THE stock saddle, a piece of equipment which has played a huge role in Australia spanning almost 200 years, has been documented in a beautiful publication I recently read with interest.
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Written by well-respected Sydney journalist Fiona Carruthers, with the foreword by Michael Drapac - Wild Ride pieces together the evolution of the much-loved country symbol involving pioneers and Aboriginal stockmen and women, bushrangers, as well as young horsemen sent to the Boer War.
While John Jones was among the first saddlers in Sydney to advertise that he was making stock saddles in 1833, among the best-known names in Australian saddlery includes John Brush, who began a business in Haymarket, Sydney, in 1840.
The evolution of change from the imported military saddle were reported to be either too small or large, or too heavy or too slight.
Documented with numerous beautifully illustrated and detailed photos, Wild Ride is a catalogue from the earliest models produced by amateurs sewing kneepads onto traditional English saddles, through to the development of the modern-day stock 'fender'.
The stunning saddle photography of Australia's largest saddle collective, the Drapac Collection, is illustrated throughout the book.
- Virginia Harvey
It states in 1918, Queensland-based Rose Harris, aged in her early 20s, became Australia's first known female commercial saddler and made saddles for Australian Light Horse soldiers.
Today, leading female saddlers include Renee Matthews, Chloe Rutherford, and Wendy Tidbold.
Interestingly, the book documents how women made up around 60 per cent of the workforce in bridle, harness and saddlery workers at Butler Bros, Walsall in England in the late 1860s.
During the same period, William A Mitchell set himself up in Wagga Wagga where he made some of the first Australian stock saddles.
While the original stock saddle came from England, improvements were made from time to time by various people to suit the needs of customers.
Such a saddle was said to have cost about 12 pounds, 12 shillings.
Another documented saddler is George Woolnough.
He established the Tenterfield Saddlery and is the grandfather of iconic singer-songwriter, Peter Allen.
Types of saddles mentioned include the Quail Park Saddle, with 12 stitches to the inch, the Syd Hill Saddle, the broken-neck of the Cox's Poley Saddle and its light weight, the Barcoo Saddle, as well as the development of the 'swinging fender'.
The stunning saddle photography of Australia's largest saddle collective, the Drapac Collection, is illustrated throughout the book.
This includes glorious images of the Colton, Palmer & Preston Stock Saddle (c 1920s), American-Style Swinging Fender Poley, GJ Schneider (c 1925), Station Poley, Joseph Alvin (c 1920-30), Geo Cossart Light Ladies' Poley, Bill Rub (c 1930s), Mini Saddles (1919 and 1936), Poley "Going To Town" Saddle, Francis H Thrift (c 1930), The Wyndham Stock or Breaking Saddle Hugo Fisher (c 1938), Werner Wonder Poley R S Werner (c 1930s-1940s), The Longhorn R M Williams (1947), Grace Bros - Model Store Poley (c 1952), Brunette Downs Poley, Mark Newman (c 1960s), J P Talty Stock Saddle (c 1960s), J P Talty Fan-Tree Poley (c 1960s), Embellished Traditional Australian Stock Saddle, Cecil Bercene (c 1970s), Trophy Saddle, Warren Newcombe (c 1994), Super Monarch Poley, Jim Cook (1999), Crocodile-Print Youth's Poley, Jim Cook (1984), Wildash Poley, Peter Britt (2016), The Australian Stock Saddle, Dennis Lane (2018), The Horseman, John Lordan (2017), Mackellar Saddle, Neil Mackellar (2017), The Royal Poley, Tony Gifford (2017), Stockman's Throne, John Davis (2017), and the Western Stock Saddle, Dan Kingsley (2017).
It is a beautifully presented book which will be lapped-up by leathercraft lovers.
New cup series for Scone
A new initiative has been devised by Racing NSW and the Scone Race Club with the combination introducing the Vinery Stud Country Cup Sprint Series.
The series covers three races conducted at Scone with each carrying an extra $3000 in prizemoney.
It commences next Tuesday, September 5 with the Vinery Stud Gundy Cup.
Next in the series will be the Vinery Stud Moobi Cup on Friday, October 27 and then the Vinery Stud Middlebrook Cup on Monday, November 13.
Via a points score system, there is a $3000 bonus for the trainer along with a $3000 bonus for connections of the horse with the most points earned during the series.
Meanwhile, ticket sales close next Wednesday, September 6 for the sweepstakes draw in the $2 million The Kosciuszko, the country highlight on The Everest program at Randwick on October 14.
Tickets cost $5 each and available via the TAB app, your local TAB venue or participating hotels.
There will be 14 winning tickets drawn on Friday, September 8 with each winner then selecting a NSW country or ACT-trained galloper to race in their slot.
This is once connections have agreed with the horse's ownership group as to how they will share prizemoney for the race.
Stakes-performed horses including Far Too Easy and Opal Ridge are among the bookmakers' top picks with the highly promising Mogo Magic - trained by Scott Collings at Goulburn - also looking a likely starter while winner of The Kosciuszko in 2022, Front Page, is also prominent in the market.
On another front, registrations are open for the inaugural $1m Equimillion equestrian competition, an event exclusively for retired Thoroughbred racehorses.
The prizemoney will be distributed across eventing, showjumping, dressage and show horse disciplines and also includes classes for junior, amateur, and open professional competitors of all abilities.
