Well first go... was disappointing, a dud straw, wasted effort and expenditure and not worth writing out the details...... so we are currently in the throws of a second round of AI.  Pearl and Reb's are away again much to Duchess's dismay.  Good news is that the pair of them walked onto the truck in 2 seconds, bloody amazing given the grief she gave us first time. Now that we have transport the options for 2010 season means we can hopefully book Pearl in with Spitfire out at Bundaberg.  However, we've committed to AI this year and that includes the roller coaster ride of disapointment,...

With the massive disappointment last weekend, discovering Pearl didn't fit into our trailer, our hopes of getting Pearl and Rebel to the vet seemed slim. But in organising the hay delivery for a Saturday morning our bloke said he knew a guy that might be able to help us with the trailer. So we were looking forward to the weekend… If you had asked us how much you can fit into a weekend on Friday, we'd not have thought of half of the tasks we ended up doing by Sunday evening. It all started with the usual Saturday morning routine...... 5.00am - feed the menagerie, open pens, walk the dogs...

Arcadian Duchess finally arrived last Thursday and we've spent a tentative 3 days whilst we've staged a gradual placement into Pearl & Rebel's domain.  Duchess is wearing her down though, she's younger, fitter and is very persistent to be in the group.  Pearl's only concern is protecting her foal.  Problem is Rebel is curious, he wants to play with the new horse and keeps sneaking off causing her to run herself ragged heading him off in the opposite direction.  The only injuries to report were those sustained early on, a few grazes and the odd cut as Duchess has worked out just how far to run and where...

Well what a speedy few weeks we have had! Christmas was over without a hitch but Dale got a bad dose of food poisoning, or so we thought! He was right by New Year so we were off to a friends' place to celebrate the coming year. The next day I was floored by the same bug that hit Dale.. not food poisoning but the dreaded gastro and it lingered painfully for days longer than I thought was ever bearable. Still things to do and holidays were running out fast...so it was onto the drugs and set the focus, we collected Harold (truck mechanic) and the three of us were off to inspect a handful of transporters...

Exciting news, Duchess will be making Deacons Gate her new home sometime in January and it will be an exciting time settling her in and introducing her to our lot. The down side is that the horse transport vehicle we hoped to purchase at the same time, didn't eventuate. So we'll work on that again when the timing presents itself.   We've decided to use AI this season on Pearl and return her to Bundaberg next season. Our vet is an experienced AI practitioner and despite the risk that Pearl may not get pregnant (using frozen sperm) we feel it is worth the effort given the stress getting...

Sadly the scan proved what we thought, Pearl isn't pregnant. She was horsing around Greg, our little gelding, diagnosed with cryptorchidism. He thinks he is a stallion because of a birth defect where his second testicle embedded in his chest wall and is now producing testosterone. Normally... if Pearl can see him, he is too close... so we had inkling things were amiss. Not sure where we go from here. The costs of sending her back to Bundaberg requires transport and agistment fees all over again and the worry of "will it be successful" after so much effort. Finding out where we stand in this...

  So... 17 days since the deluge. We're not swimming through the paddocks any longer but it's still decidedly mooshy due to the additional falls of 20mm or so, each weekend since. So, now we're wading through the grass instead. It's waist high is some places and way too wet to slash so it'll be a monster job when we can get to it ... if we don't drown in one of the many potholes artistically left by Pearl and Rebel galloping about like loonies skidding and sliding in the mud, trailing the littles behind them, peddling like little sewing machines in an effort to keep up. When they...

Pearl's 16 day scan is positive (official confirmation scan due 11/12) so she and Rebel were booked on transport home the following week, little did we know then the rains were going to almost sweep us away.  Despite the flooding and damage Pearl and Rebel, having spent an extra night in Caboolture whilst our flooded road subsided, finally arrived home last Friday to very boggy paddocks and large wash aways. Late on the Wednesday night I watched anxiously as the house was buffeted by howling winds and sheets of water.  Dale was out of phone range and I knew he'd be fighting his way through...

Friday finally arrived, we were packed and ready to roll out, managed a quick catch up with the neighbours on menagerie watch and then we were off to Bundaberg for a Shire social weekend full of information, visitors from afar and a chance to see Pearl and Rebel of course.   The 5 hour drive didn't seem to take that long and amazingly the tent (brand new) was up just before dark (with help from Andrew Ormond and Peter McKeon on this one... dome tent destructions and windy conditions had us struggling) It was great to catch up, share stories, swap tips, and ask loads of questions of the assembled horples...

Last Monday was my first day as the Office Administrator in Toowoomba and I can tell you, swapping the tools and blisters for a wheelie chair and a computer is just bliss! Still, I've learnt a lot these past 5 months being the gopher girl for Harold Green, the fencing contractor, handy man, experienced and practical advice guru, as he completed the long list of projects that we’d drawn up. His patience in getting this awesome property makeover completed despite changes, hiccups, our inexperience and frustrations, is just amazing. The Deaconsgate Shires that visitors see today is a testament...