Travel: Wanderlust in the West

B-COMPLETE BY BANANA FEEDS AUSTRALIA- THE GUT HEALTH REVOLUTION

Banana Feeds Australia has developed ‘B-Complete™, Nature’s Elite Equine Supplement’.

100% Australian owned, 100% Australian made, and a family business, Banana Feeds Australia has made waves within the equine supplement market in a truly short time. A 100% natural supplement focused on Equine Gut Health, and indeed a world first has resonated with the masses.

The patent protected product, consists of whole dried green bananas, including the skin, the pulp, the stem and the flower ends, and horse owners across the country are expressing disbelief about the positive results they are seeing.

WHY GREEN BANANAS AND WHY B-COMPLETE™?

Green bananas have long been the subject of intrigue, from use in the Sydney Olympics, to consumption in space, but with correct dosages of B-Complete™ the true benefits become obvious.

EQUINE GUT HEALTH -The health benefits that derive from supplementary feeding of dried green bananas are broad and include:

Green bananas have been shown to have antiulcerogenic properties, an area widely accepted as needing a solution in the equine industry, other than expensive medications.

The insoluble fibre act as prebiotics to favour the nourishment of microflora in the gut (particularly the hindgut) to stabilise the microbiome.

This stability in the gut promotes immune competence allowing horses to counter bacterial, fungal, viral, or parasitic challenges whilst also improving digestion, feed utilisation and temperament. Other reported benefits include: Antimicrobial, Hypoglycemics, and Anti-lithiatic (prevent kidney stones).

GENERAL WELL-BEING Active compounds like dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin all act to calm the animal and promote a sense of well-being, helping to make the animal more relaxed and easier to manage.

ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY Green banana is recognised as antioxidant rich, with a wide spectrum of antioxidant compounds (phenolics, carotenoids, ascorbic acid or Vitamin C, tocopherols or Vitamin E, dopamine, flavonoids, norepinephrine) which are primarily located in the peel. All improve gut health.

“B-Complete is widely used in our stable. It has had a profound impact on the performance of our horses. I consider it a game changer. Our horses are working better, performing better, getting better results - particularly the ones we know are ulcer-prone. Very happy.”

- David Tootell

“Since I have been using B-Complete, our racehorses have better gut digestion, are healthier & maintain their condition easily. Their coats are amazing. We also found it extremely beneficial for highly-strung horses, making them safer and more manageable.”

- Rob Wilkinson

Banana Feeds Australia Pty Ltd: 14 Ponzo Street, Woree, Cairns, QLD, 4868

TRAVEL

Wanderlust in the West

What is it about the West? SONIA CAEIRO ALVAREZ armchair travels to the ancient landscape of the Kimberley, home to one of the world’s most spectacular wilderness regions.

There’s nothing quite like a pandemic to bring out the wanderlust. As soon as we couldn’t travel, the deep urge to do so was magnified. Armchair travel has sufficed, sort of, for many of us who long for the sun on our skin, wind through our hair and the majesty of nature. The Kimberley abounds with such magic, and the lure of a riding holiday at Diggers Rest Station in WA’s East Kimberley region is a siren song that’s almost too much to bear.

Like many tourist operations, Diggers Rest paused at the outset of COVID-19. Now planning for a new normal and post-COVID future, it’s coming back with a streamlined approach for visitors to once again experience this ancient place.

Alida Woodland, one half of the working cattle station’s beating heart, together with husband Roderick, is both anxious and positive about the future, and admits the instability has been a challenge. “We had to shut down during the crisis because here we have a highly controlled biosecurity region,” she says. “We have a short season and under the new COVID-safe requirements it will need a lot of adaptation. There was a bit of paralysis but we’re confident we have a plan that will help us manage it.” Diggers Rest is flanked by the dramatic Cockburn Ranges to the west and the Erskine Ranges to the east. The station stands on 3,000 freehold acres, with a surrounding sublease that runs to 500,000 acres, and is a short 46 kilometre drive from the historic town of Wyndham. Horse riding, bush walking, bird watching, fishing and hiking are just some activities, or one can simply absorb the serenity from the comfortable veranda.

Roderick Woodland is a third generation Kimberley man. His grandfather Tom Woodland worked for the pioneer pastoralist Durack family, and later for decades managed Newry, Ord River and Moolabulla stations. Despite attempts in the 1920s to run cattle on Diggers Rest, it was not until the 1970s when Roderick began working on the then abandoned land, that a lease was eventually granted in 1976. The property’s name refers to the returning WWI diggers who worked the pumping station supplying fresh water to Wyndham. The old station remains on a nearby waterhole. Trekking and trail rides, originally called the Kimberley Pursuits in honour of the stockmen and the pioneering years of the Kimberley, began in 1986.

The Woodlands’ beloved horses are the lifeblood of every aspect of the station and their care is an acute focus. “We run our horses as a natural herd,” Alida says. “Those being worked run in several hundred acres of house paddocks, and the ones spelling or retired run in a 30,000 acre paddock. This lets them continue to behave

MAIN: Pelican Hole Crossing – great for a rest and a sip of cool water.

LEFT: Roderick and Tomboy share a peaceful moment.

BELOW RIGHT: L-R: Anzac, Roderick and Alida Woodland, and Nyarlie.

like horses and prevents habits that can potentially develop when they’re kept in more confined spaces. We do a great deal of groundwork with our horses, and find this keeps them calm, trusting, sociable and well behaved. All our working horses are hot shod by an excellent farrier who is flown up from Perth. Roderick is a very good farrier with a very bad back, so the extra help is invaluable.”

An unmatched Australian bush

adventure - trekking ancient river systems and generation-old drover stock routes, picturesque sandstone escarpments, waterholes, alluvial plains and tidal rivers, and campfires by billabongs under the stars - is the