With the exploits of eight-time Olympian Andrew Hoy in the headlines this week, Gazette editor GARRY HOWE delves into the archives to uncover the amazing story of how a Hallam dairy farmer paved the way as part of Australia’s first Olympic equestrian team..
Although he just missed out on a medal, Hallam dairy farmer Ern Barker can lay claim to a unique place in Olympic history.
He was a member of Australia’s first Olympic equestrian team and, as such, was one of the few athletes to have attended two Opening Ceremonies in the one year.
Melbourne hosted the Olympics when Barker competed in 1956, which should have been right on the doorstep of his Hallam home.
However, Australia had a strict six month pre-shipment quarantine on horses at the time and federal authorities would not make an exception for the Olympics.
So it was decided the equestrian competition would be held in the Swedish capital Stockholm.
Barker joined his team-mates David Wood, Bert Jacobs, Brian Crago John Winchester, Wyatt ‘Bunty’ Thompson and their equine entourage in sailing out of Melbourne in January 1955.
The voyage to London took six weeks and Ern remembers seeing fences over there which he did not think a horse would jump, but they were going over them within a few weeks as part of their preparation.
The competition, with 29 participating countries, was held from 11 to 17 June 1956, months before the rest of the Games began.
This meant the equestrian team was back in Melbourne for the Opening Ceremony in November, giving them the rare honour of having participated in two ceremonies for the one Games.
Australia finished fourth, just out of the medals, in the three day event.
To participate in the Games, Ern had to put a share farmer on his Hallam property for the two years it took for the preparation and competition.
Gazette proprietor Herb Thomas interviewed the Barkers for an On The Land feature in July 1967, focusing mainly on their farming exploits.
Ern Barker began his working life as a pastry cook and baker, but his dream was to operate a farm. He achieved his ambition, farming firstly at Yea and then on a dairy property in Hallam.
“Apart from being an efficient dairy farmer, Mr Barker is one of the most talented horsemen in Australia,” the report said.
The Gazette reported that, while overseas, Ern took the opportunity to learn some of the English farming methods and found them very different to Australia.
The main reason was that their cattle are under cover for half the year. Another thing he noticed was that all the herds were of the same breed, there were no mixed breeds.
“Mr Barker’s services as a judge for horse and riding events are in great demand in Australia,” he report said. “He has officiated at every Royal Show throughout the Commonwealth.”
He never let this interfere with his management of the farm. For instance, once he milked the herd of cows in the morning before flying over to Tasmania to judge at a show, then flew back to Essendon airport after his duty was performed and he was back on the farm for milking that night.
“He is even better known in the show ring as a competitor, having won every three day event in Australia,” the 1967 report said. “Last season had been one of his best as a competitor. He generally has on the farm two horses, one experienced and well-seasoned and the other a young horse in the course of preparation.”
Asked what the best horse he had ridden he replied without hesitation Jody, a mount that had to be destroyed last year at the age of 20. He said Jody had won seven first prizes at the Royal Sydney Show in 1962 – three in dressage events, three in jumping contests and one three-day event.
The Barker farm was on 115 acres (46.5 hectares) in Hallam and had more than 50 paddocks, each of about two acres and employing a rotational grazing method which was the trend at the time.
To alleviate the high cost of fencing with such a venture, he started off with a single barbed held up by steel posts and sometimes garden stakes and then progressed to electric fences.
Mr and Mrs Barker had hardly established the farm when in 1950 they encountered a major setback when their home, with all its contents, was destroyed by fire.
“For three years they lived in a shed on the property while Mr Barker built a delightful brick home which they now occupy,” the Gazette reported. “It was to find money to build the home that Mr Barker went out to work.”
As well as running the property and travelling the country in his equestrian pursuits, Ern was for a number of years employed as an auctioneer and stock agent by well-known Dandenong firm R.G. Melgaard and Co, which sold to Elders GM.
Barker was an active member of the Berwick Show Society for many years. He joined the Akoonah Park Committee of Management in 1969 and was elected chairman, a position he held until his retirement in 1993.
He was awarded the British Empire Medal for his services to the equestrian community and died on 14 February 1996 in Warragul, aged 82.
The Ern Barker Reserve in Hallam was named in his honour.
In 2012, the team was inducted into the Equestrian Australia Hall of Fame in the Team Achievement Section.
