We went on a 20km trail ride on Saturday up to Mt Wallum. It was very steep!! here is a photo of Muddie and I.


Muddie a bit more relaxed. She is a 10yo Quarter Horse mare


Dizzy and Millie (Dizzy is a 5 yo Arab mare and Millie is about 19 and belongs to a friend of mine that lives in Cairns)


Merlin and Dizzy on a ride along the channel from Tinaroo to Walkamin (Merlin is my 22yo palomino pinto gelding, my OH rides him occasionally)


Baileys is a 6 or 7yo red roan pony that we rescued. She had never been touched in her life and was really wild. She is fat and happy now and although we have not had her broken in she is quiet now.

JackieH, what beautiful horses you have, your 22yo palomino pinto does not look that old! he is in fantastic condition....Do the Koolies like your horses or should I say do the horses like your Koolies!

I would love to get a Arab one day and do endurance riding....maybe down the future one day...

It looks like you have some beautiful area's to ride in....when ever I see your pics in your posts I get a bit home sick, I grew up in Townsville and Cairns, we use to love going to the creeks etc.

Helen

I had a lot of problems with the Koolies barking at the horses when I first got them, but they soon realised how much fun horseriding realy is. In summer when the days are longer I ride every morning to the end of the road (about a 6km round trip) with the dogs. Now the days are shorter I don't have time before I leave for work to ride so I only ride on the weekends. It is a bit difficult finding areas or dirt roads that don't have vehicles to take the dogs but I have quite a few to chose from. Weekends they generally get about a 10 to 20km ride to stretch their legs.

The horses are no problem with dogs as I have always had both horses and dogs so they are used to one another. The horses seem to know which dogs are mine and which are street dogs that occasionally wander through the horse paddock and chase them.

I have had Merlin (22yo) since he was born (owning both his mother and father) so even though he is old he has been with me for so long I would be lost without him. He is technically retired, but occasionally my OH rides him (he is not much of a horse rider but gives it a go if I ask him).

JackieH, great photos, Yor horses are so beautiful! I love Dizzy.. she is stunning! I have a thing for Arabs, we own 4 Arabs here but they are broodmares, so i haven't been horseriding for ages. We are currently breaking in our young Morab mare, who's coming along very well.. so hopefully I will have a horse to ride soon.

no i must say i go for the Quarter horse i love liver chestnuts my Quarter horse mare Chica was also a liver chestnut and her foal Jessie was a rich chestnut with two white socks and a star. i like the look of all your horse but will pass on the Arab sorry i have never liked them since i was a kid, but don't get me wrong i love the look of them it's just their behavior and personality i don't like

I am usually the same about arabs although I have had a few arabs when I was younger, but I have now moved onto the quarterhorse type. Dizzy was a friend of mine's foal and when she moved back to Brisbane a few years ago I inherited her blue ACD (Mikki) and Dizzy (who was about 2 at the time). We had her broken in and she is a dream to ride. She has Anhydrosis (does not sweat properly) and I would only ride her in winter. She had been on treatment for Anhydrosis for several months and although she was now sweating, she still could not cope with any hard work especially hill work. Back to the vet we went and she was diagnosed with a heart murmer!!! I have had her on herbal treatment to help stimulate the heart to cope with the heart murmer and she is responding really well. We have hopes that one day she will be able to cope with being riden again. Such a major disapointment as she is a horse that really loves going out for a ride!!

what a waste, she is a good looking girl i wonder if her health problems were past down or just bad luck

I asked the vet if it would be ok for her to have a foal and if the murmer would pass to the foal and he was sure that it would not.

She is 90% better on the herbal treatment than without it so perhaps in time it will help her to heal... might be wishfull thinking on my part but no matter she makes a beautiful lawnmower anyway.

We have picked out a beautiful chestnut arab stallion (four white socks and full blaze) from Koah Arabian Stud for next year if she does not improve anymore for riding.

The murmer is only detectable when she is under heavy stress, like climbing a hill or a hard gallop. I can ride her around the flat with no problems at all and we probably wouldn't even have noticed if we lived in a flat area. But every ride involves a slope of some sort... dammit!!!