JJ'S at the Marina

Petra: What are the typical mistakes people make when transitioning Brumbies to farm animals or domestic life?

Claire: The biggest one is they treat them like a domestic horse, or they treat them like a pet. They are neither, they are a wild horse with huge differences. So, when you treat them and train them like a domestic horse, you create what is called: ‘shutdown’. This is when way too much pressure is put on those sensors I was talking about earlier. The horse just says: ‘No.’ It's like if you take a bunch of guys and put them in a cell measuring 5 x 5 metres. Suddenly they all shut down, stand there, and just stare and don't talk! That's what you've done to the wild horse that you've shut down. The only way they can survive is by shutting down. What happens then is once you put them out in some space, that shutdown turns into a breakdown - like literally, they have to get rid of all that stress and pressure and usually they explode by pretending, like people pretend, that they're a great little kids pony and suddenly when they get out in the bush, they buck the breakfasts out of those kids. That's what shut-down is about. Also, they're not a pet; they're not there for you to groom, pat, or put pink rugs on. They need the respect for their heritage as a wild horse. This means they need an environment to live in that has space in which to move and run. Also, the little foals should not be paraded around like a pet dog in somebody's kitchen or fed by humans without any connection to their mob.

Brumbies need to be with other Brumbies in a mob type arrangement, because really, they can't live happily on their own. So there are lots of things that are being done wrong in the transition of the Brumbies into domestic life.

Petra: Can you describe the process of how you train the Brumby when it comes to the timeline. What are the stages of working with a wild Brumby to train it into a balanced animal and how long does it take?

Claire: Ok, it's also relative to age. So, if you can imagine, when a Brumby is under the age of, say, two, the training has to be like Kindergarten. You can't go straight into training; you have to sort of familiarize the Brumby to get it used to wanting to train; but you can't put too much on a young brain. When it reaches the age of between two and four, it's like in Primary School and you can begin your first steps, if you get the building blocks right. By the time it's five, its body is fully developed, and then it's like at High School, and it's ready to learn and you're ready to set it up to graduate into the roll of a riding horse. However, you can't sell it as a riding horse until after five. So in our training with the Brumbies we take the wild ones in here as fillies which means they are only young female horses. We can't take colts at the moment because we can't risk our other mares falling pregnant, as colts may be able to sire, by the time they're two, particularly when you take them out of the park, you can't age them very well. So you don’t know!

So when we take-in our fillies, we need to give them the ability to grow; to adapt to living in domesticity; and to get used to us. Our training method is for them to join-up with our lead mares - Sammy and Sunny and to come up to the house with them and learn how to be fed and handled and being in yards. Also we start the groundwork of join-up. I was in the round yard with little Nifty yesterday. She came in, so I took a feed bucket down there as she walked into the round yard. They love the round yard, these Brumbies, they just love it. They line up to go in there and I have to keep them out by saying: ‘one at a time!’ Nifty and I would play together and we danced together and through that dancing, she allowed me to pat her and go to her when she sniffed me. I rubbed her on the forehead and then patted her all over.

Then we introduce the halter and the lead rope and work all around their feet and we get them so familiar with being handled that by the time they reach two we can put a bareback saddle-pad on them; we can float them; and we can do anything with them as they've got total trust in us. So people might tell me that they can go to a Brumby training clinic and within four days, they can get an unhandled wild Brumby and be riding it and I'll tell them: ‘Yep, I agree. It's a piece of cake!’

The older ones, they'll just shut down and let you do whatever you want, but that's not training and that's not join-up and as soon as that Brumby has a choice, it will get rid of you. We do the opposite. We want that Brumby to swim across the river and walk up every morning for training. I don't go get them; they come in now and that's what we want for all our Brumbies. Sammy and Sunny choose to come in off 300 acres – now that's choice.

Claire: Firstly, I acknowledge the Ngarigo People, Indigenous First Peoples of this land. I believe that my role with this land is to create. It used to be a goat farm so I'm bringing it back into a wild place again and I don't know why but every time I see a new Brumby come in, or even groups of wild Brumbies the first time they go down to the river, paw at it, play in it, and then swim across it and run out the other side up the mountain, I just go: ‘how much like Heaven is this?’ Because it gives these Brumbies that mountain stream; that ability to play in fresh water; and to drink out of a stream, not a bucket, not a trough; and that to them is natural. So people, and my friend Banksie with his new Brumby, have said that within two days, any Brumby that comes here has changed and it's not a training, it has to be the lead mares, the environment, that river and its sounds, the pace. It's like they found home again for they are Snowy Mountains Brumbies and they’re home. It just opens up their trust in us and I'm very grateful for that.

Petra: What brings the most joy?

Claire: Joy. Shallow joy, or just shallow happiness - having that nice cake, or that nice coffee in town with friends. I'm just saying that's your day-to-day happiness and joy. However, the thing is, we're all here on this earth for a very short period of time and there's something more magical about being here than just what you're wearing that day; or what you're buying online; or what you're eating at that restaurant for lunch. What brings me joy, are those connections I have with these wild horses that transitions me from the day to day into what life really means. Like yesterday with Nifty, when she finally let me hug her when she came up and put her head to my head and we just stood there with our foreheads touching. It's the ‘wild horse’ in me. I had my hand on her and we just stood. For me, it was like our brains connected. I know it sounds bizarre, but it was like we were ‘in transition’ to each other. It was like just a moment and then we stepped back, and I just went: ‘thank you’. I suppose not many people get that understanding and I hear of people doing it when they’re scuba diving and a whale or big orca comes in and connects with them - when an animal chooses to know you. It's like two aliens have finally got a common language and so pretty incredible! That gives me joy.

Petra: I understand that through Covid, you decided to write a book. What’s it about?

Claire: Oh, thank you. Someone once said to me that loneliness is the best creativity and I was given loneliness not from the Brumbies, but from human beings through COVID. Also, I had a fair few things happen which then isolated me further from nearly every human being and touch. So during that, I felt like my life here was nearing an end and so I wrote my story, as well as: the Brumby story; the story of how this began with the Brumbies; and the stories of Sammy, Sunny and Bindi. Also, I wrote the stories of the fires; the story of how we began our horsemanship training; the stories of COVID, and of coming through injury and back to where we are and where I am today!

The book is called: ‘A Wild Horse Way’. Also, it goes into a wild sort of way of training, which is different, and it sort of questions and hopefully will open people's minds to the differences in training, and also through training, open up our minds as human beings to what's important. I’m at the final stage of editing and hope that somehow in the future, it will be published, and the story of the Brumby will be shared with mine. I'm hoping also, if people can't come and actually feel and see, they could read this story, and it could open their minds to what's going on with these Brumbies. Now I need to go sit down and do that final editing. It's got lots of beautiful photos. I think anyone could read it, whether you're a horse person, and definitely if you're not. It contains lots of funny moments and learning and growth.

I think in a way, it was a blessing – it is a blessing. It's a transition and we have the opportunity now, right with the Brumbies for a different voice and a different perspective for our society and my God, let us hope we don't just get bamboozled back into choosing the next outdoor setting for the next lunch barbeque. Instead, let's look at something deeper than that.

Petra: Yes, it's like that, isn't it? It's very much like: ‘lets escape with a barbeque and alcohol and have fun somewhere beautiful’ - that kind of thing.

Claire: Yes, I'm tired of it. Having every TV show reality thing about the next resort and what the next vacation should be, whatever action they're going to make up with next jargon word. I want people to be more real, more in depth. So the book was about reaching deep in and I wrote some pretty funny stuff, but there's some hard truths in there too. So, ‘Yes’ I wrote it initially for my grandchildren and then I thought if anyone else reads it that would always be a bonus. However, I've had a few people read it now from very different backgrounds, and everyone is being touched by it and I'm very grateful as I'm not a very good writer. I'm not a very good linguistic person, but I'm hoping that it's okay enough for people to love it.

Petra: It's the message and I'm not a good writer in English. To me it's like the most frightening thing to do something in another language, but I did it a few years ago in my book: ‘Life Rocks’. I wanted to show my son that and anything is possible.

Claire: Anything is possible and it’s true? So even on our Facebook page, people sort of ask: why do I write our Facebook page? It's not Brumby the way it is but it's always from the horse's perspective and it's always about each Brumby we have here because, again, when you just see them like a sheep in a herd, you don't see them as individual souls. So each chapter of the book is about a Brumby and their soul; what they saw what they opened up to us here at a certain times; and how we changed training from what they taught us.

Facebook: Snowy Brumby Horsmanship Images: © Massimo Montebello and Petra Jungmanova

DAY 9

JJ’s at The Marina is one of the great local businesses that has an arrangement with local fisherman and serves the fresh catch on its menu. After having a fabulous meal – the best fresh mussels I’ve had - in this perfectly located seaside restaurant, I decided to find out more about it and its owner. I arranged to meet the owner, Jacob Crook and have a yarn about life over another bowl of muscles in blue cheese sauce (for which I paid). So, if you love seafood, sun, blue skies and endless horizons, this place is the ultimate comfort food destination on your travels. Now for a little self-indulgent yarn from me!

For everyone living in the Canberra region and proximity to Sydney, Bateman’s Bay is a well-known playground for people of all ages and backgrounds. This small, laidback seaside town is perfectly located on the Clyde River and the Pacific Ocean to provide endless recreational outlets like fishing, water skiing, boating, diving, surfing, bushwalking and wonderful natural beauty. It is filled with tourist parks, hotels and B&Bs. Throughout the year and especially when it warms up, its streets fill with tourists on the weekends and holidays - mostly Canberran’s searching for the perfect seaside fix and escape.

JJ’s fits perfectly and distinctively into this milieu. I found it on my way to another yarn one sunny afternoon and keep coming back for a giant bowl of muscles with beer in the ultimate waterfront spot overlooking the entrance to the sea with beautiful bush and island surroundings. Despite the bushfires, floods and Covid, there are still plenty of opportunities for a spontaneous, old-fashioned road trip to have lunch somewhere; explore beaches you’ve never been before; collect shells; buy a book in the local bookshop; or find a special place with a wonderful view; and then head back in twilight.

As I travel a lot, for me location, functionality, good variety of local seasonal food, and friendly people are always the things I seek first and appreciate immensely. While it seems clear Australia is slowly turning into ‘another America’ with carbohydrate loaded and deep-fried oversized meals seemingly becoming the norm, I absolutely love coming across places with trained and friendly staff, and fresh local food on the menu. You wouldn’t think it too much to expect from a hospitality industry in a serious crisis! So, every time I get professional service with a smile, it’s a joyous and rare occasion. So, seeing the relaxed atmosphere at JJ’s at The Marina while sipping on my Corona waiting for the giant bowl of mussels to arrive and looking out onto the glistening water, birds flying by with the occasional little boat passing, I can’t help but feel how my whole body relaxes. What a treat to know this is waiting there for me each time I drive through Bateman’s Bay.

The South Coast of NSW to me seems a unique part of the world, full of natural beauty and without manufacturing industries. So, the livelihoods of many locals depend on the tourists. Dotted with cafes and restaurants, locals are proudly serving scones, long breakfasts and lunches, and lazy dinners, smiling to fellow travellers while making a living for themselves and their families. I have had my fair share of hospitality work since coming to Australia from small cafes to high-end dining and I have a big love and appreciation for all hard-working hospitality people serving those of us who are going out on first dates, special personal occasions, holidays, or just relaxing, for they must watch from the other side, while their loved ones are home. I have a strong belief that every single person should have the experience of serving people. It’s such a rich life-changing experience and you will never not say thank you and not be nice to people who ‘serve you’ in various food outlets ever again. Afterall, everyone really just wants the same things to: live well, love and be loved, and see people in their worlds happy.

Everyone got affected by Covid and unfortunately for the South Coast, the devastating bushfires made their brutal mark first. Many people along the Coast lost their homes and rentals and so are living in caravans and cars. Covid was the last straw for this battered Region. Tourism is an essential life blood for these small communities and so hospitality can become a valid career job like any other and not just a casual fill-in. So, we weekend travellers are very lucky to be able to go to these lovingly managed places for our coffee and meals. Seeing how many places didn’t make it through these challenges makes me sad. Please, next time you are planning your beach adventure, consider supporting local businesses more - you are helping to pay for a roof over someone’s head, or a meal, or school shoes for some kids. Surely not too much to ask?

Visit: https://jjsatthemarina.com.au/ Images: © Petra Jungmanova and Dreamstime