Program getting kids out of classroom and into the show

THERE was no horsing about for Wyreema State School student Riley Ashton yesterday as he got to grips with the work of a farrier at the Toowoomba Royal Show.

ON THE TOOLS: Wyreema State School student Riley Ashton learns about farriering from Rhett Cuddihy and Bobes at the Ag Discovery school tours program of the Heritage Bank Toowoomba Royal Show. Picture: Kevin Farmer

THERE was no horsing about for Wyreema State School student Riley Ashton yesterday as he got to grips with the work of a farrier at the Heritage Bank Toowoomba Royal Show.

It's not something the Year 4 student has ever had to do before, but with Rhett Cuddihy leading the way, it wasn't long before his new apprentice got the hang of things.

Never having worked with horses, Riley said it was a good experience.

"I'd never seen it done before. It was cool,” he said, though he added he probably wouldn't be taking up the craft of shoeing horses for a career.

Riley was among the 300 school children from 10 schools around the region who headed to the Toowoomba show yesterday as part of the revitalised Ag Discovery program.

Ag Discovery chief steward Kate Blauw said students from Prep through to Year 9 had made the trip to the showgrounds for six sessions, learning about industries that ranged from cattle to grains, farrier-work, apiary, poultry, pigs, and even handling reptiles.

"Basically it's about getting our kids to understand where their food comes from, where their clothing comes from, and get in touch with agriculture and the industries that support them,” she said.

The program is an initiative of the Royal Agricultural Society of Queensland that made its return last year.

"It used to run years and years ago... we put one Facebook post up and got about 300 kids from it,” Mrs Blauw said.

"We just hope it keeps on going and we build it back up.”

Originally published as Program getting kids out of classroom and into the show