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Words: James Wagstaff Producer: Grace McKinnon
High Country legend and mountain cattleman rides again
Growing up in the foothills of Victoria’s rugged high country, Charlie Lovick never warmed to the four walls of a classroom.
Instead, his skills led him to become the master of horse for The Man from Snowy River series of films.
The Lovicks were among the original pioneering families of Merrijig, near Mansfield, arriving in the district in the 1860s. 
They were among Victoria’s original mountain cattlemen. 
Each summer, for more than a century, they would muster — on horseback — their cattle up to high country where they would be left to graze for three months.
It was a practice that became immortalised in Australian folklore. 
During the musters, the Lovicks would mostly sleep out under the stars, in the warm glow of a campfire, or in a traditional mountain hut on Barkly’s Flat.
All cattlemen considered their mountain huts their second home and my old man actually thought it was his first – he’d rather be out there than here. 
Charlie Lovick
Charlie Lovick
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It was the Lovicks’ passion for the mountains that caught the eye of documentary makers, which then morphed into their involvement in the making of the two popular Man from Snowy River films during the 1980s.
Charlie was appointed master of horse, responsible for wrangling the huge cast of horses procured from across the high country for filming as well as finessing the horse skills of the main actors.
Before cameras started rolling, the film’s star, Tom Burlinson, spent three months with Charlie and his family learning how to ride. 
By 1989, the Alpine National Park was declared. After claims cattle were damaging the environment, the mountain cattlemen knew their time was ending. 
Charlie is now concentrating on retraining and rehoming former racehorses and a proposed High Country Hall of Fame.
																											

Original URL: https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/web-stories/free/the-weekly-times/charlie-lovick-high-country-legend-and-mountain-cattleman-rides-again