The Scone Horse Festival has claimed responsibility for the manure and horse shoes that were discovered on Scone streets earlier this week.
What appeared to be the work of wild horses rampaging through Australia’s horse capital was actually the Horse Festival Committee armed with barrow loads of manure from Sledmere Stud, glitter and a supply of old horse shoes from Scone Race Club.
The stealth mission was a pointer to the official theme of the 2019 Scone Horse Festival: Legends, Myths & Fantasies, with Festival president David Gatwood owning up to the prank.
“The people of Scone like to have fun so we thought we’d better rise to the challenge and come up with something a bit different to capture everyone’s attention,” Gatwood said.
“We’re hoping the mystery of the manure created some discussion about myths and fantasies and unearthed some of the local legends about horses and horse people.
“There’s plenty of inspiration to draw from for decorating shop windows and the floats and we’re looking forward to seeing some cracking entries in this year’s parade.”
Barley Ward-Thomas from Godolphin stud who are regulars in the parade and who kindly supplied manure from local living legend Lonhro for use in the stunt, said this year’s theme gives them plenty of scope to work with.
“The horse is such a beautiful animal it’s no surprise they’ve inspired so many great myths and legends. The Parade is always a lot of fun and everyone on staff is already coming up with ideas so we can roll out something special for this year’s Parade,“ Ward-Thomas said.
Next year marks the 40th Anniversary of the Scone Horse Festival and organisers say this year’s event will lay the platform for significant celebrations.
“Horses are the lifeblood of our town – quite aside from the jobs they create and the visitors they deliver, horses bring people together in this town more so than any other town in the country. Pony clubs, campdrafts, race meets, polo matches, rodeos; this is what we do, this is what we love and it’s something we want to celebrate in a big way during this year’s Festival,” Gatwood said.
Full details for the 2019 Scone Horse Festival, including information for the parade, the colouring-in and window display competitions and the calendar of events is available at www.sconehorsefestival.com.au.
Photo: Upper Hunter Shire Council Mayor Wayne Bedggood, Barley Ward-Thomas from Godolphin, Adelaide Fraser and Scone Horse Festival president David Gatwood.
Photo Credit: Caitlin Reid