18/10/2026
* LIFE IN A VORTEX OF MIRACLES *
‘Vortex’ (noun) - specifically, positive vortex: A concentrated centre of swirling electromagnetic energy flowing in a clockwise, upward spiral away from the ground.
Now if there's one thing sharing daily life with a horse family instead of a human family has taught me, it's that good old-fashioned miracles exist in plentiful quantities.
Take Koszi's 110% recovery back to his original strength and complete Brumby agility - hind leg good as new (sporting a scar to be proud of) following months of vet care, home care, confinement in our little sand yard and dedicated rehab - after being sliced open to the bone on fencing wire in Sep 2025 🙏
Then there was Saxon's near miss with a potentially fatal injury in Oct 2020, puncturing a front hoof on a 10cm piece of remnant fencing wire buried in the ground decades earlier, which I'd unwittingly had fenced into a horse paddock. The jagged rusted piece penetrated the fleshy digital cushion through his sole, critically missing the pedal bone by millimetres. Ten days of intensive vet care and home care, cooped up in the sand yard, and he also was good as new 🙏🙏
The day my Rottweiler 'Vale' took it upon herself while I was out to eliminate the risk posed to her family by a 1 metre long brown snake that somehow made its way into our 2x3m laundry. I arrived home to find she'd become locked in the tiny space with one very dead (and very lethal) snake, proud as punch and, as it transpired, completely unscathed 🙏🙏🙏
There's our c.100 year old barn, affectionately named Barney (note - just Barney, not Barney Rubble) still standing tall and proud after yet another winter of heavy rainfall and wild winds, providing astonishing protection from the elements to everything stored under its sagging iron roof 🙏🙏🙏🙏
My miracle index finger on my invaluable right hand - the miracle being I still have my whole finger, after the worst on-property accident I've had in my eight years of living here, just before Christmas last year. Nothing to do with horses or machinery, it happened in my kitchen (always the way) 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
There's 8 year old Rori's handwritten letter, shared here with her permission and my immense pride, that made it against all odds to 'Miss Mel and Scout' at our rural residential address when in fact we don't qualify for a postal service (note the RTS stamp above her beautiful drawing of Gypsy Cob 'Scout') 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
I could (and one day, will) write a book on the multiple miracles ex racehorse 'Quattro' and I've experienced together since 2021 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
And then there's Scout himself.
In February this year, while our vet was doing annual dental exams for all the horses, I booked an X ray of Scout's hind leg where I'd felt a small bony bump under the hair.
The diagnosis was the worst possible - a shocking case of degenerative arthritis the vet suspected had been gradually getting worse for 5+ years, in a joint that "horses can't live without" (the fetlock). Too far gone for treatment and certainly no hope of a cure, euthanasia on the spot was offered. Instead, I quietly accepted a supply of the standard drug to manage his pain on an as-needs basis.
But Scout looked so well, so happy ? He'd just found his purpose here with us not 18 months earlier, and he's only 11 years old - how could this be possible?
A teary me sought answers from past owners who very kindly took my phone calls on the day and suggested I consider herbal pain relief for his quality of life. No answers came, so I consulted equine herbalists for the right blend and threw myself into organising 'love shifts' for all our guests who knew and loved Scout to come and spend time with him. Just to let him know how loved he is.
We all agreed Scout would let me know when it was time. I started tuning into him very closely, monitoring him several times a day, and continue to do so.
He sailed through the cold nights of winter, lying down, rolling in the mud and getting up on his strong side. I'm so happy to tell you Rori and her grandmother Joanne Russell were here recently, a couple of weeks ago, and Scout has never been more well! In his element, I introduced him to Rori and… the rest is now documented history.
Proudly displayed on my fridge.
To date, there’s been no need to give Scout any pain medication, for which I am consciously grateful every day. Maybe back in 2021 when I chose to align myself with the practices of traditional land management known as Regenerative Agriculture (in essence 'The Earth knows what it needs to heal itself') to benefit the soil and water here in our valley - maybe I tapped into something much more ethereal? Setting off the positive vortex I find my horses, Rotties and I living in?
Giving thanks this evening for Scout being here to meet Rori, for his health and happiness, for Rori's touching letter that I'll treasure until I'm old and very grey, and for the privileged life I lead connecting our guests with my horses and our home. Eighty acres of paradise.
Our Valley of Regeneration 🙏✨🙏✨🙏✨🙏💫
-Mel McLaren,
Founder & Guide
