Well this forum has been quiet since I joined so thought I'd introduce some of our animals to you all.

Starting with the dogs, apart from the Koolies, we have 32 Siberian Huskies, 26 of which are in work over winter, 4 retirees & 2 "rejects" that have stayed with us as pets.


We also have 1 rescue Alashan Malamute (big lump of zero intelligence )

We have 400acres of cattle, mostly hereford with a few angus & black baldies.

As for Horses, we have trick/stunt horses with currently a team of 5 large & 5 miniature performers. I usually do some breaking in & basic to advanced education of horses.


Plus we have 2 Miniature Pigs which perform tricks.

NIce, we have two dogs: ACD( Gemma) and Koolie(Lawson), one ancient cat, Niks ( 16 this year) and umpteen fish in three tanks

Wow!!!! mushoz, what do you do in your spare time ..... lol

Do you find the miniature horses easy to train? i had a couple at one stage and found them cute but really obstinate ...



Our little mob consists of 6 Tibetan Spaniels, 1 geriatric ACD and about 20 head of beef cattle and a couple of jersey house cows.

I show the Tibetans ocassionally, but they mostly spend their days taking up the best recliner chairs ... lol

I breed an ocassional litter, the ACD spends her days lolling about with the tibs, she absolutely loves the Tibbs, and i am sure she thinks they all belong to her.

Lawson Legend are your fish tropical or cold water? i was into tropical fish in a big way years ago, until the thermostat on the heater fouled up and i lost all my fish because the poor things near cooked, i have never had any more since, i'm not game !!!!!!

Oh yeah I forgot I also breed Bettas (Siamese Fighting Fish) from Thialand show stock (fancy ones).


We mostly have American Miniature Horses, they are gems to train, have their moments.
We have a Miniature Pony....he's almost impossible the cranky little *beep* his sessions are usually . He performs a 'Cranky Pony' act as thats about all his talent caters for.

I won't go throught the full list of "haves" but most forum members know we have minis, the American based ones or miniature horses are just like big ones, very easy to train with routine but the ponies who are based on shetland breeding are just too darned smart for their own good and this usually is taken as cranky but they really just know how to milk every situation for what it's worth. The ponies also will live off the smell of an oily rag whereas the horses need a bit more cosseting. Must say we haven't done the pig bit yet but got the fish too.

Thats excatly it with the Miniatures, we like the 'Horses' for their Quarter Horse like temperaments, never went into Mini Ponies for that reason, they just have that conflicting attitude & rebellion that makes them impossible for our line of work in comparison to the Horses.

Our Mini Pony was a rescue, he is cranky for genuine reason as he was abused. We have dual mini pony/horse bred broodmares who are just that much smarter than you & evades everything 5 steps ahead of you but when they are defeated are gems.

Most of our Mini Horses are either parented by US imports or are overo bred.

We like the horse style also because they really look like a horse a long way away if you know what I mean. We love it when after a rain for instance (not so often lately) they all start galloping around the paddock, the tiny thunder of hooves!! Thinking about it the more American blood the mushier they are, we have one imported mare who is just a darling and will live out her life here. Only got her because she was scanned empty before a sale so went cheap then foaled 10 months later...
Don't you love the ones that just won't let you get close enough in a paddock and you follow them around and around and finaly you go through the hassle of running them into a yard for them to stand in the middle stock still as if wondering what has taken you soooo long to decide to put the halter on them?

What cracks us up the most is you could get the dogs to go work a big stubborn cranky bull, yet ask them to work a mini horse & most of them tell you to get stuffed as get their butts whooped by something less than 1/4 size of the bull, if the horses don't want to go or see the dogs coming knowing they will be herded the poor dog(s) get what for & the horses stroll off doing their own thing!
Big normal horses will often run & get silly, but the mini's hold their ground & go toe to toe with the dogs, if a fox strolls through the paddock look out foxy loxy!

Here's my main performer in our Miniature Trick/Stunt Team 'Storm' at a children's show last Saturday. He is a Section B Miniature Horse by Lucky Four Cinemax IMP USA. He is also a champion show horse & does highjumping demo's plus harness, children's rides & many other things.

I'm a bit late on this thread and didn't want to interrupt the bonding.
Cool Mushie dogs, do you compete with your mob. it's terrific to see dogs doing what they were bred to do.
Any temptation to put Koolies in harness, now there's something I'd like to see, I bet they'd love it, what a game.
Had fish killed them all, had pretty flowers Killed them all.
Had a little horse he died at thirty. just to get away from me.
So I only have Koolie's cause they thrive here.
Don't count the mini pin he's seventeen and refuses to die.
and the Doberman is still here only cause I can’t kick the habit of having them all my life, but I promise this is my last, I think the Koolies cured me.
And don't mention the four cats, their just here to harass the Koolies.
I don't have birds except the ones in the trees.
Had a bird once when I was young and foolish, stuck it up a tree and it died.
So I'll stick with Koolies, they don't care if I'm cursed.

One tropical tank,( 4ft long) one freshwater( Jebo curved glass 375 l) and we just bought our daughter a small Jebo (23l ) for her room. Jebo are a japanese made tank with curved glass so theres no edges bit pricey but lively to look at. We've lost our fait share of fish, we change about 20% of the water in the tropical fortnightly...it's great for the garden


Now we have trouble folks, ....the kids have seen the pretty doggies and horsie pictures and want to put Lawson in a harness, because some one SUGGESTED it and "she would know because she has lotsa Koolies, Mum or else she would'nt say it, Mum, can we , Mum can we huh??" I envisaige something like this I should never have told my daughter who the users are
So now I have explained that mushoz knows about harness/sledding with dogs and trains her horses/dogs for tricks but TJ DOES NOT but TJ knows about Koolies, training and obedience and Sil knows about Koolies, sheep, lil' horsies and such. I'll leave it at that now and veto any children who can read from looking before I read the post to save further confusion. Other wise, I could have kids riding on the backs of dogs in sledding harness'

Gorgeous babies, we only bred 2 mini mares last season (we have more stallions in our horses in general than mares) both to my Minimal Overo stallion, sadly we lost the 1st a jet black filly with blue eyes, we got a healthy colt however, bay with blaze & blue eyes.


I don't believe huskies should be bred unless they are harness dogs, thats just me, same for stock workers, if they are bred for that purpose keep them at that purpose or don't breed them.
I don't compete in sprint races although dogs I've bred represent us well, Siberian's aren't sprinters & shouldn't be bred for such mine do well in their classes but not against the sprint bred dogs, Australia only has a small handful fo mid-distance (by Australian terms, not by US & northern country terms) I hope to enter this year but will see.
We mostly take long runs up into the ranges around my place with ambitions of taking dogs to Canada to compete when I get the dogs capable & funding to do it, can get them over but I have to bring them back or we don't go!!

We are starting tourism however with them, giving short rides or tours (any Koolie enthuse here gets a discount if interested!!) We will likely be exporting dogs to Sweden in 08 so that will be a bonus.


Certainly, Koolies run really really well!! Radar & the deafie Keira have had a few runs, if the newbies run well we may sprint race them & fly the Koolie Flag!!!


We have 5, can't live without cats! They teach husky pups to be wary, not that it works as when they grow up cat still = lunch. Its nice having Koolies, they all seem to think the cats are giant monsters that will rip their limbs off if they get close!

Cool we are going to see Koolies in harness.
Be sure to take photos for lawson, that will stir up the camp.
You do have an interesting life, you need to tell us tales, think of us around one big camp fire.
Who is your boss dog and what makes him different from the group.
When they are in harness do they behave differently to when they are off doing their own thing.
Do you house them all together or are they in family groups.
More More we want to know more!!!!!!!!!!!
You can come to our AGM in July with your sled and team, be nice if they were Koolies and show us how it's done.
We already have a horse and cart who arrive every gathering to give the children rides and let the old folk remember their youth.
He doesn't charge, he just loves arriving in style.
But it does make for a fun day.
It would be a hoot to see a sled demo and we have a circular track that would be perfect.
Great way to introduce yourself to the Koolie community

2 females rule the kennel, the eldest foundation bitch who is white & the biggest female, she doesn't do the legwork the 2nd top bitch does it or the 2 top males. She will only assert authority with a trouble dog, or if she thinks the kennel is under threat. The 2nd ranked female keeps both girls & boys in line.
The top males are the protectors & peace keepers, keeping hormonal young males in line, these males inlcude our foundation male & his 1st born son.


Yes, I am strict in that when the harnesses go on I am boss & I expect only good behaviour. Your team must respect you & listen. There are no growls, excited bouncing or yapping & no ignorance. They are rewarded for doing the right thing with praise & affection. At home they can just play & be silly...within reason.


Housed in compatible groups that get shifted around frequently. It usually only gets testy when we get a trouble maker or females in heat.


Where is the AGM held??

Love the pics of the dogs in harness.
My 7 year old son has been using our Koolie (Bo) in harness for years.
Not quite as professional as you guys. Equipment used is quite "agricultural", the horses head collar and lead make up the harness and the very very old toddlers tricycle for the vehicle.
Don't know who has the most fun, the kid or the dog. Had to introduce the helmut etc when they were clocked at 35km!!
Trying to attach a photo but haven't worked out how to do that yet. Can someone tell me how to do this

Although Silhouette has a camera with a big thing on it,she probably knows more because she has a big thingy but I know if you switch your icons on most digitals to the movie/camera icon it will get the in motion piccies.. alternatively if you have a movie function film it and oput it on you tube or such and put the link here

Hi Sheringa, look forward to seeing a pic of your own musher....in the reply window scroll down to the bottom of the screen, just above the add reply button is a browse button, click on this. It will open a choose file window. Find the photo on your computer and click on it. Then click on the add this attachement button. Once the file has uploaded it will appear in a box at the bottom of the message box,with the cursor in your message where you want to place your attachement click on insert attachement. Then add reply. Try to reduce your photo sizes before you post as it takes a long time for members on dialup to get them through. If you have too much trouble email it to me or LH and we will post it for you.

On behalf of Sheringa...here are a couple of beauties..




Koolies ARE KOOL

ps LH, sheringa doesn't seem to have an attach photo option



Should be okay now... LH

Hmmm wonder how the rider lost those two front teeth............

I am not lh i know, but just wondering if sheringa may be using a different browser.

god that brings back memories i use to do that with my old mans lab. the headstall two lead ropes and a billy cart that my brother made up and down the road we'd go for an hour or more and old red (the lab) loved every minute of it. he was a very fit dog thank god.

love the pics of Bo!!