THE Royal Geelong Show continues to offer a gold-standard horse program, presenting a traditional range of classes over the four-day event.

THERE are fatal flaws the Federal Government’s draft cash mandate laws and they can be traced back to the Government’s refusal to respond to senate recommendations to fix the banking crisis in regional Australia.

THERE have been few horses more talked about in the show world over the past few years than Simone Padoin’s elegant black gelding, Wynara Signature, aka Orlando.

THE show horse classes at the Royal Melbourne Show for 2025 have been run and won, with quality in all sections and some new faces.

TRADITION is still strong in the heavy horse section at the Royal Melbourne Show and what they lack in numbers from days gone by is made up for in the quality of the exhibits.

WITH the dust now settled on the Royal Adelaide Show for 2025, what stands out when taking a closer look at the winners is the amount of new talent that has progressed quickly to the top of the lineups. For the Shaw family, Margot Haynes and David Quayle, this royal was definitely one to remember, with two of their young horses featuring as stars of the show.

DOCUMENTS released under Freedom of Information have revealed that contrary to statements made to ratepayers and the media, the City of Greater Bendigo was fully responsible for the Bendigo Showgrounds Master Plan Project and had told the government it would undertake a significantly greater level of consultation than it delivered.

ORGANISERS of the Brisbane CDI and Queensland Dressage Championships put together a seamlessly run event featuring top class performances and a bit of fun.

THE inaugural Off-The-Track Carnival at Boneo Park, Victoria, showcased retired Thoroughbred racehorses in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd over two days. The 387 horses displayed their versatility, competing on the flat and jumping across dressage, showing, showjumping and combined training disciplines.

EXPERIENCED event rider Delwyn Ogilvy and her current mount, Walter, are proving that in the sport of equestrian, age is just a number.

VICTORIAN Stacey Rusic continues to blaze a trail in her chosen discipline of side saddle, winning this year’s Peter Mitchell Churchill Fellowship to study the historic art of riding “same side” as a modern-day equestrian discipline.

JUST like the fictional Tasmanian town of Mystery Bay, a star in its own right in the hit ABC TV series Bay of Fires, Queenstown, where much of the show was filmed, is being held back by mysterious forces.

THE Mallala Showjumping Club has hosted its much-anticipated Winter Jumping Classic at the Mallala Equestrian Centre, just north of Adelaide.

BENDIGO Bank closed its last remaining banking service in an Aboriginal community 27 days before celebrating the launch of its Aboriginal Reconciliation Action Plan. The Aurukun agency in far north Queensland was one of 27 to be closed in 2022-2023 under the eye of the bank’s now chief executive Richard Fennell when he was in charge of the corporate and community branch network.

BENDIGO Bank has pulled out of fundraising partnerships with community groups that have been drumming up business for corporate branches since 2004.

THE Welsh Pony and Cob Society of South Australia once again proved why it is one of the hardest-working breed societies in the state, delivering another jam-packed performance event that felt more like a picture-perfect spring show than an outing in the depths of winter.

BENDIGO and Adelaide Bank has continued its assault on its community bank network, forcing the closure of 28 agencies run by community franchises. All the agencies are in regional Australia and 17 of the affected towns will be left with no banking services after the closures.

BENDIGO Bank has hit the headlines for closing 10 branches shortly followed by an announcement it was getting rid of all of its regional agencies but there are another 90-odd Bendigo-branded banks that have disappeared over the past five years it has managed to keep quiet.

WINTER is the time of year when many hug their fireplaces with a book and warm lap rug but it’s also when breeders of horses and ponies like to brave the cool breezes and join together at shows to compare their youngstock.

WITH the announcement that Bendigo Bank is closing two of its regional branches at Yarram and Korumburra this week, it’s time to again call bull#%*t on the claims this corporation makes about the size of its branch network.