Augean stables

It's all about floods this week - it hasn't stopped raining for 2 weeks - this district needed rain, but now I wish it would stop. The horses are standing in mud, I get soaked every time I venture outside, and the three weanling Arabian colts don't look too happy being so recently taken away from their mums and are standing around looking drenced. My palomino First Cross Quarter Horse filly seems to be getting over her cold, despite the weather, but is still on medication and is locked in a stall.
At any rate, I ventured out at the weekend to build fences. The people who used to own this place had miniature ponies, and miniature fences to match. Most of the posts I was able to pull out with my bare hands, no digging required. I have had to refence the whole place myself. So last weekend I completed a Herculean fencing task. It was ghastly - I would rather have cleaned out King Augeas' stables. (Unlike Hercules I wouldn't have had to divert two rivers to do the job, there were already here.)
Of course, having teenagers, my fencing was interrupted by comments like, "I'm STARVING!There's nothing to eat!" My reply: "There's food in the fridge". Their reply: "No there isn't, come and see, there's nothing to eat in it". Of course the fridge was full, but I think they expected McDonalds Drive Through in the fridge, everything else in there wasn't "food". So I had to fence while fielding those comments, teenagers!! Anyway, check out my lovely fences. It's posts, 1 rail on top about 5 1/2' high, filled in with wire netting, with 2 strands of electric tape in front. (Excuse the fencing material still on the ground.) I'm going to paint it all white when the rain stops.

Horses More Horses

Ok, I am a horse addict. My parents were very anti-horse but my grandfather was a top horseman. Although my parents did take me for riding lessons and I competed in shows as a child, I didn't get my own horse until I was a late teenager - he was an Anglo Arabian stallion and my very first endurance horse. I suspect I've been trying to make up ever since for my early horse-deprivation, as I can't resist a good horse! Some people collect china but I like to collect horses. I've bred Arabian horses ever since - the old fashioned sort, the working type, known in Australia as the "Colonial Arabian". Colonials are fantastic for the sport of Endurance Riding. However, ever since I watched countless episodes of Mr Ed as a kid, I have desperately wanted a palomino. All sorts of strange things initially went wrong with this venture, but now I have three palomino horses, a Quarab mare, a First Cross Quarter Horse filly, and a part Arabian mare.
As of course Arabians (sadly) don't come in the colour (or, for you non-Aussies and non-English, color) Palomino, I have leant more and more to Quarter Horses, and now have 3 y.o. buckskin Quarter Horse mare. I also have a chestnut Arabian mare in foal to a palomino Quarter Horse stallion, and my palomino Quarab mare is in foal to a palomino Quarter Horse mare, and I would love a cremello from that combination. (I also have an unusual brindle Quarab young stallion, 75% Arabian and 25% Quarter Horse.)
I haven't shown a horse for years, but this year want to venture back into the showring with a couple of horses. I'd also like to try another horse sport apart from endurance and showing, but no clues as to what, preferably something that doesn't take hours in the dark or being out in all sorts of bad weather for ages. I also have 2 Stud Book Thoroughbred mares that I used to own, sold, and bought back, and they will be bred this year to my Arabian colt for Anglo Arab progeny.
Well that's about it. You can find lots of photos of my horses at www.hyksosarabians.com