The Great Australian Outback Cattle Drive

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Bill Willoughby - Boss Drover for 2010

Bill Willoughby is the Boss Drover of The Great Australian Outback Cattle Drive 2010 event.

Bill is a horse trainer and educator for the equine industry and proud to be recognised by his peers as one of Australia's most respected and honoured horsemen. In 1995 Bill gained extensive recognition for his formidable skills after winning the inaugural Man from Snowy River ten-event horsemanship challenge. He describes handling and managing large mobs of cattle while mustering in Australia's outback with horses as his sanity and love. Bill also has extensive experience in the film and television industry, where he has choreographed some of the most challenging film scenes involving large numbers of horses, people and cattle, often under extreme conditions. His movie and television experience includes:

McLeod's Daughters
Seven years as horse master on McLeod's Daughters with a large crew of wranglers and also working on a daily basis with up to 100 crew.

The Light Horsemen
Horse master, mastermind and coordinator. Responsible for 350 men and horses in camp for filming of The Light Horsemen, including the re-creation of the Charge of Beersheba at Wild Dog Glen, west of Hawker for 6 weeks, although the shoot also involved another 80 plus horses and crew for 34 weeks.

Drover's Boy
Boss drover/horse master with 1500 head cattle in Northern Territory on the Drover's Boy film project.

Kings in Grass Castles
Horse master and cattle master on Kings in Grass Castles with 800 head cattle in hand at Bourke, New South Wales.

Other projects
The Man from Snowy River with 300 head of horses in mobs running together; months on the road for Robbery Under Arms, camped in the Flinders with a large mob of cattle, horses, crew and riders.

Bill continues to travel widely in Australia to compete professionally at campdrafting (Australia's own unique sport with horses and cattle), or in team roping at rodeos, using skills learnt from many hours in the bush. And he enjoys teaching people about horses, cattle, our outback heritage, history and traditions.

The Willoughby Family

Bill and Barb operate a family business focused on horse/equine services from their property in the Southern Flinders Ranges of South Australia.

Bill has extensive experience in horse and cattle work, having worked for over 30 years as a contract musterer, horse trainer and educator for every aspect of the equine industry, including film and television.

His horse and cattle handling knowledge and experience extends from working with stud cattle in the early days to mustering, handling and walking 1500 head of cattle in the Northern Territory. He has also managed large crews of employees, inexperienced horse riding clients and large mobs of cattle and horses in difficult, high pressure situations on film sets and bush camps throughout Australia.

Bill and Barb Willoughby's business is recognised by film industry producers and production companies and horse and cattle people worldwide as being one of Australia's premier suppliers of equine services.

They also provide specialised horsemanship training for individuals and organisations, catering to riders of all standards, from experienced to inexperienced. The Willoughby's services also extend to providing horses that are safe and suitable for the rider a particular feature of The Great Australian Outback Cattle Drive.

Joining Boss Drover, Bill Willoughby on The Great Australian Outback Cattle Drive 2010 will be a formidable droving team, all well known in their local communities and around Australia for their horse and mustering skills. These talented men and women making up the team for this event are:

Adam Litchfield
Bridie Ferguson
Corey Ferguson
Tom Fay
Pat Collins
Chris Reynolds
Stacey Smith
Chris Egan
Clayton Waterman
Aaron Ryan

To support this team of Outback heroes is an experienced group of cattlemen in Bobby Hunter, Barry Elliott and Lindsay DeLaine who will be joined by the camp crew and cook team of Peter Arthur, Wayne McCallum and Karen Finn. Legendary horse vets Dr. Bill Harbison and Dr. Kate Litchfield, both veterans of the event will return.