Local Murrurundi resident and King of the Ranges committee member Chris Caslick will be able to saddle up his horse and ride down to the Rosedale Complex for the massive three day event. 

Mr Caslick is one of the 60 competitors who is competing in the challenge and he is no stranger to the challenge concept. 

Earlier this month, the local grandfather of three travelled to Corryong in the state’s south to compete in the Man From Snowy River Challenge for the 10th time. 

Among the full list of 80 competitors, Mr Caslick finished up about in the           middle of the pack, which he was pretty pleased with. 

Throughout the decade, Mr Caslick has won the veteran’s category of the challenge four times, an achievement he is proud of. 

He not only competed in the challenge, but also provided some light entertainment for the crowd with his ‘Mickey and Mouse Show’. 

Mr Caslick has become well known around the Upper Hunter throughout the past 10 years for his show which involves his 16-year-old palomino       miniature gelding ‘Mickey’ and his black and tan kelpie cross trick dog ‘Mouse’. 

Basically the two perform all kinds of tricks from sitting down at the table to have a picnic with the children to ‘Mouse’ riding around on ‘Mickey’s’ back, rolling out carpet and more. 

The team have performed at various events including the Scone Rural Women’s Gathering in 2013, the Scone and Upper Hunter Horse Festival parade, the Tamworth Country Music Festival parade, and at Muswellbrook and Singleton Shows. 

They will feature at the Jack Johnston Memorial Gala Day at White Park in Scone next Tuesday, May 12.

A horse trainer by trade, Mr Caslick also performs tricks with his stock horse to compliment the others, who he said are pretty well self-taught in what they perform.

The ‘Mickey and Mouse Show’ will be a highlight of the King of the Ranges Bush Festival this weekend with a main performance on Sunday.

This year is the 10th time Mr Caslick has competed in the challenge, and he has been involved in the committee for about 10 years as well.

He said the first year he just helped out and watched the challenge and the second year he judged an event, but by the third year he decided to give it a go himself. 

Since then he has won the masters category three times, placing third last year. 

Throughout the years he has held the position of vice president and now enjoys being a ‘labourer’, helping to organise the weekend, cutting and carting fire wood, setting up barriers and marquees and general set up of the grounds.

With a keen interest in challenges and enjoying the opportunity to challenge himself, his horse and his dog, Mr Caslick has also competed in the Snowy River Festival at Dalgety where he won the master’s division once, challenges at Jindabyne, the Lower Lakes Stockman’s Challenge at Strathalbyn in South Australia and a feature challenge at the 2013 National Cutting Horse Association Futurity.

He currently also has a young horse in training for the Cloncurry Stockman’s Challenge in July.

Mr Caslick said he really enjoys the mateship of the competition, as all the competitors are great people. 

“I’m really looking forward to the weekend,” Mr Caslick said. 

“It’s a great event as it shows a lot of horse skills and every year the competition is becoming stronger. 

“When you look at the points system, the quality has doubled throughout the years since we first started,” he said. 

“The competitors have improved and horses are trained better now too.”

Mr Caslick has always used horses he has bred or trained himself for the         challenges, and he has used about seven different horses throughout the years. 

This year he will compete on ‘Pandora’, an eight-year-old stock horse mare he broke in and trained himself. 

The love for horses and rural life was bred into Mr Caslick as he was born in Scone and grew up at Moonan Flat with his brother and two sisters. 

As a young child he used to ride to school at Moonan and was then taught secondary by correspondence in between working outside with the family.

Like a lot of young lads, Mr Caslick started out working in the shearing sheds before taking up horse breaking, which he continued for about 16 years. 

Feeling the need for a change and knowing he would always be able to go back to his horses, Mr Caslick started fencing, which allowed him to be closer to his wife Marie and two young children, Wade and Prue. 

Chris and Marie married 41 years ago in 1974 and settled in Murrurundi             making their home at ‘The Ranch’, as it was about half way between Moonan and Marie’s home at Millers Creek, near Willow Tree. 

He ran his fencing business for the following 30 years and built many a local fence, including the new arena at the Rosedale Complex in 1986 and helped to build the cattle yards.

The couple owned and operated the Murrurundi Caravan Park for a few years, as well as owning a fish farm and running a 2000 acre sheep and cattle property ‘Top View’ at Timor.

These days, Mr Caslick is back breaking in and training a few horses, but he said he only breaks in special horses for special people, as he’s not as young as he used to be. 

Throughout the years, Mr Caslick has been heavily involved in the Murrurundi Bushman’s Carnival as a committee member and vice president, and helping organise the annual campdraft and rodeo. 

Being a former cowboy himself having competed in many rodeos for about 13 years, Mr Caslick has always been enthusiastic in keeping local events going and helping them grow for the younger generations. 

When his children were younger, he was involved as president and instructor of the Murrurundi Pony Club.

About 35 years ago when their eldest, Wade, was younger Mr and Mrs Caslick saw the need for a pre-school in town and consequently were the drivers behind sourcing a teacher and room at the hall to start the now very strong Murrurundi and District Pre-School. 

Mr Caslick said he likes to be involved in the local community and still plans to be an active member well into the future.