ride4acure

MAY 7: Caroona rest day at “West Mookie”.

Am pulling up for the day here at “West Mookie” , I am staying with a ripper young family Andrew and Jill Thompson and their great kids Jock and Jane.  The  horses need a spell today.

Meg.

Meg started stepping short after lunch and I had to ride Billy! He’s such a good horse but massive to ride. Billy is a bay Clydie QH X and stands about 15:3 HH and is about a  four foot across his back! Compared to Wrangler and Meg he’s like sitting on a 44gallong drum sideways! I had a good giggle though, as Billy hasn’t been saddle horse yet at all, and he’s been tail tied to the spare horse all the way, doesn’t take any notice of anything at all, just plods along. Yesterday when I saddled him up he was hyper alert, scouting for possible danger for us, he was very serious about being ‘top dog’ for the afternoon. I loved it as I could truly hear him saying to me, “About time I had a crack at this job!”

I left “Cintra” at 8am and rode into Werris Creek to the school as soon as I rode out onto the busy Gunnedah Road a massive coal train came by. The night before had been our firt intro to trains and they’d looked at it and thought it was a massive truck I think.  The freighter just kept coming and because we were near a level crossing added it’s train horn blast, but my crew were angels and had a good look but kept walking! I was thrilled. When I arrived at the school after riding down the main drag of Werris Creek we had a gathering outside with all the kids and answered questions about the trek and horses. Then I tied them up and we went into the hall and I presented “Mela-What?” , also had quite a few parents which was brilliant. I absolutely love what I’m doing and feel privileged to have the opportunity to raise awareness in such a positive way with so many people.

After the school visit I was on the morning show on ABC Radio and had a great interview with Kelly Fuller, she’s a great interviewer. As I rode along had a couple of different newspaper journalists pull me up for interviews and then late afternoon had Sue Jones editor of the Australian Campdraft Magazine pull up for an interview and yarn. Sue’s Dad, Lawrie Bailey a retired drover from Northern NSW,  was a very good mate of my Dad Kevin Luxford when we all lived up north around Narrabri and Moree in the mid to late 70’s. Lawrie rang me a couple of nights ago after hearing me on Macca and it was so good to talk with someone who knew my Dad so well and my family. Lawrie’s memory is a cracker, he remembered stuff I’d forgotten like Dad sending Lawrie out to check us Luxford girls my sister Kate aged about 18 and myself at 14 with a mob of cattle on our own somewhere out the back of Wee Waa.  When Sue turned up yesterday she gave me a present. A bag of mixed lollies! I had a good laugh because when I was a kid and droving with Mum and Dad for many years in the 60’s and 70’s when Mum went to town (us kids never did always stayed with the cattle)  Mum would always bring lollies and a pack of juicy fruit chewing gum home and we’d savour them for days. Mick my brother a year older than me used to eat all his on the spot, I’d hide mine somewhere in the truck and Mick would be ratting around trying to find them! Sometimes he did and world war three would break out. Lollies were hot currency in the drover’s camp as kids. As I rode along yesterday after Sue left I tucked into the lollies (and I don’t normally eat lollies but yesterday it was like a trip down memory lane thinking about all the experiences I had as a kid growing up ‘on the road’droving. And I have to say they were delicious! Sue knew what the lollies would represent to me, as she too is a drovers daughter.

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