Today let’s leap back to Australia in the 1800’s, and admire how much horses fuelled authors and writers of the time, to include them in their publications. The most frequent and eloquent publication being the Bulletin, which was founded in 1880 by JF Archibald (the namesake of the Archibald Prize), and John Haynes. This was a national publication that was a strong supporter of Protectionism, Republicanism, and the White Australia Policy. However for the people living horse lifestyles at the time, the Bulletin also romanticised Australian Bush Life in pieces such as: ‘Riderless’ by Will H Oglive (10 December 1898), ‘The Ballad of the Drover’ by Henry Lawson, ‘The Feud’, ‘The Sick Stockrider’ and ‘How We Beat The Favourite’ by Adam Lindsay Gordon, ‘My Brilliant Career’ by Miles Frankilin, and of course both ‘Clancy of the Overflow’ and ‘The Man From Snowy River’ by AB Paterson.
All these are iconic pieces of Horse Literature that have stood the test of time, and are still reknowned amongst today’s society. Feel free to look them up for a refresher on how deeply they romanticised the concept of an Equine Lifestyle, even in Early Australia. It is clear just how integral having and loving horses is in Australia, if these pieces and their writers, can still mean so much.
Feature Image courtesy of eBay.
– Skye Pickering Dip. Horse Business Management