When your horse follows you without being asked, when he rubs his head on yours, and when you look at him and feel a tingle down your spine... you know you are loved.    John Lyons

Sept 2020  It is with much sadness that we add Hope to this page. We had Hope for 12 months and in that time worked very hard to try and make her sound, sadly the vet said we had done all we could and that the chronic pain in her fetlock joints could not be eased and would only get much worse. RIP Hope, so sorry we couldnt help you.

January 2020 we made a very hard (and long time coming) decision to lay 3 of our beloved mares to rest.  These girls had all developed health issues including EMS over the previous 4 years and we had simply run out of things to try (medical, natural, physical, we tried so many things).  They were living in a dirt paddock and eating a strict diet that they didnt really enjoy and still not consistently sound.

RIP to these 3 wonderful girls.

Loadstar Dons Moonlight & Roses Madi was a bit of a spoilt brat, but such a cute little girl.	Bogart Park Irresistabelle Belle just adored being with people and any attention she could get.

Loadstar BNO My Heart Sings
Far too young when she left us, this mare was the prettiest girl we have ever bred,
and so sweet inside and out.

November 2018 saw the worst foaling experience we have had at Loadstar, Breeze had a mal-positioned foal and the vet could not get it out. We lost Breeze and her unborn foal :(

I adored this mare.  RIP Breeze and baby, I'm so sorry we couldnt help you.

Glenrowan Luckys Bye Bay Blues

2005 - 2014
Toby was rescued from the pound on the day he was due to be euthanized - only about 6 months
old he had been treated very badly and had massive trust issues with people and needed some good feeding to build up his strength.
Over the years he came to trust us enough to be rugged during Winter and to enjoy a scratch
provided we didn't crowd him. His favourite thing was to go for a run in the paddock and that
was when he seemed most like a normal dog, his tail would wag and he would run up for a pat.
His favourite place in Winter was in his bed with his heater on :)
He was still very scared of anyone he didn't know and would hide or go to bed when people came to visit. Toby was great with any other type of animal and loved foals.
Toby died in his 9th year of cancer - he will be missed and I am glad we were able to give him a good life almost stolen from him by the cruel people who bred, hurt and abandoned him.

RIP Toby

1997 - 2014
Stoli was our first mini and set us on the crazy path of breeding these little guys.
She really was a 'one person horse', would do what I asked, but showed her stubborn
streak for others :) Stoli gave us 5 beautiful foals in the 16 years we owned her.

She always tended towards the chubby side if left unmonitored and could founder quite easily,
so when cushings set in as well it became very difficult to control her founder.

We tried many different meds and management styles but in the end living in a stable/yard
with no access to grass or any food that she really liked (that diet stuff is rubbish!) and always
dealing with some level of pain is no way for a horse to live, and so the decision was made to lay her
to rest.   RIP Stoli, you are greatly missed.

Loki's death shattered me, such a sweet, trusting, gentle baby he was raised around our dogs
and had settled into his new home with their dogs very well... when two very large trained hunting dogs attacked him he would have had no hope... shame on their irresponsible owners and the local councils Queanbeyan and Palarang for not stopping these dogs a lot earlier! 

Loki died the day before he turned 6 months old, he had only been in his new home for a couple of weeks, but I know he made a huge impact in that short time and they miss him terribly.

 
Loki was a very loving little boy, within moments of entering their paddock I could expect to feel Loki standing up close to me, leaning on my leg for a cuddle, needing to be as close to me as he could be... He was an old soul, looking into his eyes you would swear he knew exactly what was going on at any time.

RIP Loki, you were a very special little boy.

He's not a horse, but he was a much loved member of our family.
Its with much sadness I add Boy Boy to this page, only a young boy and so full of
life, until we lost him suddenly to cancer.

Boy boy was not just a cat, he was a character - a very vocal man, he always let us know where
he was and what he wanted. He had the amazing temperament you expect from a ragdoll,
the kids and foals could do anything to him and he took it all and looked for more...
RIP Boy Boy.

14 April 1978 - 13 November 2009

14.2hh Chestnut gelding.
3/4 Arab x 1/4 Quarter horse.

above: 2001

In simple terms Drummer was my best friend for 22 years, he was
an excellent listener and never judged me :) many hours were spent in the saddle
or bareback just getting away from it all for awhile...

We tried our hand at a lot of different disciplines including ODE's, endurance, 
sporting, polo-cross and jumping... he was the ultimate all-rounder.

They say you get one special horse in a lifetime - well this one was mine.
MANY times I trusted him and he never let me down.

 
above: 2006 ~ 28 years old

Once Drum was retired I tried a few other horses, but none could take his place.

No words can explain the loss I feel now that he has left me, to come home and NOT find Drummer waiting for the first time in 22 years was a very sad day

But I know at the age of
31.5years he had a wonderful life full of everything he ever needed, a very healthy boy
until the end, I feel honoured to have had this horse in my life for so long.

RIP Drum

"Somewhere, somewhere in times own space,
there must be some, sweet pastured place;
of pastures green where fresh creeks flow,
some paradise where horses go.
For by the love that guides my pen,
I know great horses live again."
AUTHOR UNKNOWN

24 March 1978 - 19 May 2006

Tammy was my first horse, a 13.1hh palomino pony that I was given in 1988.

We had to round her up in a paddock where she had been left un-attended for 3 years, her hooves were curled over and she had lost large areas of her coat to mange.
There was no way were we able to load her on a float it was so distressing for her, 
so we walked her for 2 days to her new home.

Tammy had never really been broken in correctly, and boy did she teach me to 
fall off well. A stunning looking mare, but not as sweet as she looked …
I lived in Canberra when we first got her and people used to think it was terrible 
that I would carry a crop on such a gorgeous little pony - little did they know.

It was nothing for us to ride our ponies thru the drive-thru at McDonalds and we would 
load the horses on the float, get dropped off on one side of Canberra and spend 
the day riding home. Although she had no bite or kick in her, she could be a real rat-bag, 
rubbing your legs along barbed wire fences and taking you under low branches, and boy 
could she shy…  But it was a barrel of fun.

Once I moved onto a bigger mount Tammy was used by younger pony club riders - she was brilliant at the sporting games so quick to accelerate and turn - pity about the non-existent brakes :)
Luckily she did mellow with some age under her belt, especially once she was retired at 
about 20 years old… she was much happier then.

At the grand old age of 28 I made the very hard decision to let her rest when nothing we 
gave her could ease her pain from arthritis and poorly growing hooves. She was still in very
good condition and looked like a much younger horse, but it was time to let her go before 
the real cold of Winter hit and made it even harder on her.

It is very strange indeed to enter my paddocks and not see Tammy's outline somewhere, 
to not have her waiting for her meals in her yard and calling to me in the hope that a 
carrot might be forthcoming…
After owning her for 18 years she has been a big part of my life and is definitely missed.

RIP Tam.

"There is something about the outside of a horse 
that is good for the inside of a man." 
SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL

1997 - 2002

Babe was purchased as an unhandled two year old with her half sister Stoli. 
They could not have been more different in temperaments - where Stoli settled in very quickly and was soon running the place, Babe was a very timid girl, on a good day she would approach you for a pat - as long as you were sitting or kneeling at her level… on a bad day she was flighty and unpredictable and wanted nothing to do with people. After owning Babe for over 2 years she had not changed at all, even with natural horsemanship lessons twice a day, the moment her halter was removed she would revert to her wild little self.

We lost babe at 5 years old to a broken leg, poor nutrition in her younger years made her bones quite weak and the vet blames this for the type of break she had, in her stifle, which would have made repairing it almost impossible.

A lovely little type of mare measuring in at approx 32" at 4 years, it's a real shame, 
perhaps if she had had a better start to life things could have been different.

RIP Babe.

"There is no secret so close as that between a rider and his horse."
ROBERT SMITH SURTEES

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