“As previously mentioned, my appointment was on Thursday 29^th October.    Both John and Trish (and most of my guides) were just a little scared of Bob in those days and so he developed the name “Bad Bob” John did a drawing around the same time and this was what I was to get tattooed on my arm.

Things we do when we get older!

Funny thing was cialis soft tabs vs cialis I took a copy of the book in with me to show the Tattooist what he looked like, only to find out his 20 year old daughter was doing the tattoo (been tattooing for 5 years and is qualified).  During the conversations that transpired she told me the only time she had been on a horse was when she was 8, attending a riding camp with her sister and a couple of her sister’s friends (she was too young, had to be 10 for insurance purposes but the owner had made an exception)

Well it turns out that owner was me! She rode Sonny (14.2hh Black QH).    She and her sister also ended up being Great grandchildren of my parents’ neighbours, small world?

Check out the photo of Rick’s tattoo on our News Page!

by his owner and long time companion, Rick Allen

How do you describe the bond between Horse and rider?   You can’t; it’s just there.  Those of you who have that magic moment now, or maybe have done so in the past, know what I am trying to say.

I knew the moment I set eyes on Bob that he was special and that somewhere in the future we would do special things together.   And something special we did, as trekking guide and lead horse, traveling nearly 19,000 how to get cialis km commercially together as we introduced people from all around the world, and from many walks of life, to the charm and romance of the Tasmanian bush.

“My philosophy in life is simple – if you have a passion – GO for it! Don’t be afraid to fail. We only live once as we know it, so have a go at it. I would hate to get to whatever age I get to and wonder what it would have been like to have had a crack at something!”

This pretty well sums up what Bob and I did together for nearly 20 years, and when the business came to a halt I still enjoyed the bond we had every time we rode. I feel proud to have introduced Lesley to Bob; as a matter of a fact I proposed to her on Bob while she overcame the fears of non-ridership on Boru. Due to on road business commitments we had to leave Bob and Boru to our wonderful neighbours Deb and Brad to look after in our absence. Only getting about 10 rides a year for the last four years, we are eternally grateful to them for the time and commitment they put into looking after Bob while they got to enjoy Boru.

Even the last time I rode Bob in June this year, the bond was still there, along with the passion and the sheer power when you rode him. It was still the same – as if we were just taking out another trek.

The poem below sums up some of my feelings, but probably the one thing that might explain the bond is this – about 14 years ago, while out on a particularly long and arduous trek, sitting around the campfire one night feeling extremely proud of Bob’s achievements that day, I swore that on his death I would get him tattooed on my arm out of respect……….

My appointment is Thursday 29^th October.

The Saddletramp

Bob and the Saddletramp were quite a team -

Riding the ancient trails -

Thru rain and snow and all things foul -

Twelve thousand miles they roamed.

Now a great lead horse is hard to find -

A Waler he had to be!

By god he had tried a few  –

But none stood up to the mighty Bob -

And this, I tell you is true.

“Buckland or bust” Bob and he went -

Looking for that dammed track -

Crossing the Prosser and climbing the cliff -

Bob saved his life, that’s a fact.

From, UK, America and all around, they took them all -

For an hour, a day, or a week -

Slept in a swag, cooked outdoors -

Sore bums, cold beer, they tried it of course -

Even got ‘round to hobbling their horse.

With Duke and Sonny they started -

Then came many more -

They worked hard, day after day, hot and cold -

Put up with people who couldn’t ride -

They all had hearts of gold.

Thru fog n thunder, leeches and flies -

Bob was a marvellous beast, I tell -

As did his Waler ancestors serve their troopers well

With the power and a prance, if asked…

he would have taken that Saddletramp to hell.

RIP Bob, 7^th October 2009

A tribute from our mate Lee (in Texas)

Arrived in Melbourne at 6am – off the boat by 6.45am.   Our first stop was to catch up with a Saddler mate in Alexandra, then on to new clients at Euroa, where we met Col Hood, a famous old western saddle maker.    We finished up Sunday night at Merrijig, where we caught up with a number of our regular clients as well as a few new ones.   After fully re-stuffing 5 saddles (among other things) we spent the night in Mansfield with another Saddler mate, before leaving the next morning to cross Mt Hotham.  

The weather report was not good, and to quote the Mt Hotham adviser, “Come now – don’t procrastinate – it’s only going to get worse”!    Boy was he right!   Drizzling with rain, and then the higher we got this turned to snow.  Visibility was down to 30 feet at the top, although there were still plenty of people skiing.   We ended up at usa cialis Benambra, where we spent the next three nights catching up with regulars and doing an interesting variety of repairs.   We finished off with two nights at Stratford then two nights at Maffra, servicing some new clients on our way back to the boat on Thursday 1st October.   It was quite an adventure, but as always, good to get home again.

John was happy to have been able to assist, but I bet he was glad to be able to get back on the plane to Sydney on Sunday night!

Cheers, Rick and Lesley