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East Gippsland Horse Stud Farm Stay
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Two weeks at Siroka Farm flew by. I stayed with Colleen and Mark and their kids sarah and Kristi. Three days after I got to the farm, Colleen woke me up at 3am to witness Chocolate giving birth to a new filly. The process was amazing and went very smooth. The new filly is called tae (short for latte) and was up and running after about 30 minutes. We took the mom and baby to the stable so they have warm place to hang out. Colleen is in the business of selling, buying and training Quarter horses. Some of her horses for sale can be seen on Horseyard.com.
On Sunday, we went to Mitchell River National Park to explore the Den of Argun. Mitchell River National Park surrounds the spectacular Mitchell River where it passes between high cliffs. There are several gorges, including the Den of Nargun mentioned in Aboriginal Legends. Remnants of temperate rainforest line some of the gorges. The park is 11,900 ha in size and contains some of Gippsland's best forest country. According to Gunai (Kurnai) legends, the Nargun is a large female creature who lives in a cave behind a waterfall in the Mitchell River. Stories were told around campfires about how the Nargun would abduct children who wandered off on their own. The Nargun could not be harmed with boomerangs or spears. These stories served the dual purpose of keeping children close to the campsite, and ensuring that people stayed away from the sacred cave. The Den of Nargun was a special place for women of the Gunai (Kurnai) tribe, and may have been used for women's initiation and learning ceremonies. After that, we went to see a woman who rehabilitates wombats to eventually release them back into the wild. These animals are cute and cuddly when they are little. Fully grown, they are rather heavy and their teeth are their best weapon of defense against approaching humans who want to pet them.
During the two weeks, i learned how to take care of horses, feed them, brush them, how they are trained, and a whole lot more. The weather was not the best so we only got to ride 2 days but it was wonderful. Let's see if I can remember all the horse names. My favorites were Willow, Pixie and Glue. But I also liked the rest of them, like Milly, Belle, Holly, Missy, Special, Donny, Glo, Dream, Roxy, Kat, Shadow, Chester, Chocolate and her filly Tea and Streak, the stallion. Then, there were the cats, Rainbow and Abby, the dogs Stella and Pepper and the two lizards. I also did some fencing, collected manure for the plants, cleaned riding gear and learned how to do arc welding. In addition, I got to try some of the delicious Gippsland wines. My current favorite is a Yalumba Shiraz.
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