In the mid 1900's buck jumpers from across Australia were drawn to Marrabel, South Australia to try and tame the squealing and bucking Curio.
Curio, a three year old brumby mare, was mustered on Macumba station in the northern part of the state in 1945 and consigned to the town Marrabel.
In 1947 the wild-eyed, squealing, bucking, strawberry roan became a feature of the Marrabel Rodeo. She had gained legend status as she quickly and easily disposed of some of the countries best rough-riders. It wasn't until 1953 that Curio finally meet her match and Alan Woods managed to finally ride the tempestuous ball of fury for a full ten minutes.
The above statue is a tribute to Wood's famous ride. It was created in 1991 by Ben Van Zetten. The cold cast bronze monument measures 18 feet tall and weighs two tons. It can be seen in the Marrabel, SA.
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It sounds like he was a mean Brumby! Not that I can see the sense in rodeos these days when most musters are carried out by motorcycle and helicopter. (I'm in a grump at the moment - two bad books in a row :( )
ReplyDeleteA quick correction: Alan Woods' famous ride was only for the full 10 SECONDS required by buckjump rules, & certainly not the 10 minutes claimed in your post, and just to place it in context, this wonderful brumby mare usually dispatched her victims in under 3 seconds. No wonder she became an idolised Aussie legend!
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