Rosemarkie Connor
Enclosed a photo of my Highland pony 'Loki'. I thought it would be nice to let readers know that Loki ('Rosemarkie Connor') is 4 years old now and getting trained to be my pack horse for a 2 week trekking trip along the Bicentennial National Trail, which I plan to do with a friend next year in April.
The pack saddle he is carrying in this photo is 100 years old and was given to me by a farmer who owns a station near Tenterfield in Northern NSW. That packsaddle has quite a history, it was used to build all of the stations hundreds of miles of fencing, since at that time there were no cars to carry the material to build those fences.
Loki never ever had a pack saddle on his back when I tried the saddle out on him. I calmly talked to him, reassured him and carefully adjusted the harness around his chest and hind quarters, and then girthed up the pack saddle. I didn't know what to expect, since Loki was new to all this gear. I walked him a few steps around and waited, he didn't explode nor show any signs of anxiety.to the contrary, after a few steps and him looking so comfortable with the pack saddle on his back, I decided to do a few more steps, and in the end we went for a nice walk around the whole neighborhood. Loki looked like he had been a packhorse his whole life, he carried the packsaddle 'like a duck takes to water...'!
Again and again I am amazed about the calm temperament of the Highlands ponies. They are just the most wonderful companions!
Cheers Kaya Femerling