Jackaroos shun helicopters for old-fashioned horse power

SYDNEY - It is one of the defining images of Outback Australia - a horseman galloping through clouds of dust in pursuit of a herd of cattle.

But traditional mustering on horseback declined from the 1960s as the country's huge cattle ranches turned to helicopters, motorbikes and four-wheel-drives to round up their stock.

Now, though, the clock is turning back, with an increasing number of stations using mounted stockmen to carry out old-fashioned mustering.

Cattle barons have realised that using helicopters and vehicles to muster traumatises the livestock.

That in turn affects meat quality and the price paid by increasingly discriminating customers.

"Stress makes the meat darker and tougher," said Australian Agricultural Company manager Tim Gallagher. "You can taste the difference."

The industry went through a stage of using only bikes and choppers but were now going back to horses. It's all about the temperament of the cattle and producing quality beef.

Of the 22 cattle properties owned by AAC, the largest, Brunette Downs in the Northern Territory, covers 12,000sq km.

One of the most famous Australian stations, Anna Creek on the desert fringes of South Australia, is the world's largest cattle ranch, covering an area the size of Belgium.

It would take weeks to ride across such a vast area, so horses are transported by trucks to far-flung corners where mustering is taking place.

"There's a trend back to horses compared with 10 years ago when motorbikes and helicopters were seen as the way to go," said Mark Perkins, livestock manager for the Colonial Agricultural Company, which has 125,000 cattle on eight ranches covering two million hectares.

"There's an issue of employee satisfaction. A lot of stockmen enjoy riding horses more than driving about in a four-wheel-drive."

Horses are also generally safer than motorcycles because they are slower and, as one veteran stockman put it, a dirt bike can't see holes in the ground.

But many jackaroos and stockmen are having to be trained to ride - a skill once taken for granted among Australian cattlemen.

"The young generation have not grown up riding," Gallagher said. "We organise an induction week for all new staff and a big part of that is teaching them how to ride, how to shoe a horse, how to fit the saddle."

Young jackaroos are being trained up as fast as possible to meet a desperate shortage of ringers, the name given to experienced stockmen. Some quit the cattle industry because of mechanisation, while others were lured to much higher paying jobs in Australia's booming mining industry.

The expense of maintaining sophisticated machinery has also propelled the return to "one horse power".

The rising cost of fuel is a factor too, said Jim Kerr, manager of Victoria River Downs, a legendary station in the Northern Territory known throughout Australia as the Big Run.

Established in 1879, it covers more than 12,000sq km of flood plain and savannah along Victoria River, a haunt of giant saltwater crocodiles.

"On properties with a fair bit of scrub, the cattle learn to hide from the helicopters by standing under a tree. The only way to get them moving is to land the helicopter, get out and shoo them. It's easier on a horse," Kerr said.

Heli-mustering also tends to separate calves from their mothers, leaving them vulnerable to attack and illness.

Like many stations, Victoria River Downs is increasing the number of horses it uses. "We've got about 50 at the moment. Eventually we want to build up the number to 150," Kerr said.