Bush Legends: Horse trainer Bruce Gleeson’s life on the land

Being stuck in the past or seen to be ‘going backwards’ may be an insult to some. But horse trainer and bushman Bruce Gleeson sees it as a true compliment.

Bruce Gleeson on his farm at Spring Hill, where he breeds Golden Kelpie dogs. Picture: Zoe Phillips

“People say to me, I live in my own little world and I say, ‘yes, ain’t it fantastic?’.”

For acclaimed horse and dog trainer Bruce Gleeson, this “fantastic” world is his remote property near Spring Hill, in central Victoria, where he and his wife, Evanne Chesson, breed horses, run trail rides and also train Golden Kelpies.

In an increasingly fast-paced world dominated by technology and smartphones, this horse breeder, animal trainer and bushman is a real throwback.

And it’s by looking to the past and preserving old skills of horsemanship and bushcraft that Bruce has carved out an honest, humble life that belies the successes of his career.

Many of the wooden cabins on his property have been built by Bruce himself; in a period style.

“We kill our own meat, we have our own solar power, there’s no electricity which is fantastic. I don’t leave the place much. I do trail rides up here, we breed horses … it’s quite a good lifestyle,” Bruce said.

Bruce bought his first place aged 15, a 6.5ha property near Macclesfield.

“I just kept buying and selling until I ended up here. It’s a nice old property, and it’s almost a step back in time,” he said.

“I grew up near Croydon, well before it was like it is now. I used to be able to ride out across to Eastland on my horse. It got too busy for me, so I headed out bush.”

At nearly 71 years old, Bruce has worked with horses all his life, and left the encroaching spread of the Melbourne suburbs for regional Victoria.

Bruce and Evanne’s animals have featured in iconic Australian films, including Australia and The Silver Brumby.

Bruce Gleeson riding Bell Bell, daughter of the Silver Brumby. Picture: Zoe Phillips

But his first foray into film in the early 1970s nearly didn’t happen.

“I was pulling logs out of the bush with some draught horses. A film crew came by and saw me working. They offered me a job and I said, ‘no, I’m quite happy doing what I’m doing’,” Bruce said.

“They annoyed me for about a week before I said, ‘OK, I’ll come down and have a look’.”

Bruce had worked with horses since he was 14, when he worked in racing stables, before moving on to work on an orchard with “a fantastic guy” named Glenn Golding who “put me on the right track”.

“He still had horses working in the orchard. He was kind of backwards, but that’s forwards to me,” Bruce said.

“Everything was done with the horses. He was an honest, good guy, and taught me a lot about the land, and the environment. Every day, his mother, who was in her 90s, would come down and bring the billy down with some fruitcake, and all the foxes would come down and beg for fruitcake.

Bruce Gleeson with baby Jedda the kelpie pup. Picture: Zoe Phillips

“Glenn thought everything had their place, the foxes, the birds.”

Bruce’s great respect for his elders stemmed from his experiences working with Glenn.

“I’ve always knocked around with really old people, not young people. My parents used to go crook about it, but the older people are the ones who taught me everything,” Bruce said.

“People talk about racial prejudice, and I think there’s a prejudice against older people. People don’t want you so much when you’re old, rather than learning from them. When we were kids, if you were working they would put you with an older person, it’s like when you put an older sheepdog with a young dog.

“It’s the basics of life, and it’s gone too far the more technology gets better, and the product just gets worse.”