Bill Willoughby making a name for himself second time around

You would expect the man who’s wrangled animals for all of Australia’s epic dramas – Breaker Morant, The Man From Snowy River, The Lighthorsemen, Gallipoli, Phar Lap, and the list goes on – to be in high demand, and that’s what he’s been in Central Australia this winter.

When the Top End Rodeo Circuit announced that a junior clinic was being offered by the man who had won a Man From Snowy River Challenge, it wasn’t long before it was sold out.

Bill’s father won 12 national rodeo championships in his day and bred the sport into Bill’s veins.

He started rodeoing when he was 17, qualified “20-something” times for the national finals and won 48 open bull rides on the pro rodeo circuit, which meant that northern Australia became familiar territory over the years.

In 1981 he was the livestock contractor for the making of We of the Never Never, shot at Elsey station and Mataranka, and he was enjoying the return visit at the end of July.

In between time-event instruction in Darwin, Bill slipped down to Katherine for some private instruction work, and he says he’s looking to do more.

“The TV networks aren’t making the big outdoor stuff anymore – the internet has stolen a big part of the visual advertising market and the money’s not out there anymore,” he said.

“In between things like supplying the horses and organising the stunts for McLeod’s Daughters, I broke in horses for people, but I’m getting too old to be working with young horses so I’m phasing that out and moving more into the teaching.”

To say he’s skilled in a number of disciplines is an understatement – he reels off rodeo, campdrafting, polo, and dressage knowledge – and he’s happy to share that around.

“What I do at the start is the same, regardless of what you intend to do with your horse,” he said. “You’ve got to have a well-bred horse that’s set up and knows what’s going on.”

While every day brings its own challenges, it’s unlikely that they’ll be as varied as the days Bill put in on various film sets in years past.

He said the hardest thing to deal with on location was the many people who were removed from a rural lifestyle and who didn’t understand animal behaviour.

“I’d walk onto a set and I’d have to train the crew,” he said. “I had to treat them like props I could turn on and off.”

These days his saddle-making skills are just as much in demand as his horsemanship.

“I haven’t got a piece of paper that says I’m good at anything, but I’ve done a bit,” he said.