Horses in the outback
Horses are an important part of working life at Larrawa. If your horse hasn’t been watered at the end of a muster, you won’t be getting a drink either.
Previously horses have been more of a pet and companion to me. I spend time with them because I enjoy it, not because I have to. Here everyone is expected to ride horses as parting of their work on the station. One of the major draw cards for me in coming here was that I knew horses were used and I would get to spend time riding as part of my job. Several of the other girls have not had a lot of experience with horses and I imagine it’s been a steep learning curve, but they’ve coped admirably. Getting chucked on a horse and being told you will spend hours and hours in the saddle would be a daunting thought if you didn’t know how to ride!
Kevin has more than 50 horses here at Larrawa. When I arrived they were still out spelling after being turned out at the end of last season. Some hadn’t been ridden for several seasons.
The first two weeks here were spent fencing and yard building. After Easter thoughts quickly turned to mustering cattle in time for the first boats. But first the horses themselves had to be mustered in. This sounds simple enough, but in reality it is much harder – the paddocks are bigger than the average farm in New Zealand. It took three days to find the horses Kevin wanted to use, as I think he was trying to match us with mounts to suit our ability. Even after three days we hadn’t found the exact ones he wanted, so had to make do.
Everyone gets three horses of their own. Fortunately I got three lovely mounts. Although, all of the horses here are very quiet and have no dirt at all.
I have Dingo or ‘Bluey’ as everyone calls him – I think it suits him better too. He is a tiny man, a grey gelding, with a cute wee pony head. Being short in stature myself I know being small is not a disability and someone must have told Bluey. He marches out and more than holds himself with the bigger horses.
I also have two Palomino mares called Goldie and Jojo. Here they call the colour ‘creamy’. Both have great temperaments and know their job. I have a soft spot for Jojo in particular and she’s my favourite to ride. She is responsive and quick, walks out beautifully and is on the alert for cattle at all times. All the horses here know their job and genuinely seem to love working with cattle.
We rode all the horses in the round pen initially, before riding them around the paddock closest to the homestead to get used to them.
We ride in stock saddles and bridles with plain snaffle bits. No gadgets for anything. The main difference I noticed is getting on and off the horse. Getting on you hold the mane and the pommel, never the back of the saddle, and swing yourself up. Having very short legs I had trouble with this and was given permission to revert back to holding the back of the saddle! Getting off, you keep your near side foot in the stirrup and step down. I keep automatically dropping both feet out of the stirrups, but am slowly learning their way. My horses are all happy to be ridden in the English style, but I find I usually hold the reins in just one hand and have tried out a bit of neck reining, particularly in the yards, which is great fun.