THE Clydesdale and Heavy Horse Heritage Festival was held for the first time in Victoria last weekend at the Werribee Park Equestrian Centre.
About 80 Clydesdales delighted the crowd with their majestic looks and movements as they competed in various sections for ribbons.
The overall champion received the Gordon Phillips Perpetual Trophy, named after a popular, and blind, breeder of the horses who died recently. The prize was a shield and a crystal bowl.
Event organiser Robert Ronzio, who has nine Clydesdales at his farm in Toolern Vale, was expecting a successful and exciting day.
“I love Clydesdales – they’re a unique horse. And their link to Australia’s heritage is very important.
“They were brought out from Scotland in the old days to work the land and proved highly successful,” he said.
The Clydesdale was an important and highly visible part of Australian life before the advent of motorised machinery.They ploughed farming fields, delivered milk, meat and beer in towns, and were used to pull carts for transportation. The festival was organised by the Commonwealth Clydesdale Horse Society, Victorian branch, a non-profit community group dedicated to the preservation of the Clydesdale heritage.
Heritage … Paul O’Brien and daughter Erynn from Flowerdale take an early morning ride with Candy at the Clydesdale Heritage and Heavy Horse Festival held at the Werribee Park Equestrian Centre. More pictures, Page 13.
Picture: RAYPOLLANEN.
