Heavy horses set to pull a crowd

WHILE all manner of animal attractions will be at next month’s Ballarat Times 2023 Ballarat Show, the competition is set to be dwarfed when one of the largest-sized horse breeds in the world canters into town.

Across all three days, staff from Sandy Creek Clydesdales Stud will showcase two of their 18 Clydesdale horses for showgoers to engage with.

Jaimie Thompson is co-owner of the business with her husband Matthew, and said their gelding Noah and mare Missy will be fun for the whole family.

“We’ll be bringing the two Clydesdales for guests to interact with while also offering talks about the rare breed which is actually on the endangered list because there’s under 10,000 left worldwide,” she said.

“We get to bring awareness to that which is nice, and my husband’s also a blacksmith so he’ll be doing some displays, making things from horseshoes to fire pokers.

“The Saturday is the parade and we’ll be bringing our heritage Adelaide lorry which the Clydesdales will be pulling and the lorry will be on display too.”

Though their stud farm has been based at Maldon for eight years, Ms Thompson is Ballarat born and raised, having met Mr Thompson when both were working at Sovereign Hill.

She said she’s excited to return to her hometown to participate in its annual agricultural fixture.

“The Show’s such an exciting event that’s still got a humble element to it. I remember going there and seeing things and you’d be in awe,” she said.

“Now I get to be the one sharing my passion with kids.”