Australia's cowboys quit helicopters for horses

it started around 30 years ago when Australian Stockman jumped out of the saddle and onto the trail back to do the mustering on the big stations the jobs done today with bikes quads four-wheel drives and helicopters but everything comes with a cost and in this case it's the maintenance of expensive machinery and damage to harried cattle so now some in the cattle industry are getting back on the horse and as Anthony hi reports that means teaching a new generation of Stockman how to saddle up and ride there is no end to what you can learn from this horse the horsemanship as far as I'm concerned it's not a destination it's a journey for life on cattle stations throughout Australia that journey is all but over horses have given way to machines and Stockman have dropped the reins and left the horse behind it's getting harder and harder to get followers to come into this country and as far as the riding deal will most keeps now go up with scooters and motorbikes and for lapping of trail bikes so they get full realize that but that's what sort of taken over a lot on the land is its make an oyster men like Phil rody and purse Crumlin belonged to a generation that seen the gradual decline of the horse in rural Australia but what you're trying to get done is to get to where eventually you have two more to come one / scrum one is regarded as one of the beef industry senior statesman currently overseeing the horse breeding program for the stanbro pastoral company like helicopters only came in in the 1960s when we couldn't clean up TV or we've much the paddock get to get every beast so we went back to mushroom with horses and helicopters combined and of course because sometimes we've been very short of labor well the helicopters sort of got a bit of a go on Perce was recruited by the late Robert Holmes a court to sort out the mechanized mayhem on the iconic Victoria River Downs in the northern territory known australia-wide as the big run there's 22 station that station but they they've done all everywhere else too but back to is hardly any horses used on the place and the cattle were quite out of in it became known as rip tear and bust mustering bruising cattle destined for Margaret and blamed for the unnecessary death of thousands of young cattle well well it's all the pace yoga and a little fellow just born it can't keep up and then of course mum mum can't mums goes that quick she can't remember where she added so when she goes back to the paddock through four days after the dogs have got the car is gone and just as the helicopter became popular in the pastoral industry in the 60s so too did the motorbike with the bike you don't have to catch it or shoe it with the bike you just put fuel in it check the oil and drive off I hate the sight of motor whites and there are necessary evil you know you only got three or four blokes to jump on the bike and go and do something but they don't do anything for your cattle and there are other downsides the cost of fuel and running repairs for motorbikes is also a consideration just as the animal husbandry side of the industry has changed so two of the ringers and the Stockman you were saying you know where as in days gone by the typical ringer was less excited boots and the cowboy hat what's the motorbike time to him what's what are they like oh he got a black jacket on in big boots but he hasn't got no no cattle sense and in some cases not a lot of Road sense either if anybody gets out or heard of a motorbike the first thing they'll say I wasn't going fast well you know that's the life try to wait because Milly when you see them there's one blur a dust net flat over holes and God knows what no matter what I can't see and and some of the accidents a really bad broken legs and you know they're not just like you get thrown off horse and get up and dust yourself and a bit of a life and where you go again no no not really really bad accidents but on the plus side today's mechanized cowboy and cover greater distances oh we've got a long range tanks on them so we usually take a whole day probably go we could usually do 200 K a day bed to get through a little right and cover all terrain anywhere they can't do the box no no go anywhere you and the motorbike wringer is better equipped than John Wayne or Clint Eastwood ever were huh we've got the UHF from the holster got a comeback on the back water quarter bag um yeah actually got a cord speaker and that inside me helmet so you hear everything no matter what I'm doing I've you know for riding a bike traveling to somewhere or to get some catalog and hear anything so and I miss anything so you're communicating with each other and back to the homestead is that right in touch all the time yes recently though there's been a swing back to the use of horses on cattle properties as operators see the value and breeding quieter cattle by replacing mechanical mustering with Stockman on horseback at least in part even Brahman bulls renowned for their rodeo bucking qualities can be made to behave like Pussycats the trick now is to find and put to use the traditional Stockman of yesteryear that generation we lost them then are you going to pick it up at your office the problem facing the cattle industry is that the Horseman's knowledge and skills have largely been squandered many have left for the mining industry where they're promised a much better future because of the miners offering so much and we're right in their midst and and they are from a lot more money than us but but the only reason we get blokes like the livestock television - has done its bit in changing perceptions of the modern-day ringer and making recruitment just that little bit harder to some it's the Wild West revisited I dub young fella come on the mile and next morning he arrived at the office and he said done when do I get my guns today I said what guns he said I he said all the Cowboys the got guns I thought you you issue them he lasted about five days I think till the mile come back the television roses go I've got a bit to answer for ya all right okay I'm not here to hurt you with it Mike hey okay hey yeah good hate the terminology as he might fill roadie is what is known as a horse whisperer what do you think of that term well there's no such thing it's about people like the label things but there's no such thing as horse whisperer than ever was and it never will be yeah what are you if not the horse whisperer he's trying don't you somebody trying to get along with horses fine he may not know big deal it's just me my my goal is hopefully one day that I may be a horseman but it's a hard road and as far as I'm concerned is very few true horsemen in the world horsemen ships became a dying stock and trade many of Australia's big cattle runs so much so that some of the owners are retraining Stockman who've lost the knack of saddling let alone riding a horse but I want to be able to roll this time see get that high open it up and when we first started doing some things he's going to be a little fearful our job is to try and get rid of that fear we want respect without fear the horse whisperers clinic is under way in the yards of quinna be stationed in the desert country north of Broken Hill oh the size of it is any 12,000 we're square kilometers it's running right through the stress leg II know what it's one a minute well it's not one of Kidman's first properties that is one of these oldest properties it gets very dry here's the problem facing Paul Jonas and other station managers is that many of their senior Stockman have never been on a horse or a just plain scared you haven't been on a horse for years since you're four years old I understand know what huh just just can't seem to trust them now let's put on my little and it took off so just haven't really been real keen and get back on just a bit of a trusting like so over to the horse whisperer returning the horse to its rightful place on Australia's big runs I don't want him as a slave there's a lot of people treating that way they don't mean to but I don't want a slave I'd want something that the way of hopefully if something went wrong he'd like to try to ask me a little bit get me out of trouble or look after me as well as me look after him but I don't want to treat him as a slave I'd sooner a treaty mister well kind of a friendship of the horse but you can have a kinship that story reported by Anthony Hoyer the producer Paul stand all not as a

Channel: AnthonyFrancisHoy

Views: 127,975

Rating: 4.8113208 out of 5

Keywords: horses, horse, whisperer, australian, stock, anthony, hoy, media, helicopter, mustering, helicopters, stockmen, stockhorseAustralian, Outback, riding, the, big, run, outback, beef, industry, cattle, pastoral, companies, jackaroos, stockman, stations

Id: KHNXzmupSdg

Length: 11min 11sec (671 seconds)

Published: Wed May 04 2011