The Horse Downunder Magazine

The March Edition of The Horse Downunder Magazine is out on the news stands from March 1.

Extreme Equestrienne - Lady Sara, Jousting Knight
How brave, talented and extremely exciting is Sarah Hay? Otherwise known as Lady Sara in the jousting list, Sarah rides in red, white and blue livery and her motto is to ride and live with courage, passion and integrity. Few people have a good understanding of what jousting actually is. In the past, knights on horseback were essentially weapons of war aiming to kill their opponents. This evolved into friendly tournaments with much fanfare but still fierce competitiveness.

Beyond Billabong
Beyond Billabong is a personal development training program for indigenous youth held in Longreach, Queensland. The programme stemmed from the work conducted with the Waanyi People who are 51% owners of the Lawn Hill and Riversleigh Pastoral Holding Company in Queensland's Gulf Country.

Noss - Casterton, Victoria
Our property profile this month is one of the oldest holdings in the Western District of Victoria. Noss sits high up on the hills overlooking the Glenelg River, just minutes from the picturesque and gum tree cladded town of Casterton. If you are in the market to purchase a beautiful lucrative property, Noss will be Auction through Landmark on March 26th.

Re-enactment of Nackeroo Patrol
Amanda Hunt went to see the Regimental Sergeant Major Wayne Lampard with an idea - to celebrate Norforce's 25th birthday. Amanda's idea was to re-enact history. The North Australia Observation Unit, nicknamed the Nackeroos was created in mid March 1942, a week after the top end of Australia was bombed. Their job was to be the eyes and ears of Australia's north as it was now well and truly known that Australia was a target and with our large coastlines in the north this was a very real threat. The unit was barely 550 strong and they were sent out sometimes months at a time on horseback patrolling Australia's toughest country. Amanda's idea was to spend some time re-living what those soldiers endured and re-trace some of their footsteps.

How To Rear A Poddy
Whatever the reason, opportunities arise frequently to rear a poddy. Be it a calf, foal, camel, goat, sheep or any other animal. This is a quick guide on how to rear a poddy carf or a poddy foal.

Snowy River Festival
The 2009 Snowy River Festival was a true reflection of the vision of its dedicated volunteers. Once again the Snowy River and its region's rich heritage was celebrated with a large range of historical displays and demonstrations.

Marc Gallagher
Performing the lead role in one of Australia's most successful shows is a long way from chasing cows and fixing fences for Australian Outback Spectacular's Marc Gallagher. The former Ringer, who hails from the Outback community of Comet in the Central Highlands, is enjoying the adventure which has taken him far from his home.

The Guy Fawkes Brumbies
The rugged and remote gorge country of the Guy Fawkes River National Park in northern NSW near Armidale is home to a brumby population. They have been in the Guy Fawkes area since the early 1830's when the land was opened up to farming.

The Waler Horse
Horses arrived in Australia in 1788 with the First Fleet. During the following years horses arrived on many ships coming to the colony of New South Wales, as it was soon realised that horses were going to have an important role in the development of this remote and vast continent. Horses thrived on the native grasses and became hardy living out in the open range, surpassing all expectations. From early days, breeding good horses became a priority for the Government and some of the free settlers. The colony was expanding and it became necessary for draft breeds to be introduced to work the land, coaching breeds to move new settlers over the great distances, as well as good riding horses and ponies. A number of marines and free settlers took up the challenge to be involved in horse breeding on the large tracts of land offered by the Government. Some of the earliest breeds to arrive included Thoroughbred, Arabian Suffolk Punch, Clydesdale, Shire, Cleveland Bay, Welsh Cob, coaching breeds, Hackney, Percheron, Timor Pony and many of the British native ponies. Horse owners began mixing many of the breeds in an attempt to come up with a strong versatile horse that would fill the bill as a riding horse, cart horse, coach horse and to be put into the plough when needed. A wonderful uniquely Australian horse, which became known as The Waler.

SCATER Competitive Trail Riding in Australia
Have you ever thought of challenging your horse skills and riding abilities whilst enjoying a trail ride? Well, follow the pink tape and find out about SCATER Competitive Trail Rides. SCATER stands for Sunshine Coast Area Trail and Endurance Riders. In south East Queensland this friendly bunch of people holds about five CTR's a year as well as navigational rides, trail rides and often a camp, usually over a long weekend. Competitors travel many kilometres to enjoy Competitive Trail Rides which are held in a variety of places such as Elimbah and Morayfield in the south and up to Pomona and Gympie further north.

Liz's Station Cooking
Garlic Prawns, Garlic Prawn Cob Loaf and Chicken pinwheels.

The Adventures of Billy Bunkup
One for the children, The Adventures of Billy Bunkup, written and illustrated by the delightful saddle-maker Col Hood. Adventure 11 sees Billy meet Justin Morgan.

Reminisce with Ro
Let your mind wander back in time and reminisce with Ro. A Bush Christmas describes how wonderful Christmas is, and how the preparation for Christmas was just as important as the day itself. One thing is very obvious, things that were considered a treat fifty years ago are well and truly taken for granted by the children of today. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to wind back time?

Ute Downunder
Kev and Gaylene Herrmann own this gorgeously different Salmon pink 1990 Toyota Land cruiser. Pink is for Breast Cancer research and also is high visibility for a work vehicle. This vehicle is setup for Vehicle recovery, getting down into gullies where vehicles need to be pulled out or vehicles that are stuck on plateau or even retrieving vehicles that are off road.

We feature three fabulous clubs
in this edition:

North East Trail Horse Riders Club (Packhorse and Hut work n Victoria's North East)
Castlemaine Pony Club
The Burdekin Quarter Horse Cutting Club Association

We have some great photo coverage
of shows and events from all over Australia including: