BLACKFELLOW HORSEMEN

Evening Star, Issue 23180, 1 February 1939, Page 15

BLACKFELLOW HORSEMEN

SKILL OF AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINALS [Will H. Ogilvie, in the 1 Weekly Scotsman.’] One would not expect horsemanship from the Australian aboriginal who from time immemorial has been a traveller on foot. Limber, active, and tireless, he has never required any aid but his own limbs in crossing the Jong leagues of desert plain, threading the endless scrubs and surmounting the stony ranges of his native land. On foot lie has hunted for his food; on foot he faced his enemies; on foot he has successfully compassed his journey from ids cradle on the gum leaves to ins grave among the pine trees; and for centuries has lived out Ids life in a land where horses were unknown.

With the advent of the white man, however, a new world burst on his astonished gaze, and a new footprint on the sand caused him wonder and apprehension. in more recent and more sophisticated years he was to welcome the first appearance of a motor tyre track with the bewildered exclamation: “ Pljirry big fellow emu, mine tink it!” But what ho thought of the first discovered hoof-track has not been recorded. However with the astonishing adaptability of the savage, he soon accepted the horse. As civilisation was carried north and west into hitherto trackless bush, and the advance of the pioneers drove the nomad bands of blaokfellows farther and farther out, the horse came into its own and the natives soon became accustomed to this new inhabitant of their rocky ranges and far-spreading plains A closer intimacy was established when the country became settled and the blackfellows began to engage themselves as stockmen and boundary riders to the squatters on the sheep and cattle stations, and as trackers to the mounted police. At first, as was natural, they were shv of horses and riding, but soon found— especially on the cattle stations

of the Gulf region and Darling Downs—that their services were in little demand unless they had learned to Iride. Their progress, thereafter, was continuous but unequal. _ Some quickly adapted themselves to this new mode of transport, but the great majority looked upon horses with trepidation and exaggerated respect, and many years passed before a generation of useful aboriginal horsemen was evolved from the somewhat unpromising material. To-day the ranks of the blacks contain . many capable, and some superlative, horsemen. WORK ON LARGE STATIONS. In the neighbourhood of all the largo stations there is generally a more of less permanent encampment of blackfellows, and the more capable and energetic ot them obtain constant work among the cattle and sheep. However, when the nomadic instinct reasserts itself and the camp breaks up, these casual workers drift away with their wives and families and relatives and are lost for a period. On some stations, nevertheless, one or two blackfellows hold really permanent positions and are highly valued by their employers. Among them, with their constant practice in the saddle, are found the champion coloured horsemen. As cattle work is much faster than sheep work, and demands much more skill in the saddle, it is generally on the large Queensland cattle stations that the best native riders are found; and when a blackfellow is a good rider he is very good indeed. He is patient and kind with a young horse, and is determined and severe in subduing a rogue. He has often a strong seat and the lightest of hands, and has the faculty of riding a horse a long distance in the day without distressing him. There is a theory among horsemen that to shift one’s position in a long ride eases one’s horse, but the blackfellow sits all day without changing his position in the saddle and to this is attributed the fact that a horse will carry him farther without fatigue than it will carry a white man. The aboriginal has a natural sympathy with horses as he lias with dogs, and the writer never remembers seeing a blackfellow treat his horse unkindly or knock it about. He is, of course, nearly always a light-weight, which is in his favour.

THE BEST RIDER. It is not rare to find on a backcountry station that the best rider among three or four blacks and naif a dozen white stockmen is an aboriginal. This is true among the cattle; but when you come down into the sheep country a very - fine horseman among the blacks is an exception. There are a few who can ride anything and whose courage is not to be questioned, but a large number of them, though doing their work quite well on quiet horses, have no desire to take risks, and have a strong objection to tackling anything that will “hump its back.” This is mostly a matter of lack of heart and not of skill. On one station on which the writer lived for a while we had a blackfellow, named Friday, who objected strongly to buckjumpers and was always given the quietest old crocks to ride. One day, however, one of his sleepy old mounts suddenly “ went to market ” and put up an extraordinary show of really hard bucking. To our surprise Friday sat the horse with ease, and exhibited much grace and skill in the _ saddle. Far from this giving him confidence in himself, it made him more nervous than ever, and more particular in ensuring that every horse given to him was dead quiet. Yet the brilliant exceptions seem to have no fear at all, and can hold their o\vn*in reckless courage with the very best of white men. Half-castes are very often fine horsemen indeed; a brilliant example being the famous Billy Waite, who travelled for years with one of the best buckjump shows and rode every outlaw that could be brought to him. Considering the pedestrian race from which these aboriginals sprang, one can look upon them as supplying an astonishing number of finished horsemen, and many daring and brilliant rides have been undertaken by them with a cheerful grin and a laughing disregard of danger.