Life’s Stories Page 2

Life’s Stories – ‘some day’

We were good Friends with Him and His Wife. He was a Union Boss and She a Lawyer. Dave Garland and his Wife. This Story is about Dave. His Wife was the other victim 🙁

He pleaded with us to Lease Gainsborough and finally we weakened. There was one proviso, made a number of times going forward to remind Him, that if ever he struck trouble, changed his mind and wanted to get out, that he gave us at least 3 Months warning for it’s not an easy thing to change Management at an Equestrian Centre and HP was not getting any Younger and the last thing he needed was a bunch of hard physical work, especially now he and Linda lived at Victor Harbor.

Dave decided he was going to be a Horseman and started to work on various Horses. I helped Him out plenty, even doing live Video Lessons with Horses. He showed potential and I was happy to think that I may be injecting another Horse Trainer into the Industry because God knows, we need them!

His Wife was a hard worker and was teaching Riding and working a number of Horses, as well as going to Her Day job, working as a Lawyer for the Government. We could see she was becoming drained and were worried about Her.

We always gave them notice when we were coming down and we gave them our Home on the Property as well, having full confidence in them. We would visit and the place always looked clean and tidy. I didn’t go around inspecting.

Then one Day, about 2 Weeks prior to Christmas, Dave rung Linda and said that he wanted to come down to Victor Harbor, to discuss the Business. Linda asked Him not to as she was just about to travel to ‘Dressage Festival (Victorian Championships)’ to compete, in Melbourne and didn’t want any distractions, however, he still came.

He sat down on the Lounge and related that the Business had fallen short about $35,000 per annum and that he couldn’t make a go of it. He gave notice and dropped the Property into Linda’s lap, having to move back there, on 26th December, 2015. What a wonderful Christmas and New Year that was. 🙁

Within 4 Weeks, Linda increased the viability of the Property, $35,000 per annum by increasing to the prior occupancy rate of agistors that we had always experienced. The Truth began to come out. We had noticed that there were more than normal, Religious Folk agisting but the full impact was only just being realized. He hadn’t done a scrap of maintenance in 18 Months 🙁 I found Trees across Fences, electric fences buried in Manure Piles, wrapped around Star Droppers (that will stop them conducting and not make them work well ) and God knows what else!

• Linda was picking up Rubbish for a Month as she walked around doing Her job.
• I found out that he was spending 4 Days a Week at the Victory Pentecostal Church, not at Gainsborough, studying to be a ‘Preacher Man’, not a Horse Trainer
• I found that he had not done Óne Stick’ of Maintenance on the Property and it took me 4 solid Months and 12 hours a Day to get the place back to the standard we demand.
• That every time we were coming down, he got the Agistees to rake up leaves and sweep, to give the impression things were going wonderful
• The Home had become ‘Blue Tak Central’ with Posters stuck to walls throughout.
• In the Office, he had painted black with a special paint a metre sized black board on our wall, with his jobs for tomorrow and I will never forget the last Point……..it was “SOME DAY” 🙂
• He would be home all Day and when the Wife would come in after working all Day in the city at 6pm and then riding and training Horses, she would come in side and the dishes would not have been done and bless the thought, nor had Dinner been cooked!!
• and his poor Wife had a nervous breakdown 🙁

Life’s Stories – One should never attack the Gracious

Facebook is a dangerous place and last Week, was the trigger for this story, one we were never going to tell, having shown forgiveness to this Young Lady, (3 times) for many Years now, but on the promotional Thread on the Science Horse Training Article, which was shared by another, I accidentally saw that on that Wall (where she would not expect us to see) she was being most unkind to us. She must have a short memory.

Alice Morley wrote …..This is not a valuable read. It is bagging people who are actually doing good work & promoting safety. You can’t just sign up for a PhD like an online course. I would suggest before sharing such uninformed articles, you look into the people he is trying to defame.

Well, it was roughly 10 Years ago now, Mz. Morley ( a Facebook World Expert on all things Horse) had an unclassified Warmblood Stallion that Paddock served and my Wife had a wonderful Mare that was about to compete at the Grand Prix Level but suffered an accident at the Hands of a Vet which ended Her Career. Arguably one of the top purebred Warmblood Mares in the Country.

Now we had spent $10,000 trying to get Her in Foal, with Frozen Semen from Europe but failed, so we were asked by Alice, could she use the Mare for a Season and we agreed, on the basis that it may help Her get in Foal more easily in the future. We allowed Alice to keep ownership of the Foal. The Mare was transported to Her Property at Meningie and apparently all was going well for a number of Weeks, she had been served and apparently in Foal.

Mz Morley and Her Husband were in the process of moving, from Meningie to Parawa, where Her Husband had scored a job of Managing a lovely Rural Property that co-incidentally, Decades earlier, Dad had managed for Ian Robinson. (since been purchased by Robert Champion de Crespigny

Bella was moved to 100 acres, also at Parawa, that housed Sheep whilst Mz Morley still lived in Meningie and there was no supervision at the property. The day after Alice moved Bella to Parawa, Mrs. HP got a psychic message from the Mare. We jumped in the Car and drove out there to check. Bella was frantic. Galloping around the top of the Paddock at Roadside, yelling to us and it appeared as though she had not been drinking and was badly tucked up. There were NO WATER TROUGHS!!!! The Mare was 3 Months Pregnant. How she retained the Foal, I will never know 😨

The Paddock, as I said, was 100 acres but downhill about a kilometre to the bottom, which we walked in search of Water or troughs.

Down the bottom of the Hill, there was a basically dry Spring Fed Creek which was mostly Mud. Alice had obviously not put the effort in to walk down there. The Sheep could risk leaning into what little Water there was there but due to the steepness of the Banks, a Horse would have slid in and been bogged down. The Mare had not been drinking and could not drink, in that dirty boggy Creek

Back up the Hill, with the Mare following us, I carted 20 Litre Buckets 200 metres from an adjoining Neighbor’s Stock Trough and went Home to get the Horse Float. 🥵🥵 We made our distress known to Mz Morley and she rushed out there and picked the Horse up again.

We were most displeased and demanded the Mare be cared for properly and fed to Her 17.2 Hands Height, to rug Her properly and decided to give Her a second chance. She promised to do the right thing! 😪

The Mare was later moved again to Parawa. This time when Alice and her family also moved into the home on the property. We went out to visit Bella (the Mare) at their new Home in Parawa and to our great shock and sadness, she was a ‘shadow of Her former self, having dropped half Her Body Weight and was wearing a thin ill fitting Old Rug, in a very Cold Paddock that was wet and skirted by Pines. There was little feed available and of course the Horse can attest to that 🙁 Some crap Meadow Hay had been thrown into the Paddock but obviously no hard feed provided for the impending Mother!

Gainsborough Donner Bella – as cared for by Alice Morley

She had several untreated injuries (Mrs. HP seen in one of the photos above, examining) We were given all the promises again but……Morley was flying to Queensland the next Day (not good for the intensive care of a Mare in Foal) and so the next Day, we went back and seized the Horse and transported it 120k to our Equestrian Centre in Adelaide where Staff would care for Her 24/7.

We couldn’t possible see how she could retain the Foal but by some Miracle, to the benefit of Perpetrator, 7 Months later, a lovely Chestnut Filly arrived as we set about to do the right thing and Halter Start Her and all the rest of it, for she had to be Floated of course, back to the Owner.

We had Bella checked over by Dr. Sandy Harbison upon arrival at Golden Grove after seizing her back. She rated Her condition at a 1/5. She prescribed that we feed 5kg of Pellets a Day, plus all the other feed, costing around $1,000 for the effort. (we charged agistment to Alice but only at cost)

and of course we then had to care for both of them, so the Filly could be weaned and given to Alice. (Note the condition of the Mare AFTER FOALING at Gainsborough)

We handed the lovely Filly over to the Owner We did not charge a cent for all the Work

and transported Mum back to Victor Harbor….poor Girl 😥

where Today, at 23 Years of age, could not be judged as poor 😥

……….but we were not finished with Mz. Morley yet…….roll on the Years and we often wondered how the Mare was going but in 2019, ‘low and behold’ she was advertised on myaushorse and sold to a dear 60+ Year Old Friend of ours, (Breast Cancer Survivor) who then contacted us as she was immediately having problems, such as:

• Rearing in Hand
• Threatening to rear on the Flat when asked for submission
• Rearing within Stables should she be pressured, and
• with a serious psychological problem where she had hit Her Head on the Roof of a Trailer (Horse Float).

now it is not lost upon me, that the original trigger for this Article was Mz. Morley’s defense of Equine Science Training Systems, which I know from experience, often causes rearing Horses. I just wonder????? She is a big defender of it so why wouldn’t she have used it on this Mare, one that would not suffer unjust treatment, such as these Ground Training systems are with the ‘Jabba Jaw’ activities?

So we picked Her up from our friend on the agreement that we would thoroughly assess the Mare and if she could be rehabilitated, she could go back to the Owner but if she didn’t suit Her, Mrs. HP would buy Her (for she was a classy type with lovely movement), however, our Dear Friend had been sold either an unsound Horse or a mentally completely ruined Horse.

As an aside, the Buyer remembers that they Day she went to look at the Horse, in a Paddock at Normanville, it sidled up to near the Vendor and then tried to ‘double barrel her Head off, such was the relationship between Alice and the filly. “Listen to Your Horses‘

We really put the ‘hard yards’ into this Horse. 6 Weeks, full on. We talked to vets, the State’s top Chiro looked at her and more. Turned around Her condition again, Her Coat and made a huge difference to Her Muscle Tone. However, from Day 1, it was obvious that she had a soundness issue and in particular, her failure to be able to sustain or cope with ‘Collection’. It simply was not possible!! 😴

and so despite all efforts, to turn the Veterinary problem around, we advised the Owner to request Her Money back, for the Horse was totally unsuitable for the purpose, under the Consumer Law. $8,000, however, the Gracious Lady decided to just take the losses 😧 Mz Morley had got used to being treated with kindness by People of integrity and here Her luck continued, for the third time, whereby the Husband was a Barrister but still she got a free Card😡

Here the Horse is on the last Day and the moment we decided that this was the end. “Listen to Your Horses”

and remember the rearing?…… for your interest, the Horse that has hit it’s Head on the Horse Float and indeed, Stables and other structures. See for Yourself. The Horse will tell You all.

So You think that’s it???? – Round 3

The Owner got the Local Vet to check the Horse over. As my Readers know, Vets’, despite their good efforts and training, CANNOT diagnose such injuries. They miss them all the time. All good to go!! What would we know?

She rang the Vendor up but alas, all the money had been spent of course. Standard fair these Days. The Purchaser then sent the Horse to another F.E.I. Professional at Finniss, to sell as a Brood Mare, but first she was briefly assessed under Saddle, however, Her Mother (Herself a Grand prix Rider of the past) said the mare was “too dangerous” and they could not put they re name on her to sell as a riding mount!….now get this 🤬

The Breeder sends in a ‘Pretender’ and she buys the Horse for $4,000. $2,000 expenses to the Victim and now the Breeder suddenly has a half Ownership in the Horse again, together with the ‘Pretender’.

All of a Sudden, just recently, I had a phone call from a perspective Buyer as the Mare has been on the Market again!!!!!!!! Asking us what we had experienced whilst having the mare.

but the Sale hasn’t gone well. It’s now a Brood Mare, just like Mom 🤣

So there You go, the ‘Serial Pest’, Horse Lover and World expert. Facebook😕

“The Mongrels I have met”