Grassbrook Equine

Well, we attended on the weekend with 3 horses, and came away with ribbons!  Our 2 Waler mares, Juliet's Pride, and CM Desert Traveller were 1st and 2nd, then Champion and Reserve Champion. Not bad for our 1st Waler class. 

Having won ribbons for our Walers, we are excited about the next show, at Moonbi, here we will be taking just the one horse, Colby this time, and trying to win a few with him.  He is currnetly under ridden work, and we hope to have a few more classes t...

After much contemplation, we have decided to offer up our young ASPA/BH (3/4 ASH, 1/4 Welsh) stallion Grassbrook Colby, for sale. Due to our wish to concentrate on our Waler breeding, and streamline the stud's focus, he is being advertised in the March Horse Deals . We will continue to work with him, and hope to take him to some local shows, but if he is sold before then, so be it. The mental strain of having to have a minimum of 6 paddocks for separate herds and stallion paddocks is all gett...

Well, the 21st January weas our 1st ever show date. We took the pally Pia, and CM Desert Traveller- We had a ball.  Pia took out a 2nd in the coloured mare/filly class (& even though she was super excited, and kept looking for Travy) and Traveler spent 99% of her day asleep.  Not bad for a station bred, foundation mare..  We are incredibly happy with her, and look forward to getting our horses out this year..the Gunnedah All Breeds Spectacular is in a fortnight, and althoug...

Well it dawned sunny, warm and bright; a beuatiful day for shopwing off some of our lovely Walers!

It was a great day, with people interested in talking horse, seeing a "real, live Waler"  and meeting some new poeple.  Morning tea was a hit, with the lovely food and the more lovely lodies who served and kept the urn hot, and the plates full.. 

All in all, we are quite happy with the outcome...and watch this space, because we are already planning another for next yea...

I have had quite a few enquiries about accomodation in Manilla, for the coming weekend, so I have some detail following:

Ambleside B&B -  0267851517,

 Manilla Motel -  0267851306. 

There are also pubs who have accomodation and rooms available in the main st...

Some of you may already know, but it is Beersheba Day today : in memory of the charge of the Australian Lighthorse into occupied Beersheba, Beersheba Day commemorates that Charge at Beersheba, on Oct 31st, 1917, for  the gaining of the wells for the allied forces was a pivotal point of WW1;  the subsequent end to Turkish occupation of Israel, and the surrounding areas, named Palestine, by the British.   

Next month, on the 11/11/2011, is Remembrance Da...

It's Pony Camp time again, and at the risk of being a killjoy for all the older kids, I am a bit glad at the drenching we copped through the night and so far this morning..Pony Camp with Willa is going well, with her 4th birthday shared by lots of kids yesterday. I'm so glad the littlies only have the morning of classes and sessions; she is so exhausted through the afternoons, that she conks out on the lounge and sleeps for hours.  Since today is thoroughly wet, and there looks to be no ...

Well, it is steaming on into October- Pony Camp starts on Sunday afternoon, and I'm slowly getting more organised. Gear to check, bags to pack and all that!.. In the meantime, generally working hard towards the Open Day we have planned for the 5th of November.  I'm really looking forward to school holidays again, Camp with take up a lot of the first week, but the second week I'll be working on Walkabout a bit, and with Pia, as she will be for sale soon. We'll bring the both of them in an...

Well, it is the 4th of September- my husband's birthday, and to a point, Christmas for Onggy!   This last week has been a long one- We've had trade cattle to sort and get organised for sale, Lambs to draught and also get organised for sale... I have managed to ride 3 times in the one week!!! Which is generally completely unheard of! Between paperwork/officework, kids and school, the normal goings on of a week..Somehow, I squeezed in some very satisfying quiet grooming moments w...

After many months of being sick, being away, being busy and the weather being crummy...I finally got sick of not knowing what my gorgeous big stallion is like to ride..we started with the usual burr removal, brushing , cleaning, hoof tidying...then saddled him up and then did the lungeing- first in the round yard then out in a bigger area- As soon as you have this horse' ear, you have him.  It is easy to draw his attention, and he is a very responsive horse. 

I finally got ti...

Hello people, breeding season begins in only a few short weeks, and I have been busy organising ads etc for our 2 boys.  It is always exciting to get to spring and the time of year when the babies are dropping, the mares are bulging and the stallions...well, the stallions are pacing the fences!!

Our pony stallion, Grassbrook Colby, is expecting some sons or daughters this season, so we await their arrivals and will post photos when that happens!  Last seasons' baby boy, Black...

People, we  have a stallion!

We are proud to announce, we have purchased Ong Bak ("for the fighting"), rising 7 yr old Waler stallion, from M Chaplin.   He arrived via transport on Monday, spending the night in Moonbi,  and we brought him home yesterday morning.  He is a rideable stallion having taken part in an Anzac March, some re-enactments, tentpegging, stockwork.... we look forward to putting him to work here on th...

What a great weekend!  I'm sure that everyone who attended had a great time and really enjoyed Sandi, Annie, Liane and Leeanne's presence!  Great education, great conversation, great company!  Truly enjoyed myself, to the hilt and am looking forward to the next one!  This particular clinic  was the first ever Sandi Simons clinic for Tamworth, and I count it a privilege to have attented with Juliet.

We learned ground basics that are lifesaving skills, and conside...

This is a big weekend- Easter, ANZAC Day, and the local Endurance ride here in Manilla.  We are happy to have become part of the local Endurance riders' trail path, with their latest ride taking 5 klms through the centre of our farm.  We are giving some access that keeps riders away from tarred and busy roads.  Its a great opportunity to be involved, however small, in the Ride, and we're looking forward to contributing into the future.  As we have not y...

We have just completed a very successful Waler Information Day, held at Calrossy Anglican School's Primary/Boys High Campus.  Legend and Juliet were great advocates for the breed, with baby Legend winning over lots of primary kids; 3 yr old Juliet was presented in an Australian Mounted Infantry Saddle, replica bridle and looked a picture- both horses got lots of wows and a great day out was had by those of us at Grassbrook Equine who atten...

We are avidly preparing for our Waler information Day at Calrossy Anglican School.  We will be in next week, so it is good timing leading up to ANZAC Day, putting a bit of an equine face on the solemnity of Australia's past and war history.We will be catering to the Primary section of the school, taking with us Legend and Juliet, both of whom are lovely natured horses; Legend being still a baby with buckets of personality, and I think the kids will love her- Juliet will be sporting ...

Our new Waler filly has arrived- she is a magnificent brown/bay with a long blaze and one sock- she is lovely, and being so far from her comfort zone, has bonded quickly to me and stays  within a foot of me, at all times I am in her paddock.  (photos under Waler Mares) She is started under saddle, and is being mouthed at the moment.  I hope to have a ride within the week, and then keep educating her- If all goes to plan, she will accompay Legend on our School Waler information ...

We are proud to announce the imminent arrival of a new mare- 3yo filly, actually, and we hope to have her home within the next 3hours!!- she's a light bay with a blaze and o/h sock, and she also has been procured for us by Graham Mathrick, of Circle M Walers.  She has been started and backed, rugged and will float, so it is exciting for us, especially considering we left our run too late to breed our other 3 mares to Varekai. We hope to have him come for a visit in Sept/Oct, and once aga...

a link to an interesting read -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waler

A poem by "Trooper Bluegum"

(found in above site.)

I don't think I could stand the thought of my old fancy hack

Just crawling round old Cairo with a 'Gyppo on his back.

Perhaps some English tourist out in Palestine may find

My broken-hearted Waler with a wooden plough behind.

...