Forums
Created by on Nov 30 1999
You are not logged in. You can login or register .
Hello from Downunder
Created 18th August 2006 @ 01:28
Showing posts 1 to 7 of 7
Subscribe to this topic
Add A Reply Pages: 1
Hi there - I have just been reading your blog and am really interested in your horse owning adventures! I’m Louise, I live in Canberra, Australia and have 1 horse at the moment (Mushu) and two dogs (Bertie and Jeeves).
I just wanted to say that you seem to be coping really well with all the first-horse stuff! I’ve ridden and had horses for ages and believe me you always keep learning.
Valentine looks really handsome and I’m sure he loves all the treats - I laughed at the names of some of them - stud muffins is cool, I wish I could get some for Mushu, but he will have to put up with carrots as I just bought a 20kg bag! (Ok, not sure what that is in pounds, we’re all metric here).
I look forward to following your adventures and if you want to ask me anything please do - despite some little differences keeping horses is pretty much the same here in Australia (haha, don’t get me started on “flakes” of hay or “alfalfa”, the names make me giggle!).
Good luck!
Louise and Mushu (the 17hh thoroughbred who thinks he can jump into my lap!)
Thanks for the note! Wow, 17 hands - that’s big. A thoroughbred too - spunky.
It’s neat to see someone from outside the US checking out our site. I guess much of what we’re going through applies anywhere you are, even though our terms and prices vary. You’re always welcome here and I hope we can get into some good discussions as more people start posting in the forum. I’ve got lots of stuff to post about. I still need to introduce our other horse “Moonshine”. Mikki doesn’t like that name because it’s slang for homebrewed liquor here but I think it’s funny. Her official fancy horse name is moon-something, I can never remember. So I just call her moonshine and she doesn’t seem to mind 
.
Thanks for visiting our site!
Bill
I’ll have to find a photo, I do have some cute ones but he tends to turn into a donkey everytime he sees a camera. When no-one is looking he pretends to be the big wild handsome stallion, the moment you try to take a pic he flops his ears and sticks out his tongue and looks silly!
I think Moonshine is a great name - you’ve got two meanings you can choose from, the drink or the glint of the moon!
I like the post on barefoot or shoeing - it is a big debate here in Australia too, personally I shoe because his feet don’t hold up well without it and he is worked on abrasive sand surfaces in the arena and hard trails, but if I had a horse with tougher feet I would love to barefoot and just trim.
Oh, by the way, Mushu is just his pet name too, his registered name is Glider, which I like too, but I didn’t find out what his official name was till a few weeks after I got him so I had to call him something other than horse in that time. I figure if the horse doesn’t mind then who cares!
So true, if the horse doesn’t care why should anyone else.
For the record, I don’t like “Moonshine” because it just doesn’t fit her. It’s a cute name, but she just needs something more girly - she’s very graceful, feminine, pretty - Moonshine just doesn’t work. But since it’s been 4 months and we haven’t come up with anything else, it’s starting to stick. Where did you get “Mushu?” It’s cute.
I have to ask - you said: “haha, don’t get me started on “flakes” of hay or “alfalfa”, the names make me giggle!” - what’s funny about those? I know we have some giggles over Aussie and UK stuff (”shag” for one - we have shag carpet here, or did in the 70’s, so that one just cracks us up). But I don’t know why alfalfa would do it for you (although I have to admit, it’s just a funny word).
Thanks for posting here! It’s great to hear from you. Keep it coming!
Mikki and Valentine
Hi Mikki and hello to Valentine and Moonshine!
Mushu (Glider) says hello, particularly to Moonshine as he is feeling a bit randy at the moment (he is a gelding, just likes to pretend in spring that he isn’t).
The pet name came from the movie Mulan - where there is a teeny red dragon voiced by Eddie Murphy I think, who tries to make everyone think he is a big fierce fire breathing red dragon but is actually a friendly guy. Mushu likes to give the impression (Ok, sometimes he backs it up with action) that he is terrible and fiery but at heart is a sweetie who just gets confused and has been hurt in the past.
OK, OK, alfalfa and flakes! Over here we call alfalfa lucerne and alfalfa is a green sprouty thing you put on sandwiches and in salads (much smaller than lucerne) - you can grow it at home by a window or some kids grow it as science experiments or hair for faces made by stuffing a stocking with soil….ok, too much information. Not sure what you would call it. But basically makes me think my horse is a health food nut!
Flakes really weird me out - when I first head it I was so confused till I figured out it is the same as biscuit for us. About 10 or more to a bale? To Aussies a flake sounds like just a teeny small bit of hay, like a leaf or two - like a cornflake! I couldn’t figure out why people would give their horses just a few flakes a day!!
But its fun to learn new words and I am sure ours sound just as odd to you - biscuit is one my american friends love, thinking of it like the thing you eat with a meal. Really we have more in common than we do different - except right now I am covered in horse hair as it is spring and the winter coats are coming off!! Ack! I look like a fur ball!
Louise and Mushu
Add A Reply Pages: 1
Fuelled by RS Discuss 0.5