Save Bernborough Stable- Aust. Stock Saddle Museum

Want to join us in making a difference? The members of Highfields Pioneer Village, Museum & Park Inc. are raising money to save the Bernborough Stables from demolition! and any donation will help make an impact! We only need 20,000 people to donate $5 each to get this project off the ground. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to our Volunteers! Born near Oakey in 1939, Bernborough was the greatest weight-carrying galloper of all time!

Highfields Pioneer Village, Museum and Park Inc is a community-based non-profit, charity association established in 2000 to conduct, maintain and add to a functioning pioneer village at Highfields on the eastern Darling Downs. The Village is open 7 days a week from 10am to 4pm and run entirely by Volunteers, with over 38,500 visitors annually! The Village is frequented by over 4000 students from South East Queensland for educational tours and research projects.

Our unique and idyllic little patch of Australian history has a series of gorgeous and stunning relics into the past, which have been kept in perfect condition. Many of the buildings on site have been transported, reconfigured and faithfully restored to maintain their cultural heritage. The Big Cow was successfully dismantled, moved from Yandina and reerected by our Volunteers at the Village in 2020, this sculpture weighs 12 tonnes and stands 7.9m high and 12m long.

The original stables built in the 1930's which housed the late and great BERNBOROUGH where spent his days whilst in Queensland; has recently been donated to the Highfields Pioneer Village, Museum & Park Inc. The dismantling and re-erecting of this precious heritage building will pan out to approximately $120,000. It will be faithfully restored to the exact building specifications as to when it was originally built, something that the Highfields Pioneer Village is very experienced in successfully achieving. This is indeed a precious Queensland heritage building and combined with racing interests, please help us in funding in this fabulous project and save the Bernborough Stables from Demolition!

Once the building is restored on the Pioneer grounds it will be utilized for the display of some very rare and vintage Australian stock saddles up to the present day. The lining of the building, painting, interpretive signage, framing, display cases and wheelchair accessibility will cost around $100,000, bringing the total costs up to $220,000. The collection also has a Holden & Frost steeplechase saddle c1880-90s (this firm morphed into Holden cars). This will be the largest collection of stock saddles on display anywhere in Australia!

Originating from the old English gentleman’s saddle, the Australian stock saddle was born fundamentally of need. From the early 1800s, bush men and women quickly realized they required a saddle tough enough to withstand the harsh climate, the wild bush, and the fearsome buck of the home-bred horses. Without the horse, mankind would not have advanced in the exploration of this land, and the saddle was the single most important piece of related equipment. The Australian stock saddle is deep-rooted in the founding of this country – its design, is quintessential for safety and comfort for both rider and horse.

Bernborough’s story will be featured prominently in the building, as well as the coaches and sulkies presently owned by the village. Any historical items connected to Bernborough will proudly be displayed also in the barn complex. The building will essentially become a Horse precinct; dedicated to our equine history and will certainly be a spectacular attraction for the public to view upon completion.

Bernborough (1939–1960) was an outstanding Australian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who competed from 1941 to 1946. He carried heavy weights in 15 consecutive wins that included the Doomben 10,000 while carrying 10 stone 5 pounds. Bernborough was foaled at Rosalie Plains near the township of Oakey in the Darling Downs in Queensland. The bay colt was by the good sire Emborough (GB) from Bern Maid by Bernard (GB), who was the paternal grandson of Gainsborough, winner of the English Triple Crown in 1918. On 2 November 1946, Bernborough had his last race in the LKS MacKinnon Stakes. Challenging for the lead just after entering the home straight, he suffered torn sesamoid ligaments and had to be pulled up. The great mare Flight, who had finished second to Bernborough on many occasions, went on to win. After recovering from his injuries, Bernborough was sold for a large sum to movie producer Louis B. Mayer for stud duties in the USA, where he went on to moderate success as a stallion at Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. Here he sired the winners of more than $4,500,000 in prize money and was placed high on the Leading sire in North America list.

Bernborough was one of the five inaugural inductees into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame, alongside other turf notables Carbine, Phar Lap, Kingston Town, and Tulloch. He is commemorated in the township of Oakey with a life-size bronze statue located outside the Jondaryan Council chambers.

In 1978, he was honoured on a postage stamp issued by Australia Post! A history well worth preserving!

Please participate in this wonderful and exciting new project for our region! Any donation will be gratefully accepted and appreciated! All funds raised will be put back into the Australian Stock Saddle Museum project at Highfields Pioneer Village, donations over $2 are tax deductible.

Thank you for reading and sharing and helping to preserve our history!

Photo Credit: http://thecoloursofhorseracing.blogspot.com/2018/10/bernborough.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernborough#:~:text=Bernborough%20(1939%E2%80%931960)%20was,carrying%2010%20stone%205%20pounds.