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The Sun
Wednesday September 2, 2015
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Les Whiteside
Ploughing perfection returns Continued from page 1 The 12 horses are usually based at Erewhon Station in Mid Canterbury along with 50 others in the care of Colin Drummond and his partner Erin Cassie. The Clydesdales prove more effective on the harsh landscape than modern farm machinery. Erin says the 35,000 acre property at the top of the Rangitata Gorge that Colin has owned since 1998 suits a hard-working horse rather than machinery. “We have a station with two major rivers that flood often so the horses handle that and the terrain much better.
“We have a saying that a Clydesdale only gets stronger with work where farm machinery starts to breakdown over time. The Station runs Merino Sheep, Hereford Cattle and includes a large Clydesdale Horse Stud where they currently have 65 horses on site. Erin says both she and Colin like to keep the Clydesdale breed in the public eye and see the Marlborough Ploughing Association event as a key part of their calendar. “We’ve been coming up for six years now and we love doing it because the Blenheim people are so friendly and supportive of us.” Erin and Colin use horses because
they are predominately quicker to ride most places, and it doesn’t matter what the river is doing, they can still get back. The Clydesdale team started off as a hobby, but have turned into a costefficient way of getting the crops in the ground and getting around the station safely. Erin says they can fit 10 horses in their horse float but would likely “add on a trailer and tinker a bit” to ensure 12 made it up. “We like to loan them out from time-to-time to people who are interested in them. “The Clydesdale is very reliable and pleasant natured to be around,”
Erin says. “We get a bit blasé about the risk of being kicked or hurt; they’re very strong but very placid.” They also breed Clydesdales with thoroughbred horses occasionally which makes for a more athletic and powerful horse. The event will be held at the Jordan Property, Jacksons Road, Blenheim from 11am to 3pm on Saturday and Sunday with gold coin entry. Vintage class t ractors a nd ploughs will compete to represent Marlborough at the New Zealand 2016 final. There will also be farm animal and dog demonstrations. For more see page 18.
Katrina Whiteside
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TWICE WEEKLY
Tamati de Wildt, 4, knows the importance of always blowing on his toasted marshmallow. A group of Mayfield Kingergarten kids sit around the fire toasting marshmallows.
Sammy Hardwick and Coban Gorrie, 4, share a laugh as they toast their marshmallows.
Toasted marshmallow’s a hit By Jacob Page Mayfield Kindergarten children were just one of a number of groups that made the most of International Toasted Marshmallow Day on Friday. Teacher Kathryn Richards says the kindergarten was always excited
to use their fire pot to cook on and International Marshmallow Day was a great opportunity for a bit of fun and a way to teach fire safety with the children. Youth Trust Events co-ordinator Deedee Brancroft says there was
anywhere between 200 and 400 people who came to the event at Liz Davidson Place and they went through 1000’s of packets of marshmallows. There was a whole different range of people there, mostly intermediate and
teens but there were also parents with younger kids who got involved too. The Marlborough Youth Trust were happy with the way things were run and there were no accidents. Deedee says they will run it again next year.
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