Every horse-mad girl dreams of finding adventure on an outback station. Michael Sheather meets up with the women who are turning that dream into reality at jillaroo school.
You can hear the girls long before you see them. Whooping and hollering from their saddles like veteran outback cowboys, Julia, Cynthia, Feya, Samira, Josephine and Alyssa are hidden from sight behind the lip of a craggy ridge, taking the lead to guide a herd of Black Angus cattle along a heavily timbered and precariously sloping bush track. They are driving their charges to a cattle yard on a property in the remote hill country outside Tamworth in NSW. And the sounds filling the air are of pure joy.
It’s mid afternoon and desperately dry and hot. The paddocks on the lower slopes of the 518-hectare property, Leconfield, are parched by a drought that holds the country in a vice-like grip. Thick red dust rises in clouds around the girls as they crest the ridge, waving their hats and scarves like the banners of an approaching army. Beneath their throaty yells, the deep and constant lowing from 50 head of cattle beats a rhythmic accompaniment.
Each young woman guides her horse with a deft combination of gentle lead work and pressure from the knees, first one way then the other as together they top the ridge and carefully negotiate their way down a rock-strewn slope.
“Get around, get around,” bellows Samira, 25, in a prominent Dutch accent.
“Up, up, keep it up – keep ’em on the high side of the track or we’ll start to lose them,” says German-born Cynthia, 24.
“Heeyah, get on there, get ’em up ... come on,” yells Alyssa, a 23-year-old student teacher from Melbourne.
This posse of 20-something novice jillaroos is firmly in control of this herd, a remarkable feat considering they are on only the third day of a five-day instructional course teaching them the skills they will need to work on an outback station.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
Take me to the river
With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.
The last act
When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.
Growing happiness
Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.
Budget dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
