The Makings of a Tomboy

I sometimes wonder what my life would be like if I had stayed inside and kept house with my Mum. I am the youngest of three in my family and was the long awaited girl for my very feminine mother. Mum made me dresses, painted my life pink and called me 'princess'. But with two older brothers I looked up to and my Dad as my best mate, there was nothing going to keep me indoors. I rode the horses fast, I played in the mud, I rode a boy's pushbike, I shot the air rifle, and I despised my pink frilly clothes. 20 years later and not much has changed. I still ride my horses fast, I get dirty most days at work, I now ride a 250cc motorbike and shoot a .222, and I'm still most comfortable in jeans and my lace-ups.

But it's not always easy being a country girl. It's fine if you have a long blond pony-tail, wear tight jeans and a cut off t-shirt, but the reality is I'm not in a Luke Bryan film clip. I get dirty, I look ugly at work, I swear too often, and I behave like a man to get by in a man's world. I still come across people who assume that I don't go fencing, or use the chainsaw, or break in horses because I'm a girl and they're 'men's jobs'. But there are plenty of women out there like me, doing those jobs and doing them well. Some because they have to, some because they want to. But they're out there doing it and people should know that. I'm glad I chose to stay outside and hang with my Dad when I was a kid. I love what I do and I'm proud to be counted amongst those women out there everyday working on the farm.