November 2007 Issue

In This Issue...

Equine Influenza Affects Yarrabin

First, a big country welcome to all our ezine subscribers, especially those who have signed on since our last newsletter! Many thanks as well to all our regular subscribers who forward this ezine to thousands of their friends!
Just about everyone has heard of the epidemic known as Equine Influenza (EI) which has spread across Australia since August. It has crippled not only the racing industry, but also many other parts of the horse riding world. EI spreads quickly, horses are out of action for 60 days, and it especially affects young and old horses. A lapse in quarantine of a prize stallion probably brought the disease into Australia. The good news is that EI has not reached Yarrabin!
But our world has changed since August. There are tight restrictions in place by the Government which must be followed to reduce the spread of EI. All horses must remain on our property (not such a bad thing as we still have 2500 acres to ride over), there are strict biosecurity measures in place (like disinfecting all boots etc), and we have to monitor the health of all 40 horses every day. Plus there has been a big reduction in our business. So if you are missing your Yarrabin fix, and also would like to help us and our horses through EI, please come and spend some time with us!!

Lots more than EI at Yarrabin!

What’s been happening at Yarrabin recently? There is always loads happening, and life just seems to get better and better! There has been the Yarrabin Cup, Adults Only Weekends, Active Horsemanship Workshops, plus we escaped to Europe for four weeks! Our escape (with Jessica and Harry, leaving Jack and Will to run Yarrabin) was not only a fantastic holiday, it was also a chance to be part of the European Association for Horse Assisted Education (EAHAE for short – say that after a few beers!!) Annual Conference in Vienna. We met many wonderful people, learned many news things for our Leadership & Horses programs, and established our credentials on the world stage. The next world conference for Equine Guided Education is near San Francisco in January – Graeme gets to travel overseas again!
But what about the Yarrabin Cup? And who is the FASTEST horse at Yarrabin? The Cup was another super event, with both our guests and the horses really getting involved. Of course, the day was the ultimate winner (I have to say that because Sultan didn’t win the $1 million Yarrabin Cup!). It is tradition now that the Cup will be run the weekend before the Melbourne Cup. So lock in the date for next year! Oh – and the fastest horse at Yarrabin in 2007? MAJOR!! Congratulations Jessica and Major! (that’s Jessica and Major in the picture just after they won the Yarrabin Cup)
Those “wild” Adults Only Weekends are proving a huge hit with single folk, and also those who would like to leave their kids at home. Doug (an ex-bull rider! That’s him in the first picture) even flies all the way from the Gold Coast to be part of these great weekends. We’ve all had loads of laughs and loads of great riding. So much so, that we will now be running AO Weekends (or kid free weekends!) once a month, except in school holiday months. They book out fast, so check into the website and be part of the fun!

Kids Camps and Teen Girl Camps almost full!

Would you love to send your 10 to 15 year child on the adventure of a lifetime? Where they not only improve their riding skills and make great friends, but where they also improve some life skills such as self confidence and consideration of others? Or do you have a 15 to 17 year old teen girl who is at “THAT” stage of her life? Or maybe you know someone who just LOOOOVES horses and needs to escape the city? Then send them on our world famous Kids Camps or Teen Girl Camp (also known as Cowgirl Adventures). Kids come from as far afield as Peru, Japan and South Africa - and Sydney!!
There are four Kids Camps and one Teen Girl Camp (each 5 days long) over the December and January school holidays. We escort the kids from Sydney, give ‘em loads of great riding and instruction, engage them at night with some fun activities such as Bush BBQ and sometimes a talent quest, and top it off with a Day Ride and a Gymkhana. The kids are fully supervised and receive a special gift at the end of their camp. Plus, in January, you can join them for the weekend following the camp. But we have only a few spots left on all camps – and one camp has only one free spot! How about a voucher to give your child for Christmas?

New Horses Join the Yarrabin Mob

We just loooove new horses – but we also still love the rest of the mob!! And we do have some very special additions for you to ride, cuddle or just spoil! There are the two CUTEST little ponies – Oscar (white) and Milo (black) – who are actually brothers, and have stolen many hearts. Jack (our 10 year old) has claimed Milo, but loves to share. (See the final section of this newsletter for a photo of these ponies.) Then there’s Fly – funny name for a horse, but just the best ride and the best temperament! He’s a top end Australian Stock Horse gelding, on loan to Yarrabin from Claudia Miller. (That’s Harry on Fly in the picture)
Of the current mob, Yarrah is proving a BIG favourite with his smooth (“smooth as” says Jack) canter. Max is also popular – a big strong horse that is settling into the mob well and doing a big share of the work. Jake is up there in the popularity stakes and “smooth-as” canter! And the most favourite horse at Yarrabin (other than Sultan of course!!)? Apache the Paint gelding. No one has told him he is a short horse, so he thinks he is one of the bigger horses in the mob. Cute, cuddly and a fantastic personality.

Solve these puzzles – and win a free horse ride at Yarrabin!

It’s been a while since our last puzzle – but a BIG congratulations to Juliet Rogers (a 14 year old girl from Bondi in Sydney). The answers to the June puzzles were: Puzzle 1 - The accounting method is wrong. The $2 is actually a part of the $27, and shouldn't be added to it as stated in the problem. Puzzle 2 - The rules of the race were that the owner of the camel that crosses the finish line last wins the fortune. The wise man simply told them to switch camels.
Here are this month’s puzzles – send us two correct answers and then be the first to be randomly drawn before the next ezine. Puzzle one: I left my campsite and hiked south for 3 kilometres. Turned east and hiked for 3 kilometres. Then turned north and hiked for 3 kilometres, at which time I came upon a bear inside my tent eating my food! What colour was the bear? Puzzle two: Three men are captured by cannibals in the jungle. The men are given one chance to escape with their lives. The men are lined up and bound to stakes such that one man can see the backs of the other two, the middle man can see the back of the front man, and the front man can't see anybody. The men are shown five hats, three of which are black and two of which are white. Then the men are blindfolded, and one of the five hats is placed on each man's head. The remaining two hats are hidden away. The blindfolds are removed. The men are told that if just one of the men can guess what hat he's wearing, they may all go free. Time passes. Finally, the front man, who can't see anyone, correctly guesses the colour of his hat. What colour was it, and how did he guess correctly?

Some Interesting Horse Facts from Annie

Here’s a new section from Annie – quirky and funky facts about horses you probably didn’t know! (Riding tips will return in our next ezine.) If you have some fun horsey facts you’d like to share, email Annie at annie@yarrabin.com
Did you know that horses have one leg (or side) that is a hair shorter than the other? By seeing which side of the neck a horse's mane falls on you can tell which front leg is the shortest. The mane will fall to the short-legged side. How about this? Arabians have one less rib, one less lumbar bone, and one or two fewer tail vertebrae than other horses. That might explain why Arabians are “different!” A horse typically sleeps two and half to three hours a day – is that all?? But horses younger than 4 years can concentrate for a maximum of 10-15 minutes. Here’s something we haven’t told Mathilda our special miniature pig - horses generally dislike the smell of pigs!! Many people ask me how long do horses live – so here is an interesting fact: the oldest horse recorded to date is "Old Billy", an English Barge horse born in 1760 who lived to the age of 62 years old. The oldest horse at Yarrabin was Candy who was my Mum’s horse. Candy lived until she was about 40. Do you believe that the stallion is the leader of the horse mob? Think again - in the wild horse world, the lead mare decides when and where the herd will go while the stallion follows. Nugget is our lead mare at the moment! And lastly – there are about 75 million horses in the world, but only about 40 of them at Yarrabin!

Looking for a cook and a wrangler (horse guide)

With the year almost at a close, we have just re-advertised for some highly motivated and happy people to join our team. The two vacancies are the cook’s position and the wrangler’s position. Both are key members of our expanding team, and we know there will be loads of competition. Duties are pretty self explanatory, but there are also lots of benefits. You will part of a fantastic way of life (it’s way more than “just another job”), you get to participate in many of our self and team development programs, you’ll meet loads of fun and interesting people from all over the world, and you will be creating an impression on people that will stay with them for life.
Will (our 6 year old) wants to apply for the cook’s position, but he has agreed to wait a few years until he can cook more than toast and boiled eggs! If you are keen to fill in before Will takes over, and would love to use our recently renovated commercial kitchen, please give us a call or send us an email. We’d love to hear from you!

Dates for your Diary

Ever leave holiday planning to the last minute? And then miss out on what you had your heart set on? We all get distracted at times with the pace and “busy-ness” of life. But here is your chance to book in early for some key events at Yarrabin – of course, if there is a special time that you would like to book for your family or for your group, just send us an email with your preferred dates and we will see what we can do for you!
The weekend starting Friday 30 Nov (yep, next week!) has a day ride theme – join us for some long loping canters and a meal at the historic O’Connell pub (we won’t be riding there this year due to EI restrictions). Or book your children in for a 5 day Kids Camp or Teen Girls Camp over the December/January school holidays. How about an escape to Yarrabin for your group to celebrate New Year’s Eve – with over 20 people, you can have the whole place to yourselves, you don’t have to drive home after the party, and we will even throw in some GREAT dancing music! Looking forward to February, there’s the Rockley Rodeo 1st to 3rd February, then “work” parties if you would like to help us out. Or escape the city for the Royal Bathurst Show starting Friday 29 February.
March looks like a BIG month, with an Adults Only weekend to kick it off, Easter, and a SPECIAL EVENT – more about that in the next ezine!!
As always, we all would love to see you – especially the horses!! They don’t know anything about EI and why they are not ridden and loved as much as they used to be! But you can change that....
Please forward this ezine to ALL your friends and colleagues – we love sharing our touch of paradise with new acquaintances!
Until next time – happy trails. From Annie, Graeme, Jessica, Harry, Jack and Will, and the rest of the Yarrabin team.
PS The picture is of Jack on Oscar and Jack’s mate, Max, on Milo. Jack and Max have their own company – JME or “Jack and Max Enterprises.” They’ll clean your boots for you, sell you some garden fertiliser (also known as horse poo!) or collect farm bits and pieces for your projects or for keepsakes. They aim to be millionaires by the time they are 25!

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