Red Gum Equine Services

Recently the announcement was made that Equitana 2027 had been cancelled with no plans for future events. Sad news for sure but honestly.... not surprising.

Equitana was a big part of my life for a lot of years and I have so many wonderful memories. Mum and I attended our first Equitana in 1999 when it was held at Melbourne Exhibition centre. We went for just 1 day and the night time show "The Mane Event". It was fresh, new, exciting and in 2001 we went all in with the 4 day pass. I came home with 20+ kgs of feed samples and a head buzzing with inspiration.

2003 I joined the volunteer team as part of Demo Arena 2 crew. 2005 I joined the Transfer team, the team responsible for safely moving horses through the crowds to the various demonstration arenas. In 2008 the event moved to Melbourne Showgrounds and I stepped up to Transfer Team Leader, a job I did with pride alongside my good friend Kim Prince in 2010, 2011 (Sydney), 2012 and 2014.

2018 was my last Equitana and I certainly went out with a bang. I was waiting in Darwin airport for my flight to Melbourne when I received a phone call asking me to join the staff team as Transfer Team Coordinator. It was a massive 4 days coordinating a team of 20 volunteers and ensuring every horse and presenter got to their demo on time every time. By the end of it I was exhausted but energised and proud of a job well done with an amazing team.

All up I attended 10 Equitana's and it was interesting to watch the event grow and morph. No 2 events were the same which was the exciting thing about it.

The last few events felt different though - wider aisles, bigger demonstration arenas, fewer breeds on display in the breeders village, more non-horsey related trade stands, fewer big names appearing and a competition program that was losing it's oomph and sparkle.

Now don't get me wrong, I totally get it. Putting on an event of this size in the middle of Melbourne is no easy feat and it's hard to please everyone.

Back to my time as an Equitana volunteer though. It's hard to put into words the positive impact being a part of the volunteer team had on my life. I grew so much as a person and this event played a big part in who I am today. I met and worked with so many wonderful people and together we helped make Equitana the amazing event it was. Here's cheers Equitana, thanks for the memories 🥂 ❤️ 🐴

Doesn't hurt to have a range of tools in the kit 👌

Have just added the little grinder to my trimming kit and Penny was a wonderful kind patient first test case. Bit to learn with it but so far so good. Certainly made the job easier on her rock hard feet 👌

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Never underestimate the value of mastering the seemingly small and insignificant obstacles.

Penny isn't the most confident horse in the world and when confronted with new questions can get herself rather worked up to the point of a full on anxiety attack. Getting her confident with new things and thinking her way through them has been a constant challenge so I'm always looking for opportunities to work on it.

This small dirt filled tyre at my mates place presented just that opportunity. Eventually I'd like her to be able to walk along the whole line of tyres but if we can't do one well we definitely can't do all three. Start small, work your way up and resist all temptation to not get greedy. Conquering it should help build her confidence and ability to think in other areas..... providing I do it right.

For some horses it's nothing big, it's just a little dirt filled tyre, but for other's it's much more than that and that's ok. Work with the horse you have in front of you at the time and celebrate the wins no matter how small they are. Small wins lead to bigger victories.

I clipped a horse yesterday (not the one in the pic, one much much bigger) which is a fairly common occurrence for me at this time of year.

The horse I clipped was a lovely big mare but she was a bit unsure of the clippers and was rather bothered when I used them down the front of her neck and chest and up towards her poll.

Now some would say just sedate the horse and do the job properly but no, just no. For a start sedation is something that should only be administered by a registered veterinarian, plain and simple. Sedating horses is inherently risky, there's any number of things that can go wrong and it's not a risk I am willing to take. I'm not a vet, I am not trained in all the intricacies of sedating animals and managing them should something go wrong so I don't do it. Simple.

What I am though, is a horsewoman, I know how to work with a horse to help them get better with being able to cope with things such as clippers. I worked with this big mare to give her as good an experience as possible. Sure it got a bit ugly a few times and the finished clip job isn't anything spectacular but that's ok. I left her in a good place mentally and set her up for the next time I clip her. The main goal of the exercise was to remove enough of the horses fluffy southern coat so she could better handle her new life in the north. We achieved that, the owner was happy and the horse was happy which makes me happy.

If not sedating horses in order to clip them causes me to lose potential clients then so be it. I can live with that, I will not go against my own morals for the sake of a dollar.

***EDIT to add*** I'm not against sedation, it's a very valid and useful tool when needed. As I'm not a registered vet it is not something I can legally and ethically offer, so I don't and choose to use my skills to work with the horse instead.

📷 cute little pony I clipped several years ago.

Little update on my trimming schedule.......

Apologies, my schedule is a little out of whack at the moment. I am doing my best to keep on a bit of a schedule BUT sometimes I get a bit lost as I have 30 something horses to keep track of in amongst other life things. Also, how the blazes are we most of the way through June already 😳🫣

📲Please please PLEASE do not hesitate to send me a polite little message along the lines of "hey, my horse/s are due for a trim in the next week or two, just wondering when you may be able to fit me in". I LOVE these messages and they help no end. I know not sending a reminder feels like you're being respectful of me and my time but on the other hand I feel like a money hungry grub if I send you a message asking when it suits you for me to trim YOUR horse/s 🤔

With it being Dry Season there is lots going on so let's chat and get our schedules to line up momentarily to keep your horses tootsies in tip top shape 👌

📷 One of Penny's hind feet last weekend. We had some unseasonal rain which dampened the paddock long enough to soften feet just the right amount to allow me to pull some compacted old sole out. 2nd pic isn't the finished job but pretty close.