Hayley Coleburn
Rosewood Station
Near Kununurra WA
“A handy little tool to have”
Hayley Coleburn, originally a Goondiwindi girl, has been at Rosewood Station since 2006. She describes Rosewood as “a beautiful part of the world,” and regards the work as “good experience on a great place.”
Since 2007, Hayley has been in charge of a four to five member, all girl, weaner stock camp. Hayley is justifiably proud of the team, who “tail the weaners out, get them quiet… we use horses, all horses, work them through the yards, brand them,
and turn them out. To see the weaners come into the yards a little bit unsure, and then by the end they know what they‘ve gotta do; it‘s a big satisfaction to see the animals quieten, Yeah”
From her first year of jillerooing in 2001, at Anthony Lagoon Station, The Barkly, N.T, Hayley has come a long way geographically, and in acquiring valuable stock handling skills and experience. She and her partner, Wayne Corbett, a chopper mustering pilot, spent four years at Mittagong Station, near Croydon, Qld Gulf. During the six years she’s worked at Rosewood, she has earned the respect and trust of Manager Doug Struber, to the point in 2011, where he gave her the responsibility of the Assistant Manager’s role. Apart from the well earned honour of the role, it’s a generic title, avoiding the debatable headstockman/woman/person? description.
Back in 2001, at Anthony Lagoon Station, eighteen year old Hayley purchased a set of Kent Leather Dinner Hobbles, and in 2011 they needed a stitch on the keep, described by Lyle as “a long service running repair.”
Hayley doesn’t use the hobble belt much these days, and with a tinge of longing in her voice she recalls “I used to use it a fair bit, yeah….we don’t get out to muster much these days; we’re in the yards a fair bit. But, its good to have them hanging off the saddle, and handy to hobble your horse when you’re pulled up for dinner. Tie the horse up to a tree, and it might take off on you! A hobble belt is a handy little tool to have.”