Giddy up at Geelong Show

INTERNATIONALLY renowned horseman Guy McLean will bring pure energy and entertainment to the Royal Geelong Show this October.

The Queensland native will delight audiences with his horsemanship, bush poetry, and double-handed stockwhip cracking with his team of Australian stock horses, performing incredible displays of action.

His performances are known for being both inspiring and educational.

“My shows are never scripted; it always comes from the heart. I always ask God to help me say something to the audience that will help touch them,” McLean said.

McLean’s journey with horses began as a young boy working at his family’s 1660-acre Homestead Resort in the Queensland bush.

He was responsible for more than 50 trail riding horses by the age of 16, and his duties ranged from training horses to be suitable trail mounts for guests with no riding experience, to serving as the head trail boss.

His dream was to share these animals with a larger audience, but for many years he didn’t know how.

An opportunity arose when he was 21, when his father Norm discovered McLean’s love for bush poetry and asked him to recite the Man from Snowy River for 100 people at the homestead.

It launched his entertaining career, and saw him begin performing brideless and saddleless on his stallion, Nugget, in the middle of his father’s restaurant to similar sized crowds.

Word spread about the ‘Horseman from Susan River’, and he soon began performing at festivals, on music stages, and leading street parades.

“I was a shy boy when I started out, but I always did my speaking through my horses,” McLean said.

“Just with my body positioning, I can move five horses with my eyes. They can do whatever I want them to do… I can get incredible things in return.

“My horses will act like cattle at times. I’ll move them around like a sheepdog, and at the end of the show they’ll be doing things people have never seen before.”

McLean’s most treasured triumphs are winning the Road to the Horse, the world championship of colt-starting, in 2012 and 2013, and being crowned Australian Champion at Equitana Australia’s Way of the Horse in 2005.

He was also named the first Official Australian Stock Horse Ambassador.

McLean said he was excited to visit the Geelong region for the first time.

“I’ve never been down to Geelong, but I’ve got a nephew who is very jealous and is a big Cats supporter.

“When I come down, I want people to expect someone who has chased his dreams his entire life.

“I’ll be doing my very best to give Geelong the very best of me.”

Visit royalgeelongshow.org.au for tickets. Early bird tickets are on sale until 15 October. Tickets start at $27 for adults, $13.50 for students and $63 for families.

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