Marvelous Encore X Djemur Silver Sequin. (1996).  Buckskin Part Bred Morgan Gelding. I first became aware of Dusty, when I saw his sale advertisement at the National Morgan Show, Wodonga 1997.  His breeder Helen Perry, advertised him with another Part Bred Gelding, HP Lordy. Now my friend and I were both interested so we clenched a deal with Helen, and the boys arrived in February 1998. Dusty was destined to be my all-purpose riding horse and Lordy an eventer.

What a hot little fella was Dusty, the first incident was the morning after delivery of him. I looked out the back paddock, and here was this beautiful yearling, running around the neighbours paddock. Now, hang on a moment, that’s Dusty, he should be in the neighbours stockyards almost 1 km away. It appears that he jumped out of these yards and was investigating the new surrounds. He had minimal handling, so was impossible to catch, but he followed my old pony back into the stock yards (we did some repairs) and hence began his education. It took a lot to break through the barriers, but believe me it was worth it.

I started him myself, and had a wonderful experience, a true learning curve about yourself and your abilities.

Dusty and I have done the clinic scene, at one stage it was pretty full on. Learnt a lot about horsemanship from all these different avenues, but now looking back I am happy with my type of horsemanship, we don’t have to fit into any moulds, and I so much prefer to do it our way with no pressure and demands from outside sources. We have attended ridden clinics with Ray Hunt, Leslie Desmond, Wayne Anderson, Luke Thomas, David Simmons, Dean Woods, Kerry Wiltshire, all these people have helped my along the way, some have influenced me greatly, others not. I have sat on the fence at some amazing clinics, Buck Brannaman’s in particular. The last one at Jindabyne was truly inspiring.

We have done the show scene, Dusty did a great job. He is triple registered, Morgan Horse Association of Australia #79, The Arabian Horse Society of Australia Limited - Part Bred Arabian #PG22148, and with the National Buckskin Society #V1477. I remember the 1998 Buckskin Nationals in Bendigo, he had a fan club, how exciting was that. It was great to compete and show his worth in Morgan classes as well as in Open Company. We were members of a local Adult Riding Club for a few years; again Dusty did a great job. Our first show with the ARC was not long after he had commenced his undersaddle career. I was so chuffed when one of his ribbons was for “best educated.” That is all over for us now, we are content with just poking around the place doing camping trips, and smelling the roses, so to speak.

Our trips have taken us to some great country, the favourite is the Bogong High Plains, you can just get lost in your own world up there. We love finding the brumbies. 5 day camps with the local riding club are great fun, we try to go to different areas each time.  Have been to many great places like Marlo, Limestone, Valencia Creek, 90-mile beach, Davies Plains, Pretty Valley, West Langfords, Native Dog Flats, Wonnangatta, Buffalo River, & Lake Wellington, just to name a few.

Altogether this is one special horse, he will have a life with me forever. He is so versatile, once we are into riding mode, well I wouldn’t hesitate to take him anywhere. He also is a great paddock companion for the youngsters, he takes no crap, but doesn’t hassle them either. I can pony horses from him, have done a 3 day pack trip, oh what fun was that. I think you are getting the picture. He is a very special horse, and I am so lucky to him in my life.

Another really special moment, well a lot of special moments, that came about because of this horse is the connection that I had with his breeder Helen Perry. Over the years we have become really special friends. She was so proud of Dusty and his achievements, and I couldn’t wait to share them with her, I remember one day at the National Morgan Show, Dusty had won the Part Bred Gelding honours, after we had left the ring, well I just couldn’t wait to tell her, so I was on the phone to Narrabri to share our good news, she was so proud. We lost Helen to Cancer a few years back; she honoured me by entrusting me with her favourite horse, a full sister to Dusty, HP Wind Dancer. Windy is another horse that will be with us till the end, we are planning to breed her with Red Bluff Mesmeric in the future.