Mountain Cattlemen's Get-Together 2011
(First published in Australian Performance Horse magazine Apr-May 2011).
Mountain Cattlemen's Get-Together 2010
(First published in Australian Performance Horse magazine Apr-May 2010).
(First published in Australian Performance Horse magazine Apr-May 2010).
ARTICLE/ PHOTOS: James Vereker
Mountain Cattlemen’s
Get-Together
A bush heritage
festival in the High Country
Summer heat, dust and flies did not deter thousands of
far-flung overlanders from camping in the bush to attend the January get-together
hosted by the Mountain Cattlemen’s Association of Victoria. This year it was
held in West Gippsland near Boisdale at Wombat Crossing on the Avon River. The languid
stream provided cool relief to people, dogs and horses on a hot, long weekend.
The annual get-together is a great way for cattlemen and
their families to renew connections, promote their unique issues and contribute
to keeping their High Country heritage alive in the company of a throng of
urban-based supporters.
HIGH COUNTRY HERITAGE
MOUNTAIN CATTLEMEN and their associates are a hardy bunch who
have lobbied successive state governments long and hard for sensible approaches
to conservation, fire management and continued access to our public lands. The
disastrous bushfires of Black Saturday 2009 bear out some of their wisdom, as
cattleman, Chris Commins explains, “It is not climate change that is the
problem but fuel loads. Grazing and ‘cool fire’ (reduction burning) are
complementary and go hand in hand with good management.”
The decision in 2005 to cancel all grazing leases in the
Alpine National Park has irreparable consequences for creating wildfires and given
that fuels build up at a rate of ‘one tonne per hectare per year’, according to
David Packham OAM, a research fellow at Monash University, “If the fuels exceed
about eight tonnes a hectare, disastrous fires can and will occur.” Severing
cattlemen from their traditional leases is a prime concern too, best expressed
in their charter: “…the intimate knowledge of the land, the culture and living
Australian heritage of the Mountain Cattlemen is in grave danger of being lost
to Australia forever.”
THE FESTIVAL PROGRAM
The main stockman’s challenge is the Mountain Cattlemen’s
Junior and Senior Cups involving a stockhorse obstacle course and a bush race.
The Obstacle Course consists of opening a branch gate, passing through brush, picking
up a calf, crossing a sea-saw ramp, reversing between logs, leading the horse
over a hurdle, then donning an oilskin jacket, remounting, cutting a target
with a ‘snake killer’ whipcrack, clearing a log jump and finally, dismounting
to close the gate - within the time limit.
The race for the Junior Cattlemen’s Cup was run at a fearless
pace with girls taking the honours. Marika Angove on ‘Street Wise’, won from Micaela
Vanwinden on ‘Kojak’ and Sammy Lizars on ‘Kardy’. Several tailenders were left
stranded by the dust.
Other bush horse events included a Sprint Race won by
Catherine Marriot on ‘Rosie’, an Open Race won by Chris Connley on ‘Cascade
Blue’ and a Walking Horse Race was won by Don Euendon. A feature event was the “Frank
Ryan Memorial Australian Packhorse Championships”, which provided a trifecta for
the Forge family with Graham winning the Men’s from super veteran Ron Connley
and Kane Lamperd. The Ladies’ was won by Ann-Maree Forge and the Juniors by their
daughter, Ellen.
Crowd-pleasers were the Haystacking pairs events with Jo and
Tab Ashlin winning the Ladies’, while Ben and Leo Conway won the Men’s. Tug-O-Wars
provided great drama with the humungous ‘Victor Bravos’ victorious in the Men’s
and the ‘Wombat Warriors’ in the Ladies’. The poetry competition, heritage
photography, vintage machinery displays, camp oven cooking, blacksmithing, bush
timber skills and woodchop competition provided a variety of bush entertainment
- complemented by catering and trade stalls.
GET-TOGETHER HIGHLIGHTS
In the congestion of the shade and bar environs during the
Saturday afternoon heat, competitors in the Whipcracking entertained the crowd.
Experienced performers in Aleshia Sievers and Diana Hurley gave rhythmic and
varied double-handed routines including manoeuvres such as the ‘Queensland
Cross-over’ and ‘Tasmanian Cutback’, while vying for the Ladies and Open
Championships – both won by Aleisha. 14-year old Paige Williams came a
creditable third to Diana and was second to Luke Higgins in the Juvenile
section. Even the Juniors had a crack with Jacqueline Davies winning from
Emilique East and Sophie Clark in the ten years and under category.
A very entertaining event was the Dog High Jump where
contenders scaled planks to ever higher levels until some faltered, teetered
and fell with gravity into the hands of handlers. A black and tan two-year old
Kelpie, ‘George’ owned by Hugh McWhinney, lead the pack to stave off his last
adversary, ‘Colette’ - another kelpie - to win. After failing on his second
record attempt, ‘George’ finally triumphed like a true champion, with a new
height of 2.92 metres.
The main drawcard on the program are the fast and furious
bush horse races, which culminate with the Junior and Senior Cattlemen’s Cups on
the Sunday afternoon. In the latter event, Neil Waite riding his thoroughbred,
‘Sam’, showed the field a clean pair of heels down the opening straight leading
into the first turn and was never headed. His strategy for the down and uphill
course of 2350 metres was simple, “Once I saw the Junior’s race earlier, I knew
that I had to get to the lead early. Otherwise, you didn’t have a chance if you
got lost in the dust”, says Neil. Dust? Yes, billowing clouds of dust that
blanketed anyone coming beyond third, down a dry gully to the river, forcing
many riders to put on the ‘air brakes’. Dean Prendergast was second, on ‘Spur’,
with Brett Lancaster third, on ‘Grey Mare’. This was Waite’s second win in the
cup, on his 17-year old, 15.3hh gelding, who has an enviable record of 18 wins
and 2 seconds from 20 starts. Neil received cash, a sash, cup and prizes for
his win and enjoyed a beer at the bar afterwards waxing-lyrical over his
well-earned success.
The auction at the end of the festivities, featuring the
polished wooden bar tops decorated with ‘Snowy River Country Brands’, crafted
specially by the Duncan family, created spirited bidding - selling to keen collectors.
The overwhelming aspect of the venue was the camping area,
which resembled a small town of single and family campers with comfortable
‘grey ghosts’ in predominance. Constitutional walks to the river, often with
pairs of dogs in hand, were a welcome part of their weekend routine - where
swimmers and horses could be seen at any time of day. They could also take advantage
of a grandstand view of the evening concerts by bands “The Longhorns” with
Tracey Killeen, “Truckin with Tim”, “Supersonic” and “Code 1”performing down
the slope. Many make it an annual pilgrimage eagre to share in the mateship of
the bush.
FUTURE CATTLEMEN
A noticeable influx of regional politicians to the Get-Together
on the Saturday afternoon heralded an announcement on the adoption of a ‘pro-grazing’
policy by the Victorian state opposition – the best news for cattlemen since
the fateful 2005 decision to cancel grazing leases – but the government is yet
to be persuaded. Meanwhile, the Mountain Cattlemen are scheduling a series of heritage
rides to visit sites of former leases to share historic connections and oral
history stretching back 175 years before it is lost to new generations. True to
their motto, “Mountain Cattlemen care for the High Country” but remain
excluded.
Visit their official website www.mcav.com.au
for information. See more Mountain Cattlemen’s Get-Together 2010 photos at www.horsephotographics.com.au ©James Vereker 2010
(First published in Australian Performance Horse magazine Apr-May 2010).
