They are the bush couple whose reputation precedes them. Morgan and Emma Webb are stars of Australia when it comes to horse and bush challenges, having won the Man from Snowy River Challenge and the Battle on the Bidgee Challenge held at Corryong and Gundagai respectively, on numerous occasions.
The Times caught up with each of them to discuss their success from their point of view this week and to see what makes them more than above average when it comes to their chosen sport.
Emma said, “I have taken out the Battle of the Bidgee ladies title a few times.
“My first one was in 2014 when I first came down and I have taken it out every year since.
“There was a couple of years it didn’t run due to floods or Covid and one year I didn’t compete as I was pregnant, but other than that I have had great success there.
The couple are now based in Cootamundra with their young family.
Emma spent plenty of time in the saddle growing up. She said, “I grew up in Far North Queensland on a cattle property, so I’ve ridden horses all my life, but the first time I started doing these sort of challenges was in 2014 and that’s when I met Morgan up there. I came back down here with him and did Corryong, the Bidgee and King of the Ranges and all of those and have pretty well been doing them ever since.
“I have been competing in camp drafting and the other style of challenges for quite a while.
“Morgan and I met in 2013 and started dating and then got married in 2022.
They quickly set about brining the next generation of riders along by adding three children to the mix.
Emma said, “We have three children, Connor, 6, Lucy 4 and Bryce is 17 months.
“Lucy competed in the mini stripling event and came fourth. When we are up in Queensland Connor and Lucy go in the mini camp draft and they have great fun doing that.
“It is something that the family excels in and we try and do them when they pop up.
“Morgan was the youngest person to ever win the Man From Snowy River event at Corryong at 18 years of age and he’s won it several times since and I’ve won the ladies their eight times.
“I had a good weekend at Gundagai. I only have a young horse. I probably could have had a better weekend. I went into the finals with 13 points in the lead. I was the only one to catch my wild horse, so came in front by a fair way.
“Morgan went into the finals in second place by 13 points and he was the only one to ride his bronc, so he won by a fair way too.
“I’d nearly have to say that the wild horse catch is my favourite event if you make it that far.
“These ones were wild brumbies. Sometimes you get proper bred horses that are unhandled, but these ones were the real thing.
The couple’s calendar quietens down a little over the lead up to Christmas.
Emma said, “The next event we have is Tumut campdraft until after Christmas.
Morgan praised the committee and said, “It was a good weekend. The committee did a good job and all the livestock they brought in were suitable for the job.
“It’s a big job for them to have several different lines of cattle for the campdraft, the challenge, the kids and open riders and then they have bucking horses and brumbies. They put a lot of effort in and they did a really good job.
Morgan was in second place going into the broncs at the Battle of the Bidgee and was the only rider to make time go get over the line.
When it comes to the broncs Morgan said that it gets harder as he gets older.
“I’d say I used to be a lot better than I am as I get older.
“Sunday is my strong show. Sunday is final day and there’s a brumby catch and a bronc ride and I’d like to think I’m most competitive in the finals.
“I like to step it up and make those other fellas double guess themselves.
“I’m 34 and Emma is 36 and we’ve been competing for a while now.
When asked how the body is holding up, he said, “It’s very much an individual choice in terms of their body. My body is not going to take too much more of it. I’m a horse breaker and played a lot of sports and have a lot of injuries, so I’m not going to last forever. These other fellas will probably last a lot longer than me.
“If I feel I have achieved enough in the sport I will probably pull up before I get hurt.
“I’ve won four Man from Snowy River challenges. I’m pretty blessed. I’ve had a lot of good horses over the years and a lot of the other blokes don’t have the advantages I have, which has helped me out a lot, especially with the job I have it seems to lean towards those comps a little bit more and the skillset.
“I would ride ninety percent more than my competitors as they have their own personal horses, but I ride all day, usually around 21 horses a day.
They definitely don’t get the hours in the saddle that I do.
“I was born and raised in Tumut, but now live in Cootamundra.
A couple of towns try and lay ownership upon Morgan. He said, “I have a lot of family in Gundagai and a lot of friends in Cootamundra now, so it gets stretched a bit.
Morgan had a short Rodeo career but said, “I hurt my ankle really badly, so I don’t any more.”
“The horse breaking is a combination of the old method and the whispering method, it’s what I always fall back on is every horse is an individual and I have been breaking in horses since I was 15 pretty consistently and I’ve literally broken in thousands of horses and no one horse is the same.
“Often you will recall back on a memory to deal with a bit of an issue that you dealt with a decade ago. It’s not anybody that says there’s one way to skin a cat, they haven’t skinned many cats.
“Up until now the horse breaking has been the dominant base of our work, but I’m starting to angle it now towards more horse training as it’s a little bit easier on the body than breaking in and it also allows us to do a few more camp drafts and other challenges now.
“Having the three kids makes it more difficult but we are very lucky that we have a really good circle of friends and family that help out as much as they can and we do appreciate it. We probably don’t say it quite as much as we should. Without the people that help, especially with the little fella, it would be impossible for us to do what we do.
“Special mention to Shane Piper and his committee, they are exceptional. They put in a huge effort to make sure us as competitors have a good weekend and they are always trying to improve it. They keep it competitive and they keep it challenging without trying to hurt anyone, they are doing a good job and going in the right direction.
Images: Shelley Henry, Red Zephyr Photography.
