How gorgeous is this photo... I might be a bit biased because the jockey is a lovely gentlemen that I know and his horse is an absolute stonka!!! If you think the photo makes the horse look big.... it doesn't... that's one big horse!!! It must keep Mr Roche young having to hoist himself up there all the time.
This weekend just passed my husband and I had the rare opportunity to have some kid free time and attend the Paradise Lagoons Campdraft. We were part of the mustering team and I personally think that was the best place to be! My horse improved so much over the few days and one horse even found himself a new owner.
I couldn't decide which edit I liked the best!
I was asked by another friend of mine to do some business branding photos of Jason Lindley and his family, but we were so busy with all the mustering that I barely had a chance to get any. Here are a few from a couple of his rounds that I managed to capture.
Got all the feet going the same in this one.
This horse cracks me up with its flared nostrils.
I also got a couple of Jason's sister Sarah but I think I jinxed her runs because she did well every time that I wasn't there. Sarah and I grew up together and did school together for the first 6 years at distance ed. We used to chase the steers around the flat together and I remember one day we put one through a fence and broke the wire. So we had to scrounge for about 6 little pieces of wire to try and fix it with. I would have love to have seen the person who eventually found our masterpiece.
And I managed to get out and take a few of our mustering team. The big fella was a bit put out that he was in the tail and not in the lead for the photo that the guy from the country life took.... Sorry babe, this is the best I could do!
These steers were so well behaved. We barely had any trouble with them at all. Obviously well handled, which doesn't always make for good campdraft cattle as they have been trained to stay in a mob and not be singled out.
Good looking pair right there!!!
Ella and her new best friend Susie. She was our gun ringer and the biggest help for the whole time.
Ha ha ha look at her nose lol!! So funny!
And that was all I managed to get from my SLR. The rest are...
From my Phone:
Crazy kids
En route to Paradise. Trying to fit into my town hat!
Paradise is such a well laid out place. You can really see all that has been done to improve it. Or maybe I just notice it now more that we have been looking for a place of our own.
The Couti-Outi contingent.
Yes I have to resort to selfies, because otherwise my children won't know that I existed! Or at least that's what I keep telling my husband who never takes any photos!
We managed to increase and decrease our mustering team numbers on a daily basis, but our main crew was always there.
Almost looks like I was on foot here. I wasn't.
Coolee (clostest), Roche and Lou (furtherest)
Gosh Roche is a photogenic chap isn't he!
We had some pretty early starts, which the youngest of our mustering team, didn't baulk at one bit! I was a bit steady to get going though I must say! One morning I had my phone out taking photos and I didn't realise but I had the flash set to go off, fortunately my horse didn't throw me!
We all got a volunteer shirt and we all wore them on the Friday. Which wasn't the Queensland Country Life day lol, so we didn't get them in the paper! But it did make it easy to find our crew at the bar!
The big fella was a little bit dusty on this particular morning. I think he was thinking that he should have come home with me on the first attempt at getting him to come home, he he he...!
Oh and my dear Yoda, he has found a new owner in Coolee, and has returned to the place of his birth at Couti-Outi. I think they will make a pretty good team. He only took him for a 5 minute ride and was already spoiling him with an extra biccy of hay! I only wished that I had sent him back up there when I first broke him in because I feel as though I have wasted a lot of my horses' years while I was busy having my babies. But the kids are off on their own now! They cantered and trotted yesterday from one side of the paddock to the other and back, from 4-5:30pm. Which I thought was a fair effort! So I'm pretty keen now that I will be able to ride some of my other horses that need work. And I have nominated the kids in the Ridgelands draft so I'm hoping that we get in on the waiting list.
And that's all from me! Back on the home front, two of the grandmas did tag team to babysit for us. With Grandma Sheree taking the first shift for a few days with the kids and dogs and then Grandma (above) taking over the last couple of days until we got home. Poor Grandma, we came home and I'm afraid I wasn't the best company, I was a bit exhausted. Good to be home with my babies.
My latest favourite song by Gary Allan..... "Slide"
To you, with love!
