The horses were ready…

The horses were ready, the rails were down,
But the riders lingered still
One had a parting word to say,
And one had his pipe to fill.

(Mary Hannay-Foote, ‘Where the Pelican Builds Her Nest‘)

This verse was often recited during my childhood, whenever my father was (impatiently) waiting for us to climb aboard our horses to start a day of mustering or moving cattle.

Seemed perfect for this first image, taken during our weekend of weaners’ walkouts (never one to miss an alliteration opportunity).

We had a wonderful couple of days – taking our grown calves (around 6-9 months of age) from the yards where we have taken care of them after separating them from their mamas (who are very happily back in their paddocks, grazing, resting and growing this year’s babies).

We had both kids’ home again, each with a friend, along with my fabulous cousin Bec (pictured at right with her gorgeous new steed ‘Chatter’.)

Bec is not only an amazing cousin, terrific mate and awesome ‘aunt/second cousin’ to our kids, she is also a Nuffield Scholar! (She has been studying the role and impact of modern technologies such as genomics in beef production – a hugely exciting field in our industry. Beautiful AND smart!)

I think this is the only photo you can see all six riders in – from left: Sarah (Violet), Mark, Jack (Dash), Bec, Laura and Amy. This is quite a large mob of weaner heifers – they were feeling a little frisky at this stage.

Mark rode Waratah on this day of the Weaner Walkout… he (and dogs Sparky, Dani and Diamond) are just reminding the girls to mind their manners and not rush around.

Lead riders (Sarah, Mark & Bec) making plans before the mobs leaves the cooler and heads into wide open spaces in the first paddock.

How cool is the dust in this photo? Sunlight through trees and dust is a recipe for photo magic. Can’t decided if I like the black-and-white better?

First two hills safely negotiated – Bec leading the mob of eager heifers as they find their ‘rhythm’ in the open paddock. Dogs doing a quiet, effective job of keeping everyone in line…

Wide shot of the mob heading under the gnarly tree that I used to ‘frame’ the photo above…

Our girl in the lead… liked this one in monotone!

Her terrific mate, Laura, working the side of the mob perfectly. ‘Loz’ grew up on a property near Tambo and knows her stuff!

Hubs and daughter keeping an eagle eye on a weaker section of fence in a gully… there was a fair bit of pressure on it!

All through – whew! The two top steeds in our stable, ‘Waratah’ and ‘Trooper’ keeping calm and carrying on…

Love this father-daughter pic…

(Also cool in black-and-white).

Amy (riding ‘Tighe’ at the rear of the mob) has a few connections to our family – she is a regular visitor these days and is also very handy on a horse!

Our boy rode the gentle giant ‘Winchester’ (aka Winny) on this ride. He is like a rocking horse – so smooth. A bit lazy though, and hasn’t been ridden for a year or so, so is pretty tubby too!

One of my favourite angles on this ride – capturing the granite boulders that litter the slopes around this section of our property.

Three of my favourite things: son, Winny and Diamond the dog. Love the sweep of weaners heading up the dirt road into the timbered section of the ride.

We are really happy with the 2019/20 fall of calves – a very even line. You can spot a couple of younger ones (to the immediate right of each horse). These younger ones are very strong (no sickly ones) and have done well with their older peers in the yards.

Trooper and our girl in the leady, Amy and Diamond bringing them up (other riders out of shot keeping the mob on the road).

Lots of awesome conversations go on at each end of the mob during rides like these… this one could be about anything from college parties to bovine genetics to politics.

I was driving along behind the mob in a vehicle with the water bottles and smoko. And the camera. It’s a tough gig… Bec had taken a quick ‘refreshment stop’ and was rejoining the mob with her two pooches.

More tailing yarns going on as the cattle heading downhill to the watering point in their new paddock.

Hubs looks like he’s doing it all on his own…

… he wasn’t!

Another shot that’s timeless in monotone…

The girls all watered and settled in their new patch.

One who was particularly bemused at the week’s events was ‘Beyonce’ the poddy. I don’t think I have told her story properly yet… (bad blogger, it’s coming soon I promise!) but she’s an amazing heifer. She thinks I am her Mum and she just can’t work out why she has to be with all these other ‘people’. (She’s had lots of snuggles and reassurance at the yards during weaning, and she was quite content with the hay-on-tap situation there.) We made sure to give her extra scratches before leaving her to graze with her cohort.

Hope you enjoyed this ride – in real life, it took around three hours.

Little bulls walking out adventure coming up shortly…