MEDIA INVITATION: PREVIEW of the Scenic Rim Clydesdale Spectacular
THIS THURSDAY APRIL 15 from 11.30am to 1pm
At Boonah Showground, 8 Melbourne Street, Boonah Queensland 4310
The Scenic Rim Clydesdale Spectacular will be held on June 12 and 13. Celebrating the Gentle Giants of the horse world, it is recognised in Australia as 'the breed that built the nation'.
THIS THURSDAY APRIL 15, MEDIA ARE INVITED TO MEET these Gentle Giants (and their very small cousin the Shetland), taste a Haggis Burger, see the current Billy Boiling Champion in action, plait up a Clydesdale, witness three horses abreast in harness (carriage work), try whip cracking with an expert, and hear the Scottish pipes a-calling, among other experiences!! Clydesdales appearing on Thursday will FULL SHOW ATTIRE, as will the harness horses.
PLEASE EMAIL YOUR INTEREST TO ALLOW FOR CATERING ETC.
ABOUT the Scenic Rim Clydesdale Spectacular
IT's the richest Clydesdale Show in the Southern Hemisphere. Over two days a full program of Clydesdale competition will take place at the Boonah Showground, including led, carriage and harness classes. The program also features harness making, blacksmithing, wheelwrights, timber sculpting, horse-drawn ploughing demonstrations, driving displays, whip plaiting and campfire cooking. Additional highlights include the Queensland Whip Cracking Championships, the World Billy Boiling Championships, wood chopping, shingle cutting demonstrations, working dog displays, Friesian Horse Troupe performances and bush poetry.
In tribute to the Scottish descendants who moved to the region and brought their beloved Clydesdales, the event includes the Pipe and Drum Bands, Calling of the Clans, the Clydesdale and Clan Class and traditional Scottish caber tossing. There'll be whiskey, haggis burgers and Scots are encouraged to attend in their clan kilts!
The Boonah region's Clydesdale heritage is unique, and began around the 1840s. When the Australian Clydesdale numbers began to decline in the 1960s, Pat and Col Ehrich and their families were instrumental in maintaining the breed when it almost disappeared. The breed is still listed as 'vulnerable' internationally.
BOONAH'S CLYDEBUILT: Famously standing bastion at the entry to Boonah is a towering 3 metre sculpture of a Clydesdale by internationally acclaimed artist Andy Scott. The statue was built in a local Butter Factory workshop and a local economic development committee raised the funds to buy it after it had been displayed at the Swell Sculpture by the Sea Festival in Sydney.
The Scenic Rim Clydesdale Spectacular is a sub-committee of the Boonah Show Society Inc. and is supported by the Scenic Rim Regional Council.
