The Snowy River Festival has become one of the most popular gatherings for people from the Snowy Mountains and beyond. This year the Festival will run from November 13 to 15 with a jam-packed itinerary of activities and competitions on offer.

The feature event will be the Snowy River Stockman’s Challenge Open Champion. This year there are 63 competitors vying for a share in the $10,000 pool of prizes.

The Challenge is made up of various stockman skills - whip cracking, horseshoeing, stock handling, cross country riding, bareback riding, packing a horse and the traditional brumby catch. Many of these skills are slowly disappearing from working properties and the creation of the Stockman’s Challenge event is a way of keeping them alive in Australia’s rural heritage.

Hawkesbury River Saddle Company is launching the Triple Crown Series where trophy saddles will be awarded to the highest scoring open, ladies and junior competitors of Dalgety, Corryong and Murrurundi Stockman’s Challenges. The first challenge of the Triple Crown Series will commence at the 2009 Snowy River Festival.

Heath Harris of the Hawkesbury River Saddle Company said the Stockman’s Challenge was a fabulous event.

“It is keeping alive the skills and the art of Australian bushmanship and horsemanship.

“It also allows history to come to life as the young people of today learn the skills of the past,” Mr Harris said.

“We are very excited about sponsoring the Triple Crown Series, as it should encourage competitors to compete in all three events.”

Mr Harris is also well known for his movie roles with horses worldwide. He will also be entertaining the crowds with his own horses.

The Stockmen’s Relay is another popular event for spectators. Sit on the banks of the Snowy River and watch 10 teams of three competitors as they shear a sheep, run and then swim the river and jump on a horse and ride back across to the finish line.