Lake Cargelligo’s Steve Johnson was part of record-breaking team at the 2024 Good Old Days Festival.
Teamsters from around the nation brought out the biggest horse, camel and bullock teams ever seen in modern Australia.
The famous Barellan team, comprising Clydesdales, Draught and heavy horses, broke its own standing record of 32 to bring out 35 horses pulling a wool wagon loaded with 5.6 tonnes of wool bales. It was driven by Barellan Working Clydesdales president Bruce Bandy, Steve Johnson, Larne Draught Horse stud, Lake Cargelligo, and Aleks Berzins, Marlie Draught Horse stud, Exeter, with Shane Carroll on the brake.
The teamsters also excelled themselves with creating a world first – four bullocks, two camels and two horses harnessed together and pulling a wagon.
Held at Barellan in southern NSW on 5 and 6 October, the Good Old Days Festival was officially opened by Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke.
It is now recognised as the greatest gathering of harness draught animals – horses, bullocks, camels, donkeys, mules and goats – in the world and is organised by the Barellan Working Clydesdales Committee.
Cameleer Rodney Sansom, Oakfield Ranch, Anna Bay, NSW, brought out the biggest team of camels ever seen in modern Australia of 22 pulling a wagon, while bullock driver Phil Thomson OAM, Numinbah Valley, Qld, had 22 bullocks pulling a giant Mallee roller and Emily Parrott, Anna Bay, NSW, had a donkey team of eight.
Rodney, Phil and Aleks combined their skills to create the world first of bullocks, horses and camels harnessed to a wagon after cooking up the idea over a few beers.
Visitors were also treated to a display of Furphy water carts and memorabilia to mark 160 years of Furphy engineering in Australia. As part of the display one of the world’s rarest tractors, a 1924 John Deere Spoker D Model pulled an equally rare train of four double Furphy water carts.
Around 5,000 visitors from every Australian state and territory, plus New Zealand, USA and the United Kingdom, ate their way through 1,600 home-made scones cooked in wood fired ovens on the first day alone.
They were treated to many highlights this year including a demonstration of retyring wagon wheels using traditional methods, a display from the 18th Battalion Living History Group, of Sydney, Lachie Cossor and his Outback Stockman Show from Longreach, a teamster’s Q and A session on the stage, lettering and scrollwork demonstrations, and the unveiling of a life-size bronze statue of a Clydesdale, along with a camp oven meal under the stars with The Bushwackers.
Barellan Working Clydesdales Committee Secretary Fiona Kibble and Narrandera Shire councillor Neville Kschenka unveiled a life-sized bronze statue of a Clydesdale in the main street and funded under the NSW Government’s Stronger Country Communities Fund Round 5. The statue paid tribute to the role the Clydesdale played in pioneering the nation.
The festival was preceded by a Tribute to the Teams Drive from Weethalle to Barellan by horse, camel, bullock, camel and mule teams and raising $14,000 for Motor Neurone Disease awareness and research.