Welcome (finally) to the Massie Lodge Newsletter for 2009 which was originally planned for Christmas but as you can see we are a little bit behind in actually getting this out! Yes, we did think about doing cards again… however, in my great wisdom I decided that I would forego paper cards for the electronic version with the thought of power outages, phone lines going down due to water getting into the telephone (didn’t you know that Evan and I are the last Australians on dial up?) never even crossing my mind. Not forgetting Christmas itself, which for those of you who know me know that present shopping the week before is my idea of long range planning! Anyway, here we are and you will get this before the year is out (we’re at least hopeful of this)!
It has been a very eventful year for us and to be perfectly honest, we’re glad to be at the end of it! It hasn’t been that bad a year, however, there certainly have been some peaks and troughs along the way. But tell me who doesn’t have peaks and troughs?
This year has seen Helen reluctantly leave the farm on a full time basis – however, she still keeps in close contact and does their accounts and other admin bits and pieces in her free time (hah!) - she is now working full time in Warwick as an Administration Manager for a Stockfeed Company and is enjoying only having to drive 15mins to get to the office - now there is no excuse for being late and every reason to pop home for some lunch!
Gallopers - the tried horse business - seems to have wound down due to the change in the economic climate – people are expecting too much money for their tried horses and people don’t want to pay it. The market on a commercial level has imploded, however, in saying that, things always seem to work themselves out and when one door shuts another opens and we are looking forward to a change in direction in 2010. Which means another change to the website, LOL. Evan will continue on with PASS in 2010 and is still continuing to send out race mail of a Saturday. This means yet another website change. Lol
Definitely one of the highlights this year was wee Jimmy (who was born and bred here at Massie Lodge) winning his maiden on Ingham Cup Day. Jimmy (aka Private James) is currently on a well deserved holiday and hopefully will come back bigger and better in 2010.
Another highlight for us was Jimmy's paddock mate, Max (aka Circuit City) placing 3rd at Eagle Farm. Max was also born, bred and loved here at Massie Lodge. There is always a certain feeling of being part reason of that result knowing how much blood, sweat and tears goes into getting a horse old enough with basic training to be on his or her way in the world with being born the easy part!
It’s what happens for the next couple of years after birth that truly shapes a horse into who he/she is and we both feel very humbled to have had that experience. I still get in trouble for being too sooky! However, I am of the opinion that giving love to a horse and getting their trust in return is part of the education process.
Lack of rain is still a big issue here in Queensland. Its half way through our rainy season and we still haven’t had a good downpour to fill up the dams, the house tanks and to get the paddocks going. I know we’re not alone in this as this is a widespread issue in SEQ, and each day we hope that today is going to be the day… however, in saying that, where there is life, there is hope! The most ironic thing about all of this is that the Government is adamant that we are not in a drought – obviously the members of that committee must live in the city!
And finally, the most important reason for this newsletter is to thank you - our clients and friends - for your ongoing support of Massie Lodge and also to wish you a very happy, safe and prosperous 2010.
May 2010 be full of lots of love, continued friendship and of course, lots of winners!
It has been a very eventful year for us and to be perfectly honest, we’re glad to be at the end of it! It hasn’t been that bad a year, however, there certainly have been some peaks and troughs along the way. But tell me who doesn’t have peaks and troughs?
This year has seen Helen reluctantly leave the farm on a full time basis – however, she still keeps in close contact and does their accounts and other admin bits and pieces in her free time (hah!) - she is now working full time in Warwick as an Administration Manager for a Stockfeed Company and is enjoying only having to drive 15mins to get to the office - now there is no excuse for being late and every reason to pop home for some lunch!
Gallopers - the tried horse business - seems to have wound down due to the change in the economic climate – people are expecting too much money for their tried horses and people don’t want to pay it. The market on a commercial level has imploded, however, in saying that, things always seem to work themselves out and when one door shuts another opens and we are looking forward to a change in direction in 2010. Which means another change to the website, LOL. Evan will continue on with PASS in 2010 and is still continuing to send out race mail of a Saturday. This means yet another website change. Lol
Definitely one of the highlights this year was wee Jimmy (who was born and bred here at Massie Lodge) winning his maiden on Ingham Cup Day. Jimmy (aka Private James) is currently on a well deserved holiday and hopefully will come back bigger and better in 2010.
Another highlight for us was Jimmy's paddock mate, Max (aka Circuit City) placing 3rd at Eagle Farm. Max was also born, bred and loved here at Massie Lodge. There is always a certain feeling of being part reason of that result knowing how much blood, sweat and tears goes into getting a horse old enough with basic training to be on his or her way in the world with being born the easy part!
It’s what happens for the next couple of years after birth that truly shapes a horse into who he/she is and we both feel very humbled to have had that experience. I still get in trouble for being too sooky! However, I am of the opinion that giving love to a horse and getting their trust in return is part of the education process.
Lack of rain is still a big issue here in Queensland. Its half way through our rainy season and we still haven’t had a good downpour to fill up the dams, the house tanks and to get the paddocks going. I know we’re not alone in this as this is a widespread issue in SEQ, and each day we hope that today is going to be the day… however, in saying that, where there is life, there is hope! The most ironic thing about all of this is that the Government is adamant that we are not in a drought – obviously the members of that committee must live in the city!
And finally, the most important reason for this newsletter is to thank you - our clients and friends - for your ongoing support of Massie Lodge and also to wish you a very happy, safe and prosperous 2010.
May 2010 be full of lots of love, continued friendship and of course, lots of winners!
