget all the stuff you know and have done and only see where you havn't been. 
Rose and I have renewed our relationship too, which is helped by me changing some of my strategies. Firstly I have changed the yards we work in which is out of eyesight of the other horses and as its surrounded by trees on one side and a building on the other its also very sheltered. The yard is more evenly round although not perfectly round and easier to move around in for both of us.
Previously Rose would scale along the fence trying to get back to her freinds but now in the new yard she has all eyes, ears and whiskers on me. Also previously we both behaved extremely windy, often feeding off of each other but now before we get down and work I freelunge Rose and insist on clean directions....eg if I ask to the right thats what I want and initially she would try and turn left half way through a round but its made me think sharper and to think about my position and correct this. This burst of energy warms us both up and fires off any nerves waiting to jump so when we get down to it we are both relaxed and tension free. 
I am stroking Rose on her nearside shoulder, neck, mane and up to her ear and every once in awhile I will go forward and graze her cheek which at the moment is still a bit much for her and on the offside her shoulder and up under her mane which always feels snuggly and warm. The communication stick is more important now I feel than ever because I feel Rose looking for it as a comfort and reasurrance, she understands that its not for hitting and almost takes guidance from it and I hear myself talking to her as if John were talking to me, reminding me of my position to her eye, and to inch in closer and not to do the spaghetti arm lean and put weight into my stroking which I am sure now is what was scaring her before and most importantly to break away before too little handling becomes too much. Our time is short and sweet but productive nonetheless and usually have time in the morning and afternoon and when we are finished I don't need to chase her through the yards back to the paddock because she follows me.

On an awesomely great note....Prue has already put a halter on Buttons and is so close to doing up the buckle!! I feel a huge rush of excitement for her and have to stay out of the way because I just want to jump with joy.........and I know that would scare the crap out of Buttons. She's just a doll is Buttons and she gives Prue kisses all the time...I'm so jealous and happy too!!


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Thankyou Fresian Mirror, for your kind and supportive words.  

Kind words from a stranger become Kind words from a freind.  

Thankyou.


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

Well its been awhile and I can't even remember what day we are up too!!! I am glad to say that that all of us have come ahead in leaps and bounds. John and Prue took Breakout and Buttons home and the latest news from them is great...Buttons is being taught to lead and Breakout has been haltered and picks her feet up!! Prue and Johns family of fourleggeds is getting larger by the day as they have taken in two more Kaimanawa's from previous musters that weren't working out for owners and then this weekend coming they are collecting another thoroughbred so they have really joined the realms of being totally and utterley horsemad....hee!hee! along with the rest of us!
Rose didn't gel with my horses and so I moved her arrangements around the ponies and foals where she fits in better and is closer to their size(stands the same as Vicky at around 13hh). Vicky is a mean old baggage and picks on her alot but has plenty of room to get away and its working in my favour as she see's me as her savior :lol: Rose is leading off pressure and yeilding full circles left and right and enjoying being patted except for at the poll at which time she swears I'm going to cut her head off but thats ok as I feel confident that we will get there.
The colt foals have come down for a week, they have been feeling marvellous and it has been good to see them racing around and stretching there legs and a laugh watching them play but they decided to break the space rule at hay feeding time, I think they believed they could boss me around especially with those dangly bits pumping testosterone into there bodies so back to the yards they came for some reinforced ground work and a bit of desensitising with the rope which is put over there backs whilst in a trot and removed the second they stop and now all I need to do is put it over there backs and they stop immediately.  Such good Boys! Its hard to stop working with them when they are going well but I have noticed these wildies tire alot quicker than a domestic bred foal so now they realise again that I am the be all and end all I have sent them away to there hillside for a few more weeks. Vicky and Tu are in work now as September is just around the corner, Spring for us here and also the busy time on the farm and also the start of the show season so I have to make sure everyone is good condition and fit. Chinita will be in full work soon as she is my mainstay now and with us using our horses for farm work everyone should be good to go and waving another horrid wet and muddy winter GOODBYE! :lol: 
I have done something that I thought I wouldn't and have leased out our wee Jack to a lovely little girl up country from us....eek!
From all accounts they are getting on just fine, he's only been gone a week!! :? They are a showing family so I think he will be ok, I could have sold him but when push came to shove I couldn't, I reasoned that I would like to have him back in the gig one day but too busy at the moment so better he is still being ridden. You sure know the kids are growing up when there isn't a Section A to be seen anywhere  Anyway I clipped him out before I took him to his new home so will post some before and afters for you all to giggle at :lol: :lol:








Hee!Hee! gives a new meaning to being naked :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

:shock: Hi all, Wow I can't believe it has been almost 5 months since I last entered in the forum journal, (although I have been here in soul if not just lurking!!). Perhaps it was writers block or more to the point, just been blimmin busy with the farm and of course its summer here and we are in full swing showing. A wee break right now over christmas break...whew! All my four legged babes are doin fine albeit a few hiccups along the way, horsey and human alike and I will attempt a wee catch up over the next few days while all is quiet. But for now I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday/christmas and are all looking forward to another new year full of new beginnings. 

Love to all and Be Safe and Be happy. 
Tumai.


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## tumai (Mar 15, 2007)

wow!!! I know that I promised a catch up earlier and only know I am living up to the deal. Well since I ended with Jack I will start with him. Jack is loving his new home and his wee rider loves him and as the lease period is nearing an end they have asked to purchase him from us and we as a family have agreed. We know that he is having a great time and as all recent piccies include his rider, you all will just have to take my word that the Champion ribbons are mounting higher and higher. Jack is a wonderful little fella who has never had a hand lifted at him and never a malicious word spoken to him and the fact that he is and god speed he will always have a little girl or boy who loves him implicitly will forever and a day insure a happy life and as usual being the control freak that I am I have also sold with him a first refusal clause so that I always know where he is. We as "the superior race owe it to our equine peers" to insure there safety always. 
OK so this must bring me to Miss Lucy!
Who is this you ask??? Well I first spotted Lucy on the net, being advertised as "A mad and unsuitable for children mount that stood at 12hh and also a Palouse mare!" Well this ad just dangled the lolly in front of my face lol! :lol: She was malnourished and was being ridden in a home made standing martingale coupled with a shank bit!!! "thinks to self...Grrrr!" Anyway needless to say I brought her sight unseen. I havn't regetted it yet as it turns out that all she needed was a jolly good feed and some kind ridng and Jordy has been taking Lucy to Pony club and has entered in teams games events and juniour dressage and by all acounts had a marvellous time. Lucy has been turned out just this week for a well earned midsummer break. All we have done is apologise for the wrongs done to her and am glad to report that my child only ever rode Lucy in a simple snaffle with no martingale whatsoever. We are so impressed with her that we are watching her heats very carefully as we plan to breed from her. 

Missy is a big TB mare that belonged to a very good freind of mine who lives about 2hrs drive from me and I have found space for her to come and live out her last days with us her at Glenhyde. She is a 16hh dark bay with a gentle way about her with kind eye's. She is very easy to care for but does require extra feeding. I have found her a joy to have around and she offers me a regular moment to contemplate this crazy world that I know as I grow older so does my loath for it, I find peace and generosity in these moments and I look forward to a moment to steal with her. She is in joint conjunction with Sweetie as my Oracles and they both welcome my ramblings and philosphies on how to make the world less hateful....or maybe they just look forward to the bucketts of good food I bring?? :lol: who knows and who cares, the peace and total self belonging I feel in the company of these ladies is just awesome.


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