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1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2/3 cup choped dried mixed fruit (no citrus)
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup apple juice (or some other non citrus fruit juice)
      Mix all ingredients. Shape mixture into small (1/2 inch) balls. Place balls on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 250 F (120 C) for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, turn oven off and let treat balls cool completely. They should be nice and crunchy once cool. Store in a sealed bag or container in a cool dry place. These treats, in moderation, would also be suitable for other small rodents such as hamsters, gerbils, and mice. You might want to make a smaller recipe and slightly smaller treats (reducing baking time by a few minutes as well) for smaller rodents.

STORY BY ALIAS
       Many people have fish, rodents or lizards of some sort, but many don’t know the proper size of cage that these little critters need. Some people get cages that are too big, or too small. Caged animals are not that hard to find environments for, but it becomes a challenge when you don’t know what to look for size wise.

       Typically rodents need a large amount of room, being tidy creatures; you might find that they use the bathroom in one of the back corners. If you give your little critter enough room to maneuver between their wheel, food dish, water bottle and shelter; they will be plenty happy. Over-crowding their cage to the point where they have no bedding to burrow into and walk around on is a bad idea. Some of the more… enthusiastic rodent keepers will get cages that you can add onto. These cages can become huge works of art and spread across large areas. Many, however, will stick to a fish tank converted into a comfortable cage. I have personally had the best luck with a 36 gallon fish tank as sufficient room for my hamsters and gerbils.
       Fish are another story, though. Since I’ve mainly had Bettas, I will be using them as my example. Bettas are small fish and usually kept alone. Male Bettas are the most
popular, as they have the beautiful colors. They can live  comfortably in a flower vase, a small bowl, or even the cup you get them in from the fish store. Many people choose to add small rocks to the bottom of such items and keep the fish as a decoration. Since most male Bettas are not active swimmers in their bowls, preferring to stare through the glass and wait for potential opponents; they don’t need a lot of space to swim.
       The size of a lizards’ cage really depends on what you are going to be keeping, and how many you will have. Typically a medium sized lizard (think Leopard Geckos), doesn’t need more than 40 gallons of space. However, there are many sizes of cage that come smaller and more compact with more room to decorate with things that will let them climb and get their exercise. My own two lizards, who are 9inches and 7 inches, live in a 50 gallon tank with faux rock walling and some room to crawl around of the flooring. They are provided with wood to climb since they don’t have a lot of room on the substrate. Some reptile people will get special cages that allow their reptiles to get an open air breeze. These are typically made out of screening and plastic and can be quite cheap depending on size.

       The amount of space an animal needs always depends on how many you have and how big they are. Large animals obviously can’t live in a small cage and small critters don’t really need a huge cage to roam, though it might cut out some of their boredom. Always ask a professional if you are unsure of the amount of space your pet needs and you can never go wrong!


STORY BY CROSSWORD


Along with meat pies, Vegemite, pubs and sausage rolls, Australian Stock Horses have become an icon and a part of Aussie culture. Recognized for their toughness, type, temperament and ability to excel at whatever task they are asked to do they have been accepted world-wide. This is a little about “The Boss” one of the first stallions registered with the Stock Horse Society, his blood runs through some of our best modern day horses and he is still remembered many years later he’s also the best I have known. Some of this story I was told, some I was privileged enough to see.
       I was lucky enough to be there from the beginning of the Stock Horse Society as my surrogate mother/grandmother Molly, helped drag me kicking and screaming through adolescence and into adulthood was one of the founders. Molly McLean was an icon in her own right having managed one of Australia’s largest cattle stations along with her husband (Victoria River Downs) for many years, at that time you could be isolated for months in the wet season, the only power came from a diesel generators when they decided to work, the telephone was the radio which you could talk on once a day and everyone had to be a jack of all trades, from mechanic and horse breaker to doctor and cook. To say she was tough is an understatement, at a whole 5 ft and built like a string bean she would have many a stock man shaking in their boots when she entered a room. She worked hard and played twice as hard and reveled in the fact she could match it with any man and 90% of the time leave them in her wake. She was the first to hit the dance floor at the bush races and the last to leave, she could tell as good a yarn around a campfire and turn the air blue with her cursing as well as any a man and could drink most under the table. She was a great woman.
       Molly first set eyes on Boss when he was drafted from a mob of brumbies being culled from the outback in the Northern Territory and destined for the dogger’s. Molly first saw him at the trucking yards in Katherine. In those days you could try a brumby for free, if he turned out ok you paid the going price of $40 if he didn’t you just returned him to the yards when the next semi of horses destined for Alice Springs and the rail head left a few weeks later. Commonly known as drought foals due to the times being so dry, (he had never seen or felt rain) he and the other herd members were not a pretty sight, he looked more like a weanling than the two year old he was, pretty plain in type and colour, dark brown with two white hind socks, a star, a thin blaze and snip. Breeding wise the mob he came from he was a typical brumby, a touch of Arab, a smidgen of draft, a splash of thoroughbred and a good deal of the old Waler type which were mostly of Spanish and Timor origins with a lot of thoroughbred. As well as being weedy he was very wild having never had contact with man until the previous few days and that was definitely not a pleasant experience. Molly saw something in this horse that no one else had she paid the $40 up front and little horse was put onto a cattle truck and sent back to the station.
       As the station was a lot further north than where the little horse was born everything stopped for the wet season, according to Molly, the first time it rained
the little horse nearly went mad, and half scared him to death. Molly now had 3 or 4 months where there was nothing to do because of the wet so he got quite a bit of attention. Life changed drastically for the little brown colt, he was given a yard of his own near the homestead and with 3 feeds a day. It didn’t take long for him to start to shoot up and Molly spent as much of her spare time with him as she could. He soon started to lose the wild streak but still let everyone know that he also had a mind of his own. It took no time at all to start being called The Boss a name which he carried all his life.
       When the dry season arrived a few months later it was time for boss to start to do some work and earn his keep, he had shot up over the wet season and was now about 15.hh, big enough to break in and head out for a season mustering. Horses in the bush are broken in very quickly, in a matter of days they are sent out on musters, they are very green but by the time they return home 3 months later very well educated. The first few days are fun to watch though with jackaroos’ going left right and center as they get on these half broke horses every morning.

       Over the next couple of years Molly started continued to educate him; he went on all the musters soon starting to show a lot of aptitude with cattle work. Molly started to use him to draft the cattle in the yards and later went on to compete on him in local and state camp draft events where he soon won his way from maiden to open class. That is no easy feat when you are competing against horses and riders whose livelihood depends on their abilities to work cattle well. I still look at the horses and riders in awe when I see them competing at shows, it’s like watching grand prix dressage but in fast forward mode and with a cow involved.
       A few years after this Molly retired and moved to a property in Alice Springs with her husband, that was where I first met her, the circumstances of our first meeting which weren’t the best, is a whole other story. I had left home at an early age, was pretty wild and semi homeless and was running riot, for some unknown reason along with a racehorse trainer friend of hers and his wife they decided to take me under their wing, no easy feat for a 65 year old woman and something I give thanks for to this day.
       The Boss by this time had developed into stunning horse and had matured out at 15.2hh not huge but he had a heart as big as Pharlap’s. The dirty brown colour he had been when Molly first laid eyes on him had changed to a deep rich mahogany. He was solid but not coarse with a good strong head, neck and shoulder, his back was short and broad and he had a hind quarter that was all
muscle, he oozed quality. With Molly he was the best  mannered horse you would ever find, butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. With me it was a totally different story, he would nip me, chase me out of the yard when I tried to clean it and wave his front legs around at me if I tried to catch him, if I rode him he would always spook and pig root, all in all a real horror. I am sure on looking back that he knew I was a rebel and was telling me in his own way there was only room for one king pin and that was him. As the years went on I worked out who was boss and our relationship became slightly warmer. He taught me respect.
       In the early 1970’s a group of people including Molly got together to try to stop the disappearance of the “Waler”, this horse was bred mainly soldiers in the Indian mutiny , the Boer war and the first world war and since then had been basically forgotten about, most having been released when no longer needed and mixed with the brumbies. After much discussion it was decided that a breed would be formed and the name given was “The Australian Stock Horse “. Classifiers were appointed to each state to test horses wishing to be entered into the stud book. They had to pass strict conformation and working tests , from memory height restrictions were very liberal, from 14.2hh to 16.2hh and all breeds were eligible initially to be included if they passed the stringent tests. Molly along with her husband were the two classifiers for the Northern Territory, Two classifiers were brought up from Queensland to test Boss , some mares, and classify a few of Boss’s foals. The classifiers were amazed at the quality of the Boss and his offspring, stating that he was the benchmark of what they hoped to achieve with the breed.
       At the age of 70 Molly and The Boss decided to take up a quieter sport and started to train in dressage, within two years they were representing the N.T. in the National Dressage Championships in Adelaide at medium level, they didn’t win but were in the top 10 in the country which again was nothing to sneeze at. I had picked up the jumping bug by this stage and started to jump Boss under Molly’s supervision at the local jump club, we went on and jumped in our local shows doing fairly well until one year molly loaded us all up to do the northern show circuit (four shows held over a month and a 2000klm round trip) The boss won Supreme Stock Horse at each show, he won the dressage with Molly on him at 3 out of the 4 shows, carted me around the jumping courses winning and placing and competed in the camp drafts with a stock man from up north.
       The Boss led a full and long life, stamping his foals with the same class that he himself showed and showing time and again the characteristics that the Stock Horse is renowned for.
       Molly also lived to a ripe old age, only passing on a few years ago, she would still give me a quick clip under the ear right up to the day she went, it always amazed me how she could reach that high with such force so quickly, my ear still burns every time I think of it and her eyes still burned with the fire I am sure she showed as a young woman right to the end. Both she and the Boss changed my life and for that I am eternally grateful, as long as I and a lot of other people live their story will never be forgotten just embellished with time.



STORY BY JELLY
       The Basenji is a hound breed that has been associated with man since before the Pyramids were built. Also known as the African Bark-less Dog or Egyptian Dingo, the breed was named after an African word meaning 'bush thing'. Graceful, independent and highly intelligent are just a few of the words that come into mind when one thinks of the Basenji.
       The Basenji is one of the most ancient dog breeds. They originate on the continent of Africa, and have lived with humans for thousands of years. It appears these dogs played an important part in life of the Ancient Egyptians, and have been depicted in their memorial tablets and statues, as early as the period 1080-332BC.
       Europeans first discovered Basenjis in the Congo in 1895. The breed was established in England in 1939 after many years of trying. The American Kennel Club officially accepted the Basenji in 1943. The breed arrived in Australia in 1946, however gained popularity in the 1970s.

Owned by Tamsala Basenjis
       Basenjis are commonly known as being the bark-less dog. They cannot bark due to an unusually shaped larynx, however they are far from being silent. Their vocabulary ranges include 'boof' (warning sound), mournful sound howl, a growl worthy of a dog twice their size, chortles, screaming, and the characteristic yodel that sounds like a melodic 'baroo'.
       Basenjis are small, short-haired, elegant looking dogs. Their appearance suggests stamina, speed and agility. The wrinkled forehead, tightly curled tail and their small, dark eyes give off the air of curiosity and self-assertiveness. They rarely need bathing, as their grooming habits are very cat-like. This also results in them being odorless, rarely ever having the 'doggy' smell.
       Being a sight-hound, Basenjis are independent hunters and if used to hunt, they run and search while man follows to see what the dog finds.
       While Basenjis may seem the perfect dog (small, odorless and bark-less), they are hounds and highly intelligent. If they are not well socialized (with other breeds of dogs, as well as people) as a pup, then they can be aggressive to other animals and suspicious of strangers. They need lots of stimulation and exercise. The lack of it may result in a highly destructive escape-artist with little regard for boundaries.
Being highly independent, they can be difficult to train. Majority tend to be very food orientated a trait which can be exploited when training.
       Basenjis are most definitely not normal dogs. They share quite a few cat traits, and not just in their grooming habits. They can have the arrogance and independence of a Siamese, and the nuttiness of a Burmese. Not to mention the massive dislike for getting wet . . . it’s amazing to time a Basenji as to how long they can go, without needing to go toilet.
       Basenjis make playful, curious and affectionate pets. They tend to form strong bonds with their owners. There is never a dull moment when working with Basenjis. They take great delight in making messes, teasing you to play, and then entertaining you for hours on end.

       6 ounce can of tuna
       1/4 cup water drained from tuna
       3 T cooked egg white, chopped
       1/4 cup cornmeal
       1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine tuna, egg white and water. Add cornmeal and flour and blend to form a dough. Knead into a ball and roll to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into one-inch sized pieces. Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes. Makes 12 cookies.  

RESEARCHED BY TALA OF BLACK MAGICK

Bazleyd (AHR*648) at Rack, Rider not identified; source unknown
      The Arabian horse, hailed as one of the oldest domesticated breeds, its bloodlines finding a home in most horse breeds found today. Made famous by a flagged tail, lovely trot, dry head, and kind yet fiery disposition, the general public has only scratched the surface of this breed’s potential. The phrase “the versatile Arabian” is a motto, a public anthem of the breed. The Arabian Horse Association makes note that “Arabian horses are shown in virtually every capacity imaginable with the exception of gaited classes,” this is because, quite simply put, Arabians horses do not gait. Or do they? This article is meant to only scratch the surface of the virtually unknown skill that makes the breed truly versatile: the gaited Arabian.
      Despite this being the abridged version, there are a few things I would like to make clear before going on. When using the term “at gait” or “gaited,” I am referring to gaits besides the more commonly known walk, trot, canter, gallop and their various speeds, these are also known as “easy gaits” and the horses that utilize them are often known as “easy gaited horses.” The gaits mentioned in this article are the rack and fox trot, both of which the reader would benefit from learning more about on related websites at the end of this article. The amble is also mentioned, and the reader must consider that at the time it was used to describe most any peculiar, irregular gait, including but not limited to: the slow racking gait, general racking gait, and sometimes fast paced rack. It is also important to note that the Arabian at gait should not be mistaken for the Arabian Park horse, which is a specialized horse at trot. A flashy, naturally animated trot, but a two-beat gait nonetheless. The hallmark of an easy gait, is that under no circumstances should the rider feel the need to post, in fact, there is nothing to post to. While the gaited (many are dually referred to as “5-gaited” to show they have a significant extra gait) Arabians are able to trot, not all trotting Arabians are predisposed to gait. In the past, the gaiting Arabian was a novelty as well as a serious competitor, just as it is today. And no less rare or untapped.

*Raseyn (AHR *597) posed, age unknown; Photo courtesy of Arabian Stud Book Volume IV, 1937
      *Raseyn, imported as a young studcolt from the Crabbet stud, was sired by the famous Skowronek and out of the mare Rayya (a mare from a Crabbet program which linebred to Mesaoud). Like his sire before him, Raseyn was considered to be one of the most influential in-demand stallions of his time, and his lines were utilized in heavy linebreeding, whether directly because of him, or utitilzing his sire’s blood through him. Raseyn was unique in that he was predisposed to a “natural amble” which was later harnessed and shaped into a fast paced rack, and a more gentle slow rack. *Raseyn was characterized by a good, ground covering walk, a square trot, smooth canter, and smooth rack at various speeds. While *Raseyn’s toes were kept moderately long and he wore protective racking boots, he was never “gimmicked” into a rack, and all of his gaits were witnessed at the Kellogg Sunday Show as true to character.

*Raffles (AHR*952) at pose, age unknown; source unknown
      *Raffles, like *Raseyn, was a stallion sired by Skowronek and out of the mare Rifala. Raffles was a gift from Lady Wentworth to Mr. Selby along with his purchase of various Crabbet Arabians, thrown in not because of lack of quality, of which he had, but because he had been determined sterile. With careful diet and distressing programs (using gentle techniques practically unheard of at the time), Raffles was able to settle mares. His get were considered in his image, but larger. His show career was admirable, being named 1933 Three-Gaited Champion at the National Arabian Horse Show in Nashville, Tennessee. His career was focused on the breeding shed, classic type, and trotting career. It is only briefly mentioned that his natural high action was also shaped into an amble (the gait is unidentified, but one can assume it was a high actioned rack, or a fox trot which is the easiest gait to encourage).

Bazleyd (AHR*648) at pose, age unknown; source unknown
      Bazleyd was born April 7th, 1928 to W.R. Brown. He was by*Abu Zeyd and out of Bazrah (by *Rodan), and at the time no one knew what ground breaking record he would set that to this day has not been matched. Considered 100% Crabbet/ 100% CMK, Bazleyd was mentioned in a copy of A Catalog of Traveler' s Rest Arabian Horses by General J.M. Dickinson, “Bazleyd was first prize Arabian stallion at the Ohio State Fair 1932, second under saddle, and Champion Arabian of the show, all sexes competing. This was the most important show of the year for Arabians in the United States. In winning this championship, he defeated notably the horse which had twice been champion in California…. One of the [mares in the championship] was a desert bred horse which had been champion at the Richmond Royal Show, England. Bazleyd is a horse… very distinctive Arabian type. He has the full-bodied…symmetrical form and small, bloodlike head tapering to open nostrils that is associated with the elite type of Arabian. He is such a powerfully built horse as to appear much larger than he actually is….Bazleyd makes a good impression under saddle and in harness, goes collectedly and with charming animation [and carried his] strong tail in a high “water spout” and a naturally arched neck.” Bazleyd as a gaited horse was no secret, and his presence in the Arabian breed’s versatile standing is nothing short of miraculous, as summed up by General Dickinson’s son, Maxwell Dickinson, in his book, You Kin Do It, Chile: “Although only six years old and unaware of the consequences of this history-making night in 1933, I was wise enough in the intricacies of horse showing to be cognizant of the magnitude of an Arabian winning a Tennessee Walking Horse stake. Bazleyd’s Triple Crown victory in Arabian, Saddlebred and Walking Horse classes in one week was one never equaled before or since.”

Feather at fox trot; Ellen Robinson up; source Ellen Robinson photographed by Mr. Robinson
      While there are a number of modern gaited Arabians, confirmed and rumored, and non gaited sires and dams with the peculiar number of ambling progeny, we only have time to feature one. This lovely lady is referred lovingly as Feather by her owner, Ellen Robinson, and while she came as a fox trotter (notably the easiest gait a five-gaited horse will settle into), she is now reported to have started racking. Congratulations, Ellen! Feather’s name is “Praire Park Fancy,” and we hope to hear more of her as an endurance mare.
      An official website is being set up, including an unabridged edition of The Versatile Arabian. If you have a question or comment, please contact TheVersatileArabian@gmail.com

Resources:
http://www.gaitedhorses.net/Articles/Rack/RackingGait.shtml
http://gaitedhorses.net/Articles/FoxT/FoxTrot.shtml
http://www.gaitedhorses.net/Special.htm
http://www.gaitedhorses.net/GHArticles.html


     


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