Guy McLean

Australia's Master Horse Trainer

At 30 years of age and self-taught,Guy McLean is Australia's crowned Master Horse Trainer. Last November at Equitana, Melbourne in front of a huge crowd and a panel of expert judges Guy McLean beat the cream of Australian horse trainers in starting a young horse. Each trainer was given two hours to achieve their best with their allocated two year old Australian Stock Horse (Guy is a registered member of the Australian Stock Horse Society). The audience and expert judges were left in no doubt as to the winner. Well inside the time allowed. Guy not only had his youngster confidently going under saddle but actually performing advanced work saddleless and having. Guy standing on top cracking two Aussie stockwhips! The audience was stunned.

Guy's methods are based on a self-taught approach evolved from the time he was first riding at 16 months of age on his father's cattle ranch at Susan River in South East Queensland. At 15 Guy left school to devote himself full-time to starting and training young horses.

The Guy McLean way is based on encouraging any horse to use its hind end for controlling speed and the shoulders for direction. The blinding flash of the obvious in watching Guy in action is to see how simply he teaches a horse to learn individual leg control. Once established, this control allows the horse to smoothly change its leads and establish wonderful balances and collection. This control of the hip allows Guy's "trainees" to avoid the impulse to spook, freeze, shy, rear, buck or any other disobedience triggered by fear or perceived danger.

The tools Guy McLean employs are knowledge, compassion, patience and imagination. Oh, and a long lead and headcollar, plastic bag on a stick, blue plastic tarpaulin and his trademark two Aussie stockwhips. Note, the stockwhips never touch a horse. The tools are staggeringly.simple. The results are outstanding and assist horses in almost every discipline from racehorses to Olympic sports and working cattle..

By 21 years old Guy had started the entertainment side of his business. What followed was amazing liberty work, saddleless and bridleless performances. Combined with a passion for poetry, Guy and his horses have been thrilling capacity crowds at major shows across Australia. Guy has been crowned twice as the Australian Bush Poetry Champion and travelled to the Elko, Nevada, USA in 2000 to the largest cowboy poetry festival in America. His childhood inspiration was The Man From Snowy River - both the classic Banjo Paterson poem and the best selling movie. In many ways Guy is the classic Aussie Stockman.

Guy McLean, Australia's Master Horse Trainer and now Entertainer is fielding offers to perform in Europe and the US. Guy has recently teamed up with Cross Country International's Australian riding operators, Equathon. This means CCI guests who travel Down Under will often get the chance to meet and see Guy in action. It may not be long before US audiences also get to see Guy McLean perform on their shores.

Words by Alex Watson, Triple Olympian and Managing Director, Equathon.

Our.Australian.Stock.Horse

Written.by.Guy.McLean,August.2006.

Every.country.has.a.culture
A.tradition.embedded.in.time
Where.a.pioneer's.life.is.remembered
Through.story,through.music.and.rhyme.

Australia's.past.is.the.outback
Hard.cattle,tough.men.nil.resources
Their.stories.of.hardship.and.plentiful.times
Can't.be.told.without.talk.of.their.horses.

Strong.boned,long.necked.and.athletic
Calm.mind.with.intelligent.eye
With.Thoroughbred.blood.in.their.background
It.would.take.a.bold.soul.to.deny.....

.....their.power.and.cunning.with.stock.work
Their.will.to.work.hard,dawn.til.dusk
For.this.country.was.built.on.blood,sweat.and.tears
Carved.out.of.the.stone.and.the.dust.

Our.horses.were.sent.to.the.war.fields
To.face.the.gunshot.and.barbed.wire
Yet.only.their.name.returned,Hero's
They.showed.their.strong.will.and.desire.

Their.bravery.was.talked.of.with.reverence
Their.pure.substance.was.bringing.them.fame
And.soon,all.of.the.world.was.asking
Of.this.breed,of.their.strength.of.their.name.

"He.comes.from.the.land.of.the.beating.sun
Where.the.country.is.rugged.and.course
He.rules.the.mountains.and.valleys.as.king
And.his.name,is.AUSTRALIAN.STOCK.HORSE."

His.breeding.stemmed.out.from.the.Waler
The.horse.that.brought.fame.from.the.war
With.the.Thoroughbred.type.as.the.main.stay
Outside.horses.bred.into.the.core.

But.only.the.blood.of.the.horses
That.were.true.to.the.type.and.design
That.the.Stock.Horse.was.loved.and.renowned.for
For.cow.sense.and.endurance.and.mind.

He's.quite.like.the.Australian.Human
His.blood.runs.in.veins.round.the.world
But.his.heart.and.his.mind.are.Australian
And.his.legacy.will.forever.unfurl.

From.Abbey,Cadet.and.Reality
To.Romeo,Star.Black.Minstril,Breezette
To.the.Doc.Bar.blood.of.Doc's.Freckles.Oak
And.Doc's.Spinifex,to.all,lest.we.forget.

They've.combined.to.breed.individuals
That.excell.in.a.wide.range.of.fields
From.Campdrafts,to.Challenge.and.Dressage
From.Working.to.Cutting.they.yield.....

...dividends.of.fortune.and.friendship
Glowing.coats,sparkling.eye,winning.style
Just.look.for.the.rider.on.Stock.Horse
They're.the.ones.sitting.there.with.a.smile.

You.will.find.them.in.nearly.all.disciplines
And.readily.now,it's.agreed
That.the.grand"Australian.Stock.Horse"
Is.truly.the"Breed.for.all.needs."

From.the.weathered.hand.of.a.stockman
Lining.up.for.his.run.in.a.draft
To.a.ten.year.old.at.a.sporting.day
The.Stock.Horse.is.plying.his.craft.

He's.known.for.his.proud.head.carriage
And.his.all.encompassing.stride
For.his.balance,his.poise.and.his.stamina
He's.just.simply.a.pleasure.to.ride

Watch.him.read.the.mind.of.a.playful.steer
As.he.blocks.without.touch.from.the.bridle
Just.some.reasons.that.now.to.his.many.fans
The.Stock.Horse.is.becoming.an.Idol.

From.his.meager.beginning.in.stock.camps
To.lush.green.arenas.in.the.midst.of.a.city
From.rugged,unrelenting.workhorse
To.Show.Hack,so.refined.and.pretty.

So.from.bearing.down.on.a.bullock
In.the.blistering.sun.on.a.station
To.Eventing.in.front.of.the.world
This.horse.holds.the.pride.of.the.nation.

And.who.could.forget.the.Olympics
In.2000,in.front.of.the.world
Where.a.hundred.Australian.Stock.Horses.starred
It.made.the.hairs.on.your.neck.stand.and.curl.

From.Pony.Club.to.Polocrosse
From.the.Harbour.Bridge.to.a.station.gate
He's.proved.himself.as.Ambassador
But.more.than.that,proved.himself.as.a.mate

Now.more.than.a.horse,he's.an.Icon
And.he's.bringing.his.country.fame
He's.one.of.Australia's.favourite.sons
And.Stock.Horse.is.his.name.

{article sent in by }
Phylis Brown
Remick Australian Stock Horses,
Queensland