Now almost 19, Jack Rose has had an interest in working on a cattle station since I can remember. (I've done many a mile chatting with his Dad, Gus, as we carted horses from NSW to NT and WA cattle stations over the years).
Jack was in his element working on a station in 2024, but it's what he's been doing over the wet season that peeked my interest...
I had a chat with Jack last week about his journey so far:
"I worked my first year out of school in 2024 at Meda, in the West Kimberley, WA, and couldn’t have planned a better year. I had met Troy (Station Manager) and Declan (Assistant Manager) briefly before I went up and knew that they would be great to work under and learn from, which I have.
Cattle work, horsemanship, attitude and people skills were just a few of the things I picked up while working under those two, hence why I’m very excited to do another season with them this year. They also got me hooked on the rodeo side of things which I’m pretty excited for.
To fill in the off season I decided I wanted to do a winter season in Canada with my mate from school because we both have dual citizenship and thought it’d be something a bit different.
So I landed a job as a dogsled tour guide with 'Howling Dog Tours' near the small township of Canmore in Alberta, Canada - not far from Calgary. So definitely switching things up as well as putting up with the 60°C temperature difference.
It's been -5°C for a week or so but getting down to -20°C this week, average temps about -10°C usually. The dogs we use are Alaskan and Siberian huskies for the most part with a few greyhound husky crosses as well and we don’t run the dogs any colder than -25°C... only because WE can’t put up with it!
I’ve definitely used many of the tips and tricks I picked up from Meda like being aware of small injuries or rubs on horses which I’ve transferred to the dogs in addition to the attitude to work long hours in extreme weather.
Apart from the temperature and a few other things the job type is reasonably similar and as fun as the job is, working under the dogsledding company has certainly made me appreciate Troy and Declan and the culture that they’ve created at Meda.
I couldn’t have picked a better and more enjoyable experience than working and skiing in Canada for the offseason. But not a day goes by without me dreaming of chasing after a stray micky or winning the bulldogging at a rodeo, so I couldn’t be more excited to get back into it when the season begins!"
Onya Jack, what an experience - have a great season... and enjoy the warmer weather!
From the RFTTEJOBS Newsletter 31st Jan 2025: https://bit.ly/Horses2Huskies
Comments