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Outback House: Horse race

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Horses gallop past a group of women in period costume near house
Outback House: Horse race

SUBJECTS:  History

YEARS:  5–6


Join the fun and excitement as station residents hold a horse race to commemorate the first Melbourne Cup in 1861.

Imagine leaving your home to travel back to a time over 150 years ago, to live and work on an outback farm. Sixteen Australians take part in a reality TV show about life on Oxley Downs, a sheep station built to look and work as a real station would have in the 1860s.


Things to think about

  1. 1.What sporting events do you enjoy? Why do you think the Melbourne Cup is such a popular event in Australia each year? Do you know how the Melbourne Cup began?
  2. 2.Notice the clothes the spectators are wearing at the Oxley Downs race. What do the clothes tell you about the importance of the race? What does the narrator mean by a 'handicap'? (Hint: observe the order in which horses and riders start the race.) Who is the winner? Is this what you expected?
  3. 3.Find out about the first Melbourne Cup. Use search terms such as 'Melbourne Cup history'. Why is it called 'the race that stops a nation'? Horses arrived in Australia on the First Fleet. Besides racing events, what did early European settlers use horses for? Make a poster to show how horses contributed to the growth of the colonies.
  4. 4.Imagine that the government wants to abolish the Melbourne Cup. You lead the 'Save the Melbourne Cup' movement. How can you prove that the Melbourne Cup contributes to Australia's economy? What do you need to know? Research your questions and prepare a presentation to the government.



Production Date: 2005


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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