I'm back from one of my periodical visits to the big smoke.
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It's a trip I booked ages ago when Virgin had fares to Brisbane $500 return, so I snapped it up at that price.
I remember going through the weekends to see which one was doable and got all the way to the middle of August before finally finding one where I had no prior commitments in the North West (yes, I know it meant missing out on Sedan Dip and the Frontier Days festival but something had to give).
I travelled down on the Wednesday, completely unaware when I booked it that it was Ekka Wednesday and a show day public holiday in Brisbane.
I used the week that was to check out the Exhibition itself on the Thursday, my first time there since my now adult children were both knee high to grasshoppers.
When I got there all the cows had come home (despite the saying) so I missed out on a large part of the experience.
Still there was plenty to see and do and I enjoyed a long chat with a knowledgeable chap at the Waler horses enclosure.
Walers were developed in the 19th century for Australian conditions and became a favourite stockman's mount.
Their name was a nickname coined by the British to describe the horses being imported from New South Wales to India.
I had learned a bit about Waler horses and their vital role in the First World War as the chosen mounts of the Australian Light Horse during the Middle East campaign.
Sadly only one of the 13,000 Walers made it home at the end of the war, most were sold to the British Army as remounts for Egypt and India.
After the Second World War, Walers fell out of fashion and many were set loose in the bush after demand dropped.
It's only in recent times that that breed is making a comeback and it was good to see the Brisbane show promote the breed.
The Waler Horse Owners and Breeders Association register the breed from foundation stock identified as genetically isolated stock from older outback stations. These foundation horses have not had any modern breeds introduced into their genetic strain and are the last of the old Waler bloodlines.
Derek Barry