Happy birthday to all horses.

Today is August 1, and it’s the universal and worldwide birthday celebration of all horses born into this world; each horse moves on one year in age today.

The best situation is the one existing for all horses born on August 2 last year. They have had a full year before turning one.

If my father had been a horse, then he would be one year old, one day after birth. My father was born on July 31, in the year of his birth.

I suppose this is hardly fair on horses, but there has to be a cut off somewhere and that’s what this day has become.

So happy birthday to all horses from the Shetland ponies of the Shetland Isles to the plodding old draft horses still used in some parts of the world, to the racing horses, racing on tracks all over and around the world. To all foals, all fillies, all stallions and horses of all colour.

I think especially today of the brumbies in the highlands. Those in the high country of Victoria and New South Wales may feel a little under the pump because they’re not always highly regarded.

The song “Brumby Jack” comes to mind. This was one of my favourite songs, one that I used to teach children when a teacher. I’ve seen children and spoken to them 35 years on, where as adults they still remember the song.

That I suppose is a slight digression, but I do like horses, and I do want to wish all those four-legged creatures belonging to the equine kingdom a very, very happy birthday for today.