Messenger

Hodgson Park
Telopea checking
out the hay in
the float
Deb & Lenny in their Cowboy Dressage gear
shoot with Lenny in his Cowboy Dressage gear. I was very
happy with the photos but it didn’t really advance my training
towards the ANMS too much. While we were tailing out cattle,
I noticed some knots in Lenny’s mane and I got them out with
my fingers. Is that OK preparation for the ANMS Showing
horses is a world away from what I normally do. But I’m doing
it just once because the ANMS is in Perth for the very first time.
I hope to see you there!”
News from here at Hodgson Park: While things have been quiet
on many fronts here at Hodgson Park, December saw Hodgson
Park Telopea travel to his new home! Late in November, Michelle
Higgins came out to visit while she was over in WA. She was
looking for that special youngster to bring on as her next horse.
In typical Telopea fashion, he was keen to be part of the attention
– even when we were looking at the other horses! And so, in the
way of Morgans, Telopea chose Michelle. Upon arriving back
in Victoria, Michelle kept thinking about Telopea, and the rest
is history! There was one small hiccup – Telopea was in WA
and Michelle lived in Victoria! And Telopea had never been on
a float! But his amazing temperament shone through and the
weekend before the truck was due to pick him up, Telopea had
his first floating lesson. I led him out of the paddock (his first
time away from his herd) and up to the float. He looked at it,
a bit unsure. But his curiosity got the better of him and within
five minutes he was in the float. Backing out was a bit trickier
(note to self – teach horses to back before getting them on the
float!) but still no issue. Then straight back on the float like a
professional who does it every day – he would have been happy
to stand there eating hay for ages! So come his leaving day,
despite being very unsure about this big, noisy truck parked out
on the road this little Morgan, who had only just turned one,
walked into the truck and made the big trip to the other side of
Australia. It was evident from the very start that Michelle and
Telopea were going to develop a special bond and I can’t wait
to see what they get up to in the future.
Rachel Whan
Queensland
As I am sitting here writing my SLO story, Judi Anderson is
sure to be wondering if perhaps I have completely abandoned
my duties to the Morgan Messenger! No, that is not the case, but
I have spent the last couple of days, shall we say, “promoting
the breed” and time has not stood still waiting for me to come
inside and quit playing with the horses.
I hope everyone has had some time to recover from Christmas
and also to enjoy the results of the lovely rain that has blessed
some of us. It has certainly helped to raise the spirits and make
the countryside look pretty good.
As the December issue of the MM was my first as SLO, I have to
apologise for missing a couple of articles that were provided to
me and for that I am very sorry and will include in this issue.
News from Ruth McGill: “Aussie (Oz Hicountry Mitch)
and I have competed in our first Quantum Savvy ‘QSports’
competition. This event was held for the first time ever at Pomona
on 1st November. It was an amazing day and we had so much
fun. Aussie was perfect, love this boy. We competed in liberty,
bareback & bridleless and contact ridden classes. We even got
Oz Hicountry
Mitch at the
Quantum
Savvy
'QSports'
20