Hop, Skip and a few rides, through Australia

Well hello their America! Long time no speak! I have been away on my adventure and doe forgot my password to make new posts, so of course I haven’t made any. But I figured it all out, and here I am with a long overdue post to all my family. The two of you that read this… as you can attest this past week made me a little crazy, wanting to leave and then wanting to stay, then turning right back around, packing my bags and even telling my hosts that I wanted to leave!
I’m still here.
It’s not the food that kept me here, though it’s rather tasty. And it’s certainly not the company since the only other person besides the owners is a French girl named Sophie who doesn’t really talk to me. It might be the opportunity to pick up all the horse poo o want with my bare hands, or having to skirt around horses like they will kick and attack at any second. Or it very well might be the yelling and the tense atmosphere. I might say I stay for the lessons in proper English riding, where the only way to stop your horse is the one rein emergency STOP. (don’t get me started on why she used this as the main stopping command for everyday use, when every expert says it should only be used in emergency stops) or stirrups must be kept long and dangling, complete with crops and things. What I have found here, and this is why I am staying, is a unique combination of crazy and tradition. The trainers have picked through all the different types of trainers and found what they like, not if it makes sense but if they liked it and applied it to a breeding facility. The quality of horses they turn out is very poor, with spooky horses, unsafe around pretty much anyone who is not a horse guru and unhappy to work. I have not seen a great deal of their training yet but I will in the next few weeks and be assured, it won’t be very pretty I sure.
But through the crazy there are perks, heave riding instruction, which while often unwanted and rather loud and repetitive is helpful. (Charlie is a very patient man, and I prefer lessons with him and his gentle tone, as compared to Rosemary that shrieks at you and won’t let up) I have been riding for a few days now in an arena alone, practicing her strange way of steering and leg control necessary for when I go out into the endurance field. Charlie come in for 15 minutes or so and teaches me, then I ride on my own and figure things out. My mare is kind of old, and had been out of use for year so my job is to get her fit and renew her training so they can sell her. She knows all the ground work and also takes advantage of any moment she can. She’s fun.
Mornings start up around 8, breakfast (which I can’t normally stand, and is killing me here!) get horses which means walking up a very large hill and a complicated procedure of opening gates, moving electric wire and poking horses. Then doing it all over again to get back out. Then it takes us an hour to tack up three horses, since they need to adjust to the area, take a nap if they must (we don’t wake them from their nap) then grooming, which can take a while if the horses are being skittish. Then saddles which sometimes need to be redone 2-3 times. Finally when you are good and ready you can get mounted up. While I go off and ride in the arena the other two take to the fields and exercise the horses. Which I will be able to do someday…maybe.
The morning rides usually ends in a few hours, and then putting away gear and cleaning up the area takes another hour. Lunch is usually around 2-3ish, which is why I need to eat a large breakfast, and that is the only meal which is prepared. Its large and usually very tasty, but sometimes not enough food is made. Then we either work a young horse or hang around until the sun sets which is a few hours. Today, we had lunch around 3, which means the sun sets in 3 hours and we are just sitting in the house doing our own thing. Dinner is whenever you want it, and whatever you find in the fridge. Usually not lunch leftovers since there are not any. I’ve been having bread with jam and cheese. Lots of tea here. Tea every damn hour.
Then it’s time for bed! Anywhere from 8 to 11, whenever you want to fall asleep. Pretty quiet right? It a nice life, not really fun but not stressful. For the past week I’ve had this chough, it’s the kind where you throat gets itchy and you cant breath because the air feels too substantial? Well that’s my chough, usually inside though, as well as lots of snot and nasty stuff. Bleh! I blame the hostel. All those sink people from the UK and Germany…
I do enjoy seeing all the kangaroos though! That is my favorite part of the day, early evening when you look out any window and see some big old kangaroos hanging out in the garden or pasture. I love to watch them move, using their tail for balance while both hind legs come off the ground, and when you go out to take a picture, they all look up and they just look so funny! The best part of Australia is chasing them around and watching them bound away and through the outback. The. best. Damn. part. Also spiny echidna’s, which are in the fame family as the platypus and…nothing else! Anyway, that is my life out here on the ranch! It’s very simple, and basic. And it’s causing me more strife and emotional see sawing then 3 months at Chauncey!
I look at my first week as my jetlag week, I had a lot of adventures in Sydney and spend a lot of time on my feet and out and about, so when I got here I really just let down my energy and slept. But then I was bombarded with yelling and all these rules and constantly being told I was completely uneducated with horses, everything I did was unsafe and barbaric. It’s not hey way that did it, it’s that I felt so…beginner! All the safety I had learned was not safe here, and all the unsafe things I learned were safe here, and heaven help if you initiated anything or tried to anticipate what they wanted. So can you blame me for wanted to cut and run? When someone is telling you all your years of experience add up to nothing but a bad education it doesn’t set you up for wanting to stay. All my confidence went right out the window…byebye!
Slowly but surely I am getting it back, though now my hosts think it is their doing, all this horse ‘savvy’ oh well, let them. I take every new rule with a smile and just do it. It doesn’t matter if I don’t agree, it’s only for three weeks and then I can just forget it. Still annoys the hell out of me though…
I have also lost track of why exactly I am here, I lost my contract for this class when my computer crashed, and none of my mentors are responding to send me a copy. So I’m kind of…making it up as I go, with limited resources and only a few books that I need. I’ll probably do more work than most OPC students do in an independent class. But still! I realize how going to Australia to learn natural horsemanship was really basic, an idea that requires more to work into my degree plan. And what I am really finding is that although a large percentage of horse people sue the same teachers, their methods are all different. I use Parrelli, and these people use Parrelli, and thousands of others use Parrelli systems of working with horses but I bet you every single one of us has a different view and way of using the same system for our own unique uses. There, the point of my class. Or at least my final paragraph if my mentor ever responds to my emails and grades me.
But I’m sure mom that you are not interested in my class as much as how I am doing. (just as I’m sure you are the only one reading this, so really it’s just one big letter to you!) I am doing alright, I usually don’t want to get out of bed, which means I’m not that excited to be here. And that is sad because I was so excited for this trip and that it would be like. Its really not like anything I was expecting, and that’s neither a good not bad thing. I am enjoying myself but I will be glad to go home. This trip was a good test, and I don’t think I could like this far away from my family. So no need to worry about me moving to Australia or India! I will try where my family is. Excluding the times I travel that is. There is no point regretting what isn’t or what I wished for. I just need to live this experience for all I can and make the best of it. The chance to ride every day and improve will be worth the trip.
I forget if I posted about my adventures in Sydney, but they were spectacular! Again, I wished I was traveling with someone else but I made the most of my time. Made some new friends, and travelled with one of them for a day before she left. Saw the big sights and all the tourist travels bought a didgeridoo cd since I couldn’t fit on in my bag, nor could I play one if I brought one back…and the guy playing it was one hot musician!
Saw an amusement park and rode the ferry a lot, back and forth form one pier to another. Saw a naked man dancing on a boat to attract attention. And lots of seagulls. Spend a lot of money and slept a lot. That was Sydney! Then a long train ride which was lovely, I love trains into the country. Next time I am looking for where Paddy went, and actually working on a ranch or something that would be more fun. I defiantly don’t believe this is my only trip to Australia; I will be back again and again! There is just too much to see! Also, I want to bring an Australia home with me, since I think their accents are just to DIE for, and would love to be married to one. Don’t care about the person, just the accent. Very shallow I know.
So, that’s all I really Have to say for now, I’m sure that my next post will be more winy and homesick then this one. And I’m sure it won’t be that interesting but that’s ok. This blog is in danger of turning into a pity fest..so send me lots of love everybody! I need the love!
I love you all, and will be home before you know it~
Let’s not look back on this with regret, or with shame, let’s look back on it with a swelling of the heart, and a rising of the blood. For the adventure that this is, and the memory that it will become. Regret nothing, and remember everything.

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