Community & Business
12 May, 2025
Southbrook's own man from Snowy River
Richard Howard of the 11th Darling Downs Light Horse Troop has recently returned from the Maygar Memorial Trophy and Man From Snowy River Festival in Corryong Victoria with a plethora of ribbons and title of 'Best Presented Trooper'.
Mr Howard, a Southbrook man with a passion and talent for horsemanship, considered it a great privilege to be invited to participate in the events.
“It was an honour,” Mr Howard said.
He was born and raised near Warwick, but the Southern Downs isn’t quite the Lower Snowy River landscape of Banjo Paterson’s legendary poem.
However, the bush ballad’s story of the bravery and skill of a horse and its rider in the rugged Australian wilderness is something most horsemen like Mr Howard (and horse women) can relate to.
For the 11th DD Light Horse Troop which travelled south, the first event on the calendar was the Maygar Memorial Trophy.
The competition is a demonstration of the mounted military skills of old, such as tent pegging, stand-to-horse and skill-at-arms.
The troopers were split into groups of four, and Mr Howard’s team proceeded to win five out of the eight events including hurdles, dummy thrust, obstacle race, dismount for action, and skill-at-arms.
Out of all the competitors, Mr Howard was named ‘Best Presented Trooper’.
He said the title is counted on horsemanship knowledge, the way in which you ride, and how you and your horse are presented.
The event returned in 2025 after an absence, in remembrance of Lt. Col. Leslie Maygar, who served in the Boer War, Gallipoli and commanded the 8th Light Horse Regiment.
He was awarded the Victoria Cross for the rescue of a fellow soldier under heavy fire during the South African War.
In 1917, Lt. Col. Maygar died from wounds sustained at the Battle of Beersheba.
The 11th DD Light Horse Troop then went on to the 30th annual Man From Snowy River Festival.
In front of a crowd of more than 5000 people, Mr Howard completed a tent pegging display.
One spectator said each time he knocked a peg out of the ground, he was met with a roar of applause from the crowd.
Ties to the Australian Light Horse run deep for Mr Howard, whose grandfather Cliff was a Signalmen in the Battle of Beersheba.
Cliff survived his stint in World War I and returned to Australia to start a sawmill business in Warwick and Stanthorpe.
As you might expect, preparation and training for events such as the Maygar Trophy and Man From Snowy River Festival, require an abundance of patience and dedication.
Mr Howard has worked with his Australian stockhorse Maggie for three years, training with her two hours a day, five days a week for those years, to have her at a high enough standard to compete in A Grade competitions.
He said he first received Maggie from a fellow troop member who couldn’t ride her.
“She played up a bit when I first got her. But with time and effort, anything’s possible,” Mr Howard said.
More recently, residents may have seen Mr Howard at the ANZAC Day services in Pittsworth with fellow trooper Peter Scriven.
After the mid morning march, the pair travelled to Clifton for a display of tent pegging prior to the First Grade rugby league match between Wattles Warriors and Highfield's Eagles.
The 11th DD Light Horse Troop has been invited to return to the Maygar Memorial Trophy and Man From Snowy River Festival next year but first the Troop has its sights set on hosting the Queensland Mounted Infantry Games in Pittsworth in August.
The events will include the Queensland Tent Pegging Association Championships.
