By Najma Sambul
In the small Victorian town of Casterton, the streets were streaked with gold and brown over the weekend. But the colours weren’t from autumn leaves – they were from the hordes of kelpies whizzing past.
Since the mid-1990s, this quintessential country dog show, the Casterton Kelpie Muster, has attracted thousands of people from interstate and overseas to the town near the South Australian border, on the Glenelg Highway.
The two-day event in Casterton, which claims the title of the birthplace of the Australian kelpie, is an annual family-friendly festival in which the beloved working dogs compete in events such as the high jump, hill climb and dash.
Kelpies are renowned for their intelligence and loyalty, making them great farm dogs.
Tegan Eagle drives five hours from her home in Nangana, 50 kilometres east of Melbourne, to Casterton to enter her dogs in the high jump event, where the dogs climb and jump over a stack of wooden planks that progressively increase after each round.
The 29-year-old stable hand is a familiar face at the event and has been attending with her kelpies Bailey and Cooper for the past decade.
Tegan Eagle with her champion kelpies Bailey and Cooper at the Casterton Kelpie Muster this weekend.Credit: Joe Armao
“It still blows my mind the height they jump,” Eagle says. “I don’t train them, they just absolutely love it.”
During that time, both dogs have become champions in the high jump event, with Bailey previously clearing a 2.951-metre barrier and holding the world record in 2016.
Cooper climbs a 2.6-metre hay bale in preparation for the kelpie high jump event.Credit: Joe Armao
The now-retired 11-year-old pooch was inducted into the hall of fame for his efforts, with three consecutive wins in the event.
Cooper, Bailey’s half-brother, a winner of two high jump events at Casterton in the past two years, is on track to become the next Bailey, says Eagle.
She says the high jump had become a dying sport but has been experiencing a small resurgence recently, as more people choose kelpies as pets due to their loyal nature and the film Red Dog.
“Sometimes we would go to high jumps at smaller shows, and they’d be like two dogs in the event; now, there’s a lot more dogs competing.”
While owners like Eagle pocket about $200 in prize money for the kelpie high jump, it’s less about the cash and more about supporting local communities and watching her dogs have fun, she says. Eagle and other attendees made a trip out of this weekend’s show, driving up a few days earlier to Casterton.
Karen Stephens, president of the Casterton Kelpie Association, which runs the muster, says the event is “serious business” for the local community as tourism numbers double over the weekend.
The working dog auction on the second day of the event has turned over $4 million in mostly kelpie sales in the past 28 years, including just under $1 million in the past three years, Stephens says.
“Casterton in the mid-90s went through a downturn like most rural Australian communities, and we were looking for something to secure as our very own and what was unique to our community. We realised that Casterton is the birthplace of the kelpie,” says Stephens, who is also the mayor of Glenelg Shire Council. “This event has certainly put Casterton on the map.”
“We’ve got people coming from the UK and Japan just to experience the Casterton Kelpie Muster. Last year, we had people from the USA – they’ve actually put Casterton on their bucket list,” she says.
The Australian Kelpie Centre, a big, modern building in the centre of Casterton, showcases the history of the kelpie and its relationship to the small town.
The Casterton Kelpie Association ran the kelpie auction on Sunday.Credit: Nicole Cleary
According to its website, the original kelpie was born in 1871 on Warrock Homestead, just north of Casterton, and was bred from Scottish working collies to help British settlers manage their livestock.
The breed has been popular ever since but demand for kelpies has surged over the past decade as farmers struggle to find long-term workers.
Some of the pups can sell for tens of thousands of dollars. At the Casterton kelpie auction on Sunday, the top dog – Beloka Laila – sold for $20,000 to the highest bidder, while total kelpie sales topped $200,000.
In 2020, one kelpie sold for $36,200, Stephens says.
“Farmers can buy a kelpie for $30,000 to $40,000. It’s cheap in reality because the dogs don’t get sick and take leave,” she says.
But for owners like Tegan Eagle, it’s the people in Casterton that make the muster special.
“It’s just very friendly. You don’t feel like you’re an outsider when you go to town.”
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