Whooooaaaaah!

For a split second, I thought I'd gone beyond the call for blipdom, but I should have trusted Lachie Cossor. He turned his horse round on a 5c piece and was gone from my viewfinder. We are in Longreach, Queensland, in the heart of the Outback, and were visiting the Stockman's Hall of Fame, Australia's premier heritage institution. The exhibition centre and museum, set in bushland, is a dramatic tribute to the country's explorers, pastoralists, stock workers and Aborigines. The Stockman's Show in the paddocks outside tells something of the story of the men and women who work on the land - with a few horse and dog tricks thrown in. Lachie Cossor, from Yackandandah in Victoria, is a third-generation horse breaker and stockman who has been in the entertainment business for 10 years. He has won open campdrafts, has a state Saddle Bronc title and has won both the King of the Ranges and Snowy Stockman's Challenges. My picture of him is not the best, but it captures for me the skill and thrill of his work.