Leconfield - Day 2

We woke up and went to get brekky at the house (Breakfast, lunch & dinner is all included in the course). After brekky we went to our first lesson, milking the cow (Bella)! After that it was onto the lesson of catching, saddling and bridling the horses. We were shown how to do all this and given the opportunity to practice first. Then once we were allocated horses we went and saddled our own. We then went for a short trail ride to get use to riding coz there were lots of beginners and coz we had a muster to do the following day !!

Leconfield - Day 3

We saddled up and went out to do our first Muster in Paddock No#1. This went quite smooth considering it was our first muster and that we were all trying to wrap our heads around what we were suppose to be doing

Once we got the cattle to the yards we split the cows from the calves. Then all the calves got tagged, branded, vaccinated and if they were a guy then they got castrated as well. We helped out with pushing up of the calves to restrain them and helped with the vaccinating and tagging. The rest was done by one of the staff. After all the calves were marked we mustered them back out to the paddock. Lots of s***, blood, kicks and flies around.

Leconfield - Day 4

We went out fencing today to give the horses a break. We all jumped in the back of the ute and headed to Top Monkey Paddock to build a gate and do some repairs to the fence. We learnt how to build a Cocky's Gate which just means Farmer's Gate and it's a section of fencing that can be pulled back to gain access to a paddock. We also learnt how to use strainers on the fence and do general repairs where needed. Sox and Blue (two working dogs) came out with us and usually you aren't supposed to interact/pat working dogs but the owner was fine with us giving them some attention (and the dogs were happy to accept it). The views were amazing as the country side is beautiful, saw some weather coming in with lightning so time for us to bail and have some beers.

Leconfield - Day 5

We had a day out on the horses learning trotting & cantering which was good fun.

Once we got back to the shed we learnt how to clean the horse's feet and then we had a lesson of natural horsemanship. The natural horsemanship teaches you to control your horse using only pressure points and hand gestures whilst you are on the ground.

Leconfield - Day 6 - DAY OFF

This was our day off, a lot of people went into Tamworth to get reception and to get more supplies. We stayed at the farm and cleaned the car out and just chilled out in the creek with beers (had to watch out for the crazy big leeches that were around).

Leconfield - Day 7

Mustered Eaglehawk Paddock which was a freaking nightmare….. none of us seemed to know what the hell was going on and I think the cattle knew this as well and used it to there advantage. We ended up getting the cattle back to the yards which was the main thing! and then we branded, tagged and castrated the calves like before. We had to wait for a couple of days to vaccinate them because someone needed to go into town to get a different vaccine (7in1).

Leconfield - Day 8

The vet was coming out to the Woolcheque Paddocks to test the Bulls and check the heifers to see if they were pregnant yet. Woolcheque Paddocks are 1.5 hrs by horse from the house. This was a long day so we made all our lunches to take with us coz we were told we'd be out there the whole day. Once we got out there we mustered both paddocks and got the cattle into the yards, then split the bulls, heifers and calves. The vet arrived and we assisted him by getting the cattle into the crush so he could examine them. Once they had all been looked at we mustered them back out. We didn't end up getting home until 7:30pm ….. 11hr day!!

Leconfield - Day 9

Today we gave the Eaglehawk cattle their vaccinations and then mustered them back out to their paddock. We all had lunch and then jumped back on the horses to go muster in some sheep, this was a little different to mustering cattle because you have to keep really close to each other coz the sheep will try to sneak through any gaps they can. Once we got the sheep back to the shed we had a lesson in shearing and one was killed for meat.

Leconfield - Day 10

Another long day.

Started early…set off at 8am. Went out to Back Paddock (1.5hrs on horseback). We mustered Back Paddock which is their biggest paddock with over 100 head of cattle. Got them all into the yards and split the calves from the rest then we had lunch. After lunch we branded, tagged etc and then let them all back out into the paddock. It was a good day, everything flowed well and we got everything done in good time!!

Leconfield - Day 11 (Last Day)

Saddled horses, prettied them up and went out to have some photos taken of us under the Leconfield sign and in the creek with our horses. Then we went out to play some games on horseback, the school was split into 2 teams and we played relay races, egg & spoon, sack race, cup of water and apple bobbing. It combines all of our horse skills we'd learnt into a games day where you have to control your horse, weaving them around obstacles. Our team won!!! It was heaps of fun!!

After the games we un-saddled the horses, oiled our saddles and bridles and that was the end of all the official course work.

For the last night we had decided to have a fancy dress party and everyone's name was put into a hat and whoever you drew from the hat, you had to dress them! Up in the woolshed there was a whole heap of fancy dress clothing that we could choose from. Just before dinner we had a "fashion show" where everyone had to get dressed in their fancy attire and that was what you wore for the night...was pretty hilarious