Author: Sandy Gorman
Now I’m not one that generally feels the cold – but – WINTER IS HERE!
Arrived Friday just after lunch, and whilst sunny, it was chilly. Julie and I managed to get in a ride, checking the boundary fences in the 60 acre paddock. The ponies were well behaved and the views from the top are awesome! Returning to the clubhouse, we played for a while on the obstacle course, before Sammie arrived and advised she’d seen a loose horse in town. We did a loop around the Strath Creek hall, but nothing seemed amiss.
We had a club meeting Friday night, so once inside we (meaning Lou!) stoked the fires and warmed the clubhouse up. Friday night is “sort yourself” for dinner, so it was very casual, although we did have a few more members arriving Friday to attend the meeting.
Saturday’s planned ride was to Flowerdale Pub. Yes, I did pick that one. Is there anything better than riding for a few hours to enjoy a break, a meal, a wine (or two) then riding back? Well, maybe doing it in warmer weather! We were expecting a reasonably big group of riders, and lunch had been booked for noon. As a larger group can tend to be slower, we split up and those not wanting to rush there chose to leave with me around 9.30, to just cruise along. Julie C, Addi, Murray and I headed off in the first group, with Brian leaving later with Sammie, Michelle, Clare (with a freshly tuned up Girl), Christine, Dutchy, Mary, Renee, Mick & Lennie. I can’t speak for their ride, but they hummed along smartly and arrived within minutes of us cruisers. It was cold. It was a really dull day and the clouds were low in the sky – the sun barely managed to burn through at all. Addison and I both decided our toes could be turning black inside our boots! It was a day for the kangaroos – I don’t think I’ve ever seen as many as we headed to the pub – they came at us from the left, the right and at times just headed straight down the road at us! We had a few slow lopes and gentle jogs, and other than Memphis not enjoying being left behind and throwing a hissy fit and his rider, we arrived for lunch just on twelve. The later group was just minutes behind, and those not riding met us at the pub, with Sinead bringing the float as Dixie wasn’t up for the full 30 klm round trip. We had twenty booked in for lunch and fought over the spot in front of the fireplace. (Or was that just me, trying to warm my toes and the rest of me!?!) Julie’s bum got very black over lunch, so she decided the return trip was not for her. Michelle also decided that a one-way trip was enough as Vegas was being his jiggy-joggy self. Lunch was an enjoyable affair, with loads of chatter and a few drinks. With a few riders floating back, we were just the one group as we headed home. With a few new faces it was lovely to meet our guest riders and catch up with those I missed on the way out. Clare was very impressed with Girl and the smiles I saw were unlike those of the previous few rides (I didn’t notice any clenched jaws or eyes of terror!). Brian again has worked his magic and given pointers on how to ride the quirks of our ponies. I must say I was again impressed with the younger riders. Although Addi couldn’t do the full loop on Dixie, she rides well, as did Len, Mary and Renee. The kangaroos were back in full force on the return trip. One small beastie got itself caught in a gate just as we rode past just managed to unseat Mary – and Idaho’s shy was within a bee’s D*# of unseating me too! Sammie jumped off to save the roo, and with a poke in the right direction it managed to free itself and bounded away without a care. Brainless bloody animals! Riders back on board, we continued onwards. Renee’s pony was playing up, so mum to the rescue with a jiggy George. We split again into two groups just over halfway home and I stayed to the rear and enjoyed the ride home. I don’t know what the mercury managed to rise to, but if it made it into double digits, it certainly felt like it dropped back to singles by the time we returned. Everyone tended to their ponies and made it back to a homestead with both fires burning to warm us up.
Dinner was a warming minestrone and herb scones (very fancy, thanks Sammie) with crumble for dessert. Another enjoyable meal around the full dining table, loads of conversation and drinks (except for Brian…. Brian was still recovering from his lurgy and had a sober weekend) Lucky for Brian he wasn’t drinking when the phone call came at 2.30 AM to say horses were loose on the road out front. Torches summoned, he made it out front but realized although the horses were none of ours, took them into the car park area for the night. Those of us up early to feed our horses were a little confused by the extra ponies in the morning! It was the weekend for strays; these guys must have had heard from Friday’s loose palomino that the outside world is a hoot!
Sunday morning was again shrouded in fog. The air was damp and cold – perfect riding weather!! Sinead was taking Blue for a long awaited ride, but decided the Flowerdale Estate was enough of a stretch to test him. Our guests decided that a shorter ride on Sunday was a good idea, and the idea caught on. Murray and Clare weren’t riding Sunday as they had other commitments, but most members decided scones with jam and cream was the ideal way to round out a weekend’s riding. Sinead, Addison, Sammy, Bek, Christine, Dutchy, Mary, Renee, Mick and Len all chose the gourmet ride, with Kaye and Lou meeting them there. That left Brian, Michelle and myself the only riders tackling the hills. We headed out first and went to the Top of the World. Top of what world… it was too hard to tell. It was hard enough to see a rider 10 foot away, let alone a view! I’m not one for getting the camera out.. but there really wasn’t a point of taking any pictures this ride! It was quite cold on top of the hills, and after giving the horses a quick rest and adjusting girths, we meandered our way through Josh’s place and down to the pine forest. We stopped for lunch before heading off to find the “short-cut” through Prue’s. I do love Brian’s directions. We turn at “this sign” and once we get to the fence line – follow the track around until we find “the gate”. Then it was up the mountain (yes, they are mountains!) disturbing yet more kangaroos to the “dead tree at the top”. Drop down to the track and then we got to another gate and a dam that he didn’t remember…. Do a tour up another mountain, back down to the dam and try heading east for a bit. Bonus was that sun had now come out and it was beautiful to see the mist in the valleys, but peaks for miles! Back up the mountain on the other side of the fence to another dead tree at the top and ta-daa – there at the bottom of the bloody great hill is the gate back out to the road we want. Vertical hills aren’t anyone’s cup of tea, so thankfully it wasn’t quite that steep, but close enough. Vegas was wearing scoot boots and it was very slippy; so we made a bee-line for the incy-wincy tiny track cut into the hill and decided we’d ride the ridge a little longer next time to take the track down all the way instead of the bottom half! Our ride was reasonably paced, with lots of trots and canters, and as we took the road home, we ended up arriving back at the clubhouse BEFORE those enjoying their scones!
What a weekend – again! I think our membership could grow as a result of two completed rides from our Geelong friends. Is there a better way to spend a weekend? Bring on July’s ride.