I grew up in Ferntree Gully, Victoria, Australia with my parents and younger brother.

We got our first family pets when I was just into double figures. They were 2 cats, a pitch-black male and a Tortoiseshell female. We named them Sooty and Tammy.

Whilst we were away on a family holiday, Tammy ran away which broke my heart at the time. Prudence, another grey Torti then came to live with us. By the time I was ready to leave home I had acquired 3 more cats, Jacob, a beautiful white male, Nathan, another black male and Shannon a white Tortoiseshell.

Shannon came with me when I left home and then through the next two house moves I made. Our final stop was here at Avoca Park in Macclesfield. By that stage we had acquired horses too, the family was growing. In 1991 Avoca Black Saint was purchased and our competition journey was beginning.

During our first year at Avoca Park we purchased our first dog, a female Rottweiler we named Pagan. Then Josie joined our family she was a lovely little Galah.

In 1992 the next member of our Canine family to join us was Baxter, he was an English Bulldog x Red Heeler. He came from the local animal aid and the ladies behind the counter pleaded with us to take him home on trial for a week, he was a disaster, he chased the cat, chased the horses, basically he chased anything that moved. The plan was to take him back, we felt, it just wasn’t going to work. BUT, we ran out of time that week. He lived to the wonderful age of 17 ½, we worked through the chasing issues and I loved him till the day he passed.

We got ourselves our second Rotti early in 1994, we called her Rahdi, at 6 months old she broke both her front legs, the first under the tail gate of the float the second, a week later by a horse standing on it, her legs were put in casts and this was followed up with 8 months of rehab enabling her to have a full and happy farm life.

Our horse family had now started to grow…..

Late 1994 Avoca Cardinal came to us, he was 3 weeks old, he became our first stallion, and over the next few years we created our mare herd breeding 2 or 3 foals each year for the next 15 years.

Early one morning on the way to work during 1997, a puppy was found, sitting in the middle of the road, he was around 6 weeks old. He came home and of course didn’t leave; he was a Staffordshire Terrier x Bull Terrier. We named him Mitchell. He chased any and every vehicle from the moment he could run. For many years he drove us completely insane.

Early 2006 we lost Rahdi and Shannon a couple of weeks apart, this was such a difficult time. Initially I did not feel like I could replace them but a few months later it did start to dawn on me that I was not replacing them at all. Our home was so quiet without the entertainment of our kids so one Saturday morning I woke up and decided it was time, off I went to the animal aid again, into the kitten shelter and after many tears and what seemed like hours, I picked a black beautiful Tortoiseshell I called Grace.

I also found a local Rottweiler breeder and purchased a female puppy we called Eliza.

They both came home on the same day. 😊

We had created a successful breeding program and had paddocks of beautiful foals. I was having a wonderful time with Black Saint, competing at all the State and National Championships around Australia, along with the qualifying events along the way. In addition to Black Saint I had started to create my competition team of horses too.

In 2009 Eliza developed cancer in her left hind and we had her leg amputated, the journey post-surgery was heart wrenching, it was inclusive of re-hab and chemotherapy. The amazing outcome was, Eliza had 8 more wonderful years, far exceeding any prognosis given by her veterinary team.

In 2003 we bred a foal we called Solomon, when I saw him do extended trot beside his mother at 3 months old, keeping up with her footfall for footfall, I said to myself “I want to ride that”. Solomon became my next competition horse and we have had a wonderful career together.

Puppy hunting again in 2013 I was looking for another bulldog cross, I found an American Bulldog x Labrador, apparently their new name is a Bullador and in my new learnings I came to understand it is now a recognized as a breed!!

The wonderful thing about Crosbie is that he sleeps most of the day and night but does snore like a rhinoceros. 😊

Not long after Crosbie joined our family, we lost Mitchell he was 15 ½ and had been a wonderful companion for all those years.

Our latest form of entertainment is Audrey, born in 2017, she was a real welcome, a little red head, she came to us with her paperwork saying the “tan runt”. Audrey was puppy number 9 in her litter and had to be removed at 5 weeks old as she was not coping, from that moment on she was hand reared, as we’ve learned since then that comes with its own interesting challenges. 😊

I still live at Avoca Park, teach and ride daily, love my kids unconditionally and live for them each day.

For more wonderful stories about the love, laughter and tears of our wonderful family please visit our website.