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| Jan Murray driving Spring Gully Donna with new member Irene Pope as 'groom' |
Saturday morning saw all hands busily engaged in marking the dressage arena and setting out, numbering and lettering the cones course and marathon obstacles.
Five donkeys in single harness fronted up for this new challenge, along with their drivers, and grooms, we also had four visitors, who were promptly put to work, as well as each having a turn as a groom, either in the competition or as a pleasure drive (a 'groom' is a passenger in a CDE, so isn't expected to actually groom the donkey for you!)
The drivers were advised of the rules, always best to know the rules, even if you intend to ignore them!
Possibly the strangest rule is that the groom must remain mute in the dressage and cones, so technically if the driver gets lost the groom is not allowed to help, but can scream, shout and direct the driver in the marathon section!
Gwyn Wise, an experienced and successful carriage driver borrowed from the horse world, designed our courses, judged the dressage and was steward on the marathon obstacles, our visitors, when not grooms, did a great job as pencillers, time keepers and also scored the cones course.
The dressage judge's job is two-fold; the main task is to allocate the points, for each group of movements, as required by the test, and performed by the competitor.
The second task comes under the heading of 'Comments' here a good judge is able to both encourage and educate each competitor.
An impromptu competition that evening, as to who had the most 'humorous' or 'telling' comment on their score sheet indicated we had a very good judge!
Thanks to our very helpful visitors the competition progressed with ease and speed. Thanks also to generous donations: Brenda Allen & Pat Streefkerk – certificates, Toe – Powell and Murray families – mugs & glasses, everyone was able to take home a keepsake.
At Saturday nights BBQ we were joined by Phil Dumesny & Chris Trotter.
At Saturday nights BBQ we were joined by Phil Dumesny & Chris Trotter.
There were only the three of us left to sleepover, Pat, Hans and Jan, as Ricci and Dominic Powell had other commitments on Sunday so the Toe-Powell family slept at home.
Sunday morning five donkey and five drivers did a little practice on their dressage and cones before stepping out for a drive along the river with a loop through the township and around the sports ground.
A bit of excitement early in the drive when Grace's swingletree broke away from her jogger landing on the road behind her with traces still attached.
James and Grace with cool heads and calm temperaments were able to remedy the situation without incident and we all continued on.
Next it was Jan and Donna's turn, when they got separated from the group by two pushbikes, it was all very calm, Donna just said 'I'd rather go back the way I came, than stand here and give way to 'those things'!
Next it was Grace that raised our heart rates, again, when she insisted on getting a closer look at a freight train, before deciding maybe that wasn't such a good idea, at which point Njika and Donna, who had been watching with interest, decided to follow suit and leave the scene!
Pat and Mandy were the only combination that failed to raise their individual heart rates at any stage.
Hans and Serena after calmly leading us past a goat on a tether had a little flutter at the sight of a mans behind sticking out of a garage as they went past. (It was not a bare behind! )
Inverleigh is always a good learning experience for the donkeys, especially when accompanied by a steading influence like Mandy, with trains, bikes, prams, lots of dogs, goats, sheep, horses etc. and the new challenge of the mini CDE was great fun.
Quote taken from the following website:
Bibliography:
Guiry M. (2001) Seaweeds as Human Food. Seaweed Site. Guiry M. (2001) Seaweed Meal. Seaweed Site.
Haas E.M. (2000) Vegetables. The complete Guide to Diet and Nutritional Medicine.
Lambert D. (1999) The Benefits of Seaweed. Green cuisine. Lewis D.L. (1995) Equine Clinical Nutrition. Lea & Febiger USA.
National Aquarium in Baltimore (1997) Seaweed, Marine Algae.
Natrakelp (1997) Typical Analysis of Sth Tasmainian Bull Kelp. Information Sheet.
Owens E. Huntington P. What's in a label? Equine Nutrition Ridley Ag Products, Newsletters.
This was probably our smallest camp to date, but in another way it was probably a record - we had more donkeys than people and all were driven in harness. We all enjoyed ourselves very much. Present were Rodger Perkins and his daughter Kate, Jan Murray and Pat and Hans Streefkerk. Rodger drove Tiger and Molly as a pair in a pole jinker. Kate drove George (formerly Keysoe Crusader) in a jog cart. Jan Murray drove Spring Gully Victoria and Donna in her new 4 wheel vehicle, Hans drove Mandy in a jinker and Pat drove Cindy in a CDE vehicle.
The Saturday drive had a less then auspicious start as Jan's pair objected to the big white tyres either side of the gateway and did their best to overturn Jan on the gatepost. However Jan leapt out and retrieved the situation very capably and off we went. We drove around the lovely track by the river (lovely except for some huge potholes!) where the Leigh River joins the Barwon River and through the outskirts of the town. It was very hot, but a lovely drive.
On Sunday we set out early and drove through town to show people we were there, rounded up a few loose sheep en route, and repeated the river drive.
We returned to Victoria Park to find a rider on a horse and leading another. Then a float pulled up and out came a big standard bred horse and a sulky. The accompanying people all came to admire the donkeys.
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When the horses left to go on their own ride/drive we did some obstacle driving practice around some large round hay bales left there for a coming driving event. |
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We hope that next year more people will be able to enjoy this delightful spot.
Oh no, the DSV camp at Mirboo North ended up with a brain-stretching, nail-chewing, fiendishly devised quiz. Not casual trivial pursuit style fun, but a kaleidoscope of knowledge spanning the arts, history, international relations, geography and animal physiology. All thought up by the apparently devilishly-inspired and tortuously-minded Dianne Toe. She must be such a ....oh, no, sorry, can't say that in a public place. but you get the idea.
Now I happened to be on the winning team & no small thanks are due to the presence of young Dom Powell who knows amazing stuff about donkeys in literature and films. Amazingly clever boy that. I'd have thought Barbara Taylor would be the brains trust/power house on the team but Dom blitzed her, hooves down. However Barbara's very late night the evening before which had some kind of connection with Pam Newton visiting and consumption of alcohol may have been an influencing factor. Sure Barbara, it was a hot afternoon and one's blood had gone south to digest lunch....
To top it off, our hostess' dog ate my winners' decorated bag stuffed with chocolates. Being on a low-chloresterol diet, I haven't been allowed choccy. Well, not so as Ross could notice. And then just as I convinced myself I could let down the defences through the festive season and eat choccy, Heather's big Scottish deerhound Ruby ate my treasure, net bag and all! I won't tell you what Heather had to do to figure out who was the culprit in her family, and I believe husband Roger was on the suspect list too. [Turns out Roger was smirking because he had hidden some of Heather's china donkeys, not because he'd guzzled my rightfully inherited choccys.]
Guess if I talk about the donkey outings part of the camp I'll feel better.
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Well, quite a crew of us went out on Saturday morning. Two donkeys in harness, four donkeys ridden and one led behind a cart were supplemented by two cyclists and several pedestrians plus a pram. Green donkeys benefited from becoming acquainted with the bicycles and the pram. Really. Good for their riders' skills too. I should know because I was riding one of the green donkeys. Wheeeeeeee!
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We wound downhill along tracks through a pine plantation to the Mirboo North - Boolarra Rail Trail. Heather led us on a circuit that came home via snaking bush tracks, with a total distance of approximately 10 kilometres. In between we lunched at the former site of Darlimurla Station. Ross managed to sneak up behind Ricci Powell during lunch and gave her a terrible fright when he suddenly roared like a monster in a rage. Everyone thought it hysterically funny except one somehwhat huffy and now nervous teenage girl.
Saturday evening, we were joined at Mirboo North Brewery for dinner by Sarah and Neil McCluskey, Leanne Davey, Gary Ricardo and Rosemarie O'Shannon. I don't recall a lot about dinner except that we had to wait so long to be fed I was almost beyond hungry. Some people visited the bar regularly as an alternative tactic. They said they were sampling the home brewed beer varieties for scientific reasons.
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Sunday's outing was maybe six or so kilometres. We took different tracks down to the Rail Trail and headed in the opposite direction, towards Mirboo North township where we had an appointment in the town's park with a volunteer reporter from the local community newspaper. [They did a very nice, accurate and serious write-up too]. Bill Fulton arrived just in time to walk along with the donkey team and other hangers on. Hey, I wasn't the last to arrive for once - staying the night has its advantages.
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The weather was really lovely & we all had a great time. The donkeys behaved pretty well, though some were encountering new obstacles such as grating covers in the ground, white lines, bitumen roads, motor mowers, the war memorial and other town-related experiences! The donks who'd never met ice-creams before found out that it's not all bad in town.
Ross and I led the way through the park in our cart [Cody tied behind at that stage, he really is green] and managed to take a cross-country approach, which to our surprise was followed by everyone else. [Baaaaa]. We chatted to curious passers-by in the park while we waited for the reporter and blamed Heather for getting the meeting time wrong. [In fact the misunderstanding was about the meeting place!]
On the way home we met an excavator, a motor bike in a narrow spot on the trail and loose barking dogs. Now and then we got the impression we were being followed by a couple in a white station wagon car but we managed to shake them off by diving back into the bush. They must have heard about our Chrissy lunch though because we met them back at Heather's place! [Must actually thank Pat and Hans Streefkerk for taking photos and videos of the outings].
As I said, Barbara and Pam arrived for the food and drink part - typical! There was plenty of chat and laughter, and I can highly recommend members to turn up to activities like this. Just keep any choccys up high out of reach of big dogs and small children!
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The weather was great and we all had a delightful day at the new property of Phil Dumesny and Chris Trotter at Modewarre, past Geelong. Their property is part bush, part pasture, an old quarry and nicely undulating, with unmade roads around also.
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We repeated part of the route a couple of times until they all settled down, then explored more of the property and the quarry. After lunch we went out on the road around the block, followed by afternoon tea courtesy of Phil and Chris.
While we were busy riding and driving, Phil and Chris with some friends were also putting a llama into harness! Phil had to long rein his llama that had not been in harness for some time, but the other one was driven properly they looked great! The paddocks of llamas were fascinated to see us going past, they are lovely animals.
We also met the miniature donkeys there including a lovely foal - star of a 'name the donkey 'contest in the Geelong Advertiser. Phil and Chris also have a young part mammoth donkey gelding, and 2 clydesdales as well as the llamas.
Phil had his first experience of donkey driving with Mandy, and riding on Magda. He hopes to ride his big gelding, Lloyd when he is old enough, so we must go again and give him some more practice! It is a lovely property and we look forward to more outings there in the future.
Apart from breathing in exhaust fumes and dust, it's noisy and rough, there are no seatbelts and your donkey has no hands to hang on with. Every stop, start and turn requires balance and muscle work to stay upright.
So, drive carefully, especially the first few trips, start and stop slowly, no fast sharp turns. Miscalculations and accidents happen, but if you always try to drive with consideration for your donkey you'll be forgiven the odd mistake and fear won't be a reason for your donkey to refuse to load.
Thanks Jan: You make a great point - something we should all think about.
Another consideration for donkey comfort is the height of the chest bar. This should be positioned in the area of where the breastplate would normally sit so that the donkey can comfortably use it to brace against when braking. If the chest bar is too high, your donkey will try to avoid injury or discomfort by either “hanging back” and leaning into the tailgate (causing rubbing) or trying to use his head for bracing! This is not just uncomfortable but could risk serious injury in an accident or crash situation, and may possibly contribute to reluctant loading. ~Ed
After asking around on Judy's behalf I discovered that this problem is probably caused by donkeys looking for extra roughage and may be more common in spring when there is less natural fibre in the grass. If you are having this problem it is recommended to protect trees by painting with a mixture of hot Tabasco sauce and sump oil, chicken wire mesh can also prevent donkeys getting their teeth in.
Donkeys should be supplemented with an ample supply of straw (which will also help to ward off weight problems and prevent donkeys foundering), cut branches, logs or even tree stumps will help to fulfill their dietary needs, remembering that donkeys are browsers (eating trees and shrubs) more so than they are grazing animals.
If your donkey's taste buds have become accustomed to good quality hay you can try sprinkling the straw with a watered down molasses mix to make it more palatable for them.
Mineral blocks should be available at all times providing they do NOT contain urea.