| Condor - Brumby gelding | Wild Brumby Sire |
| Wild Brumby Dam |
My first adventure I had with my new mum was they day she bought me. She appeared with a strange contraption on the back of the car called a float. Something you need to know about me, I used to have the biggest fear of floats. I have fallen down in one 2 times, I honestly don't think they are the safest things ever invented. Anyway I was DETERMINED not to go in it. No way, I had them all fooled running around in circles backing away from the float and finally rearing straight up in the air and charging off down to the back of the paddock with leadrope dragging behind me. It was so unfair when my new mums dad went and got a friend. He knew how to get me in and what took them an hour and a half and failed it took Colin only 10 or so minutes. Once in the float I acted like a lamb. The scary part is getting into the float, once in i'm usually ok. That was the beginning of my adventures with my new mum.
What can I say about pony club besides that it was more of an aquatic center than 40 acres of grass land. The other horses in the paddock didnt like me at first and they chased me around and around. It was scary. But I soon settled in and I made friends with the most important horse of the lot, TOM. Tom was the boss horse, once you were friends with him then none of the other horses dared to attack cus old Tom would sort them out. Tom had a girlfriend a mare called Shelly. Being Toms best friend meant that he let me share Shelly with him. It was cool, but no other gelding was allowed her. But the main problem with pony club was in winter. As i said earlier it was more of an aquatic center. In places the water would be up to my tummy, while most places it was only up to my knees. When our mummys got on our backs we loved to gallop through the water and splash each other, it was so fun. The funniest bit was when one of the mummys fell off or all us horses laughed when another went whooshhh and in a hole. No-one was hurt so it was great. Of the forty acres in pony club there would only be about 3 acres not cover by water, so we would all stay there when not being ridden, getting lots of food to make up for the loss of grass.
BELOW SHOWS DIFFERENT PHOTOS OF PONY CLUB IN WINTER.
The bloke in this photo is Colin the guy who got me in the float................ And this is Kerrys dad.
As I was saying it was an aquatic centre.
I remember one time, hee hee and no doubt my mummy has never forgotten it either. It was a hot day and as usual our mummies would ride us through the water. I can't help it I was hot and wanted to cool off. I decided the best way to do that would be to have a nice lie down in the lovely cool water. My mummy jumped off ever so fast, poor mummy she might have stayed on my back if she had known the water was up to her knees above her gumboots. hee hee hee hee.
One thing I soon learnt to do at pony club was getting to the good grass, I'm what you would call a Houdini in the horse world, I leave no path unwalked and no fenced off area unexplored. I could and did walk through any fence I felt like so I always got the good grass while the rest looked over the fence at me wishing they could get in. One mare followed me one time, her name was Misty and we got on pretty well, her problem was that getting out she got stuck in the fence. It was barbed wire fencing and she had to wait for someone to come and cut her out. She waited patiently and she was soon set free.
Ahhh Lady, yes I remember her well. She was the love of every geldings heart at pony club, she was such a great looking mare none of us could keep our hooves off her and she so loved all of us. My mummy was riding me once while Lady was being ridden by her mummy. My mummy had a saddle on but Lady was bareback, which turned out to be lucky for Lady's mummy. Her mummy hopped off for some reason I can't remember why now all these many years later, but the temptation was just too much, Lady was in season and her mummy turned her rump toward me while walking her over to a jump to hop on her again. I reared up on Lady's back to do the dirty deed with her. My poor mummy had to hold on tightly, now me and mummy were riding lady. Ladys mummy was laughing telling my mummy to get me down, but my mummy was too busy laughing and couldn't get me down, not that I was ready to dismount Lady at that time anyway, we were busy. Lady's mummy had a friend there who was walking around with us while we were being ridden and all she could do was stare, then she wanted to know what we were doing. Well silly, isn't it obvious. If I had been a stallion we would have had a lovely baby together, ahhhh Lady I so loved her, and so did the rest of the geldings at Pony Club.
I was a great games pony, and every year I competed in the Teams Games day. There were six different games and only 1 of those games I never got chosen for. That was the Ride and Lead, and that was cus well i loved to gallop up to the end, but i saw no reason why I should run back with my mummy when I could walk, so she would be pulling me and I would walk, its too much like hard work to run with my mummy, so we always watched that from the sideline but competed in the other 5 games. One year I had to compete in that game, there was a last minute change as one of the riders quit so my mummy said she wanted to try that game. No one beleived it when we galloped down and I actually ran (slowly) back next to my mum, we were the first ones back and everyone was surprised. That was the year that our team came 5th out of about 40 pony clubs. Also the only time that our pony club didnt come last, a place we usually ended up.
I was in group 2 at pony club, group 1 was the top group. Me and my mummy enjoyed group 2 the best, group 1 was full of snobs, and group 2 held all our friends. Our instructor was Pam. The thing about Pam was that she had no control over my mummy or any of the other riders. There was one very foggy morning when you couldnt see a foot in front of you and we had a rally. All of our mums in group 2 took it into their heads to turn tail and gallop off into all directions into the fog with poor Pam calling after us to come back, while all our mums giggled and stayed hidden in the fog. There was another time when we were practicing for the games team and one of the games was with golf balls. You had to pick one up at one end then ride back and put it in a bucket. While Pam was getting all the gear out my mummy and one of her friends grabbed all the golf balls and put them in their pockets. Poor Pam looked everywhere for the golf balls while our mummys all pretended to help her, she finally realised in the end what had happened, I'm sure she must have felt a dill.
One day a deaf girl and her pony joined pony club. The girl was the deaf one not the horse. Little Sandy, she was 2 inches smaller than me, but no fair she could jump much faster than me at competitions. But I actually beat her one day, I am so clever. It was at Elthan Pony Club. We were both in the 2.6ft to 3ft round. There was a really nasty boy in there from another Pony Club and everytime some one got eliminated in the first round he would laugh and make jokes at their expence. His mount was an ugly grey gelding, boy I would like to kick that horse hard. We made a clear round and he wasn't very happy, Jenny and Sandy made a clear round too. And he did. There was about 10 of us in the jump off. I didn't like the course it was much too wide for my liking. I love tight courses where i can whoosh over jumps and cut corners and all sorts of tricks, as I am slow on wide courses, but give me a sharp course and try beat me. There was only one tight turn and that was over number 6 jump, you jumped number 5 and then turned and jumped number 6 going the opposite which was smack bang next to number 5 jump. Jenny went first and silly Sandy who knocked a jump down, and that rudearrogant boy with his friends clapped and cheered loudly and laughed. Gosh he was rude. Finally my turn came and I was ready to put that rude boy and his ugly pony in their place. My mummy kicked me into movement but I didn't need no urging I was off, I had a mission and I was determined to succeed in it and take that smile of that ugly horse's face. I whooshed around the jumping course like a raging bull. I jumped madly over all the jumps, After jumping number 5 I slid to a halt before spinning 180 degrees on my hind legs and taking 1 stride I flew over number 6 like it wasn't there. This was no easy task all the jumps were up 3ft, but I still flew over that jump like it wasn't there. We whoosed over the rest and through the finish line. Man the look on that horses face was priceless, his owners face wasn't much better they were both giving us the biggest greasys. As we whoosed by them my mummy flung her hands up in the air and I grinned at that ugly horse. everybody else cheered us, no one liked the ugly horse or his owner. They were both pissed. They went useless in the jump off anyway they knocked nearly every jump down. I was so proud I came third. My mummy was proud of me too. I'm sure she thought I would run out on a jump or something, but no I had a point to prove, and prove it I did.
It was through Pony Club that my mummy first met Julie and it was knowing Julie that allowed me years later to meet the mare of my dreams!!!! Kate!!!!. This meeting happened at Harmony Lodge, where you will hear about my adventures futher in if you keep reading. Mind you it wasn't love at first sight, it was more like instant hate. When Julie first tried to put Kate into my paddock I refused to allow her in, I squealed at her before turning and planting my feet on her side as hard as i could. Again Julie tried to get Kate in and again i lashed out at her. I wasn't living at Pony Club at this time, I had moved to another place, Harmony Lodge. Finally Julie got Kate in the paddock, and I did so enjoy chasing her around, I had poor Kate terrified out of her wits. She was an ugly underweight old mare, and she didnt deserve my respect. My mummy asked Julie if she could look after Kate and ride her, Julie said yes. I should mention that the day Kate arrived at my paddock, she had a foal with her, it was weaned before she was put in my paddock, the foal was Marnie an arab cross, there is a pic of her in my photos archives. Not long after my mummy started looking after Kate, everytime I was caught I had to put up with sharing my mummy with the ugly skinny mare Kate. Kate soon blossomed out as she was fed up and the weight returned to her slowly. I suddenly began to like kate, and we became good friends, and from there we turned into lovers. I hated it when she was taken away from me and i would charge around the paddock madly calling out every few seconds hoping for a reply from Kate. I didn't mind it when i was taken away from Kate to go for rides, then Kate would race around calling to me. I loved Kate immensly now, and we were together for six long years, the six best years of my life. I will never forget you Kate!!!!!!. (A Tribute to Kate, the mare that stood above the rest).
My mumys parents had a Holiday place in Wonthaggi (South Gippsland Victoria.) and she would always take me up there for holidays, It was 1 and a half acres in size. I used to have such fun up there. I remember three exciting times I had up there with my mum that stood out from the rest. One time when My mummy was riding along the old railway line she decided to take me for a lovely gallop. There were no railway lines there now, the train was gone along with the railway tracks, all that was left was a lovely green grassy path and the Wonthaggi train station. My mummy knows that station well. I was having a fun gallop when I suddenly noticed people peering at me from the station. I leapt sideways in terror and my poor mummy bit the dust in front of all those people. She got up red in the face while the lady selling cakes hurried over to see if we were ok. I would have felt much better if she had offered me some cakes, but waaa she didn't. My mummy was fine but we never galloped past the station again. Poor Mummy. Then there was another time we were riding along the train line. It passes the Wonthaggi Pony Club and mummy noticed that their fence was down, so eagerly we both snuck in. Whoopie I had fun I went over all their jumps and it was so cool. We met a friend up there Simone and her pony Candy and she started coming into the pony club when we went there on weekends we had fun togehter and Candy was the sweetest pony. The Other time that really stands out is the ride mummy would take me on when in winter the road we rode along would be under water and up to my tummy, I think I was so brave to go along that little track/road when I couldn't see the ground through the murky water.
I tell a lie when I say they were the three things that stand out from the rest, everytime I went up to Wonthaggi things happened to us, we galloped along the beach and got lost when leaving the railway line, had snakes swim under me when walking through deep water and even gliding under me when I was walking on solid grassy ground, and we even rode down the main road of town while cars roared by at a million miles and hour (slight exxageration there hee hee) and everyone shopped. But there was one other really funny funny thing I must mention, I didn't do it it was Candy who did it. Our mummys were thirsty and we were near Safeways shopping centre so they decided to stop there and buy some drinks. Simone tied Candy up to the ride on donkey they had there out the front for the kiddies to ride on and mummy held me as Simone was going to get the drinks. Poor Candy freaked at something and dragged the ride on donkey with her when she ran backwards, freaking even more. I bet thats the best thrill that donkey has ever had. Anyway, with that drama over mummy held Candy aswell as me as they felt that was a better idea then. Unfortunately Candy really needed to go to the toilet, and when a girls gotta go, well a girls just gotta go. Candy lifted her tail and did a big plop of manure on the ground right in front of the enterance of Safeways. Mummy and Simone couldn't help but laugh. One lady went to leave the shop and gave a disgusting look before going out a different exit. A few minutes late the manager came out, Oh no, we are all in real trouble now we all thought, but no he was interested in us horses, (Well one horse and one very naughty pony). His daughter wanted a horse and he was asking if we knew of any for sale. Simone told him Candy was for sale. He was looking for a quiet pony and Simone spun a heap of lies about poor naughty, mad, wicked, Candy being an angel. I wonder if he ever brought Candy. I guess I will never know as the Place at Wonthaggi was sold and I am now the proud owner of 5 acres, (Well my grandpa and grandma are anyway, but I tell everyone its mine, afterall I keep the grass mowed), and I never saw Candy again, and mummy never saw Simone again as she never goes up there, but Simone has moved to whoop whoop now anyway, but I know naughty Candy is out there somewhere reaking havoc on some poor innocent person.
Then there was the exciting rides in the float. As you all know I don't really like floats, and the float my mummy use to own had the door at the front. They always wondered why the door opened up on journeys, hee hee. My poppy (mummys dad) soon found out when I was put in the float one time he watched me as I jiggled around with the door latch and it opened, I loved that little trick but then the latch was changed and waaaaaa I couldn't open the door anymore. NO FAIR.
I will always remember the time when some silly man left the back gate to the Pony Club open, and hee hee out we all (about 20 of us) snuck the next day when Broady pointed it out. We all headed straight through all the back streets and straight toward the Freeway. The police got told and blocked the freeway off. Zoneke's old mummy saw us and managed to catch Broady, (my great friend at the time) and she lef him into her property and we all filed in after him. It was so fun running all around the back of Chelsea.
My short stay at the Harradines place was quite memorable. I was put in with 2 really nasty mares. Both hated me heaps and heaps and they would constantely chase me away I was so sad and lonely. My mummy was friends with the lady who owned the boss mare Zoneke. And oneday I had to go for a ride with evil Zoneke to my Pony Club. I was so happy to get there in one piece, Zoneke gave me evil looks the whole way. I even got to stay at Pony Club that night. Old Tom was dead by this time, which was sad and there was a new boss horse, who hated my guts, but were were later to become the best of friends. His name was Duke. Him and me were alot alike and a couple of people thought we were twins. Nope we weren't. Any way i got let out with all the horses which Duke didn't like and he was nasty and he kicked me and chased me. Thankfully Zoneke was in a little yard for the night, well she was supossed to be, once the President of the Pony Club left she was let out, Oh No!!!! She came charging flat chat up to the rest of us, great I thought, first I have to put up with all the evil horses, and then Zoneke came charging at me. I didn't know what to do, I was trapped between Zoneke and Duke. But amazingly Zoneke barged by me and attacked Duke. I was in shock, what's happening i thought. Then Zoneke came over to me, she put her ears back at me, I hurriedly moved and she followed me, she stuck as close to me as she could. I was waiting for her to attack me but she didn't. When duke came near us again she went for Duke and he ran off with his tail between his legs. What can I say, Zoneke was one tough lady. She had become my protector that night at Pony Club, I was the only horse she knew there so we became friends, (hmmm how long would that last.) When my mummy arrived the next morning I was happily snoozing in the shed with Zoneke snoozing behind, Zoneke wouldn't let any of the other horses in the shed with us. It was bliss. We were saddled up and then my mummy rode me home while Zoneke's mum rode her home. Once back at our own place Zoneke hated me again, she wasn't as nasty to be as before but she wanted nothing to do with me. HEY!!! She used me, waaaaaaa, but then without her I would have been picked on all night, so alls well, ends well. I was glad when I finally got to leave that place, but not before I was moved into a private paddock with a really lovely caring mare who was in foal. Princess was such a sweetie.
There were two old bridges near the Harradines place and my mummy use to make me cross them on our rides, they were part of the old road before the road was moved to another spot and made bigger. One bridge was wooden and had holes in the middle of it, I was always sure I was going to fall through that one, and the other was a concrete one. They were the most scariest bridges I have ever seen, and I hate bridges at the best of times. I still have nightmares of those two bridges. Hmmm I wonder if the wooden one has collapsed yet or not?????
One thing you should know is how much I HATE!!!!!!!!!!!!! ducks. They are the scariest animal alive and I know they were created just to eat horses. One time me and mummy were pleasantly trotting along the side of a creek that runs the lenght of this long long road where years and years ago with my old mummy she clocked me galloping at 55 kms an hour, which I think is pretty fast for me, woo hoo I should be a racehorse, anyway we were trotting along past a rival Pony Club - Mentone Pony Club, when out of the corner of my eye I saw a couple of ducks. They saw me and suddenly took flight. Well I took flight too in the opposite direction to where my mummy took flight. Poor mummy didn't know what was happening until she was sitting on the ground in shock.
