Seeing the world at one mile an hour

Teams of Clydesdales from Barellan and ten yoked bullocks from Murwillumbah on the Queensland border made a trip across the region to raise funds for Motor Neurone Disease.

They left Barellan bound for Yenda, stopping at Garoolgan on Thursday night, then at Binya Hall on Friday where a camp oven dinner had been organised with funds raised for MND.

The animals will be a part of Barellan’s Working Horse and Good Old Days this weekend.

“What a job of travelling!” said Jan Evans, who attended the event.

“They walk a mile an hour. I don’t know if I could live like that. It’s remarkable though; for a long time, that was our transport. And they could haul great weights, they used to pile the drays with wool or wheat.”

In light of the speed of the drays, each stop on the road was roughly seven miles apart.

Bruce Bandy, Col Bandy, Bianca Turner, Kurt Bandy were in charge of the eight harnessed Clydies.

A total of 102 dinners were served, with experienced camp oven cooks starting early in the day to get the meal served to perfection. A raffle was also held to raise money.

Music by Vince Conlan and his group, Jessica McDermott and Anthony McDonald from Barellan had the visitors tapping along to the beat.

The night turned cool after a hot day, so many sought the warmth of the camp fires.

On Saturday the travellers headed off for Yenda where another function was held.

A rest day was called for Sunday due to the extreme heat and tired horses.

“They struck those hot days. That Saturday was 37 degrees. It was pretty hard on the animals, so they had a rest day,” Ms Evans said.

On Monday the group commenced their journey back to Barellan, stopping at Garoolgan and arriving in Barellan on Tuesday.

The Clydesdales will be part of the 23 or so horses harnessed for the big wool wagon pull.

“It’s not a record, but it’s up there with the record.

“And they’ve all got to get along! Clydies have got quite good temperaments, but they can have their little dummy spits,” Ms Evans said.

The bullocks, six of whom appeared in the most recent instalment of the Johnny Depp-helmed movie franchise Pirates of the Caribbean, will be at the Barellan Working Horse and Good Old Days this coming weekend.

“They were beautiful beasts. Shiny coats, they were in fantastic condition.

“The fellow said they took six days of filming, and in the film it took six seconds. Six seconds of these bullocks standing in a cane field,” Ms Evans said.