Chris Broers' eye for history settles on an owl hole in the old English-style brick barn near Yass, where his Clydesdale mare Maddie lost her foal in January and later died, breaking her owner's heart.
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The holes admit owls into barns to catch mice, although neither bird nor rodent are about in the stable at historic Cooma Cottage, home of the first Australian-born explorer, Hamilton Hume. Rice husks cover the cobblestone floor, left from when Maddie, a vet and Mr Broers struggled for three hours to deliver her big foal.
Then she lost her life too, succumbing to foal founder, the heavy horses' scourge.
"I tried for the last few months to save her," Mr Broers said. " She looked like she was coming through, then in the last week she got really bad. We picked up her front feet, there were traces of blood coming through, that means her pedal bone has dropped inside her hoof, so I had to put her down," he said.
All is not lost for Mr Broers who grew up with horses on the family's farm at Murrumbateman, where they grazed dairy cows and grew crops before the district was subdivided into hobby farms.
His focus is back on Prince, a handsome, 18-hands high Clydesdale gelding, and a fresh Guinness world record attempt for ploughing with working horses. Friends gave the towering white roan to Mr Boers when they left Yass for Western Australia.
Two years ago Mr Broers led a group of like-minded enthusiasts to establish a world record for the highest number of heavy horses ploughing in one field. They had 28 heavy horses, only to have Ireland set a new record last year with 84 heavy horses.
Mr Boers says only 5000 Clydesdales remain worldwide. "These big horses built our country in the early days," he said. " I want to promote these guys, I want children to come and look at our heritage, and what these horses have done for Australia in the early days."
The 2014 record attempt was delayed for hours as thousands of spectators arrived at once, bringing traffic to a standstill.
"We had lots of horses pull out. They just don't like waiting around, it was a terrible, windy cold day," he said.
At last count more than 60 heavy horses are coming to Cooma Cottage grounds for Wooback 2 on the weekend [April 23 and 24]. The record attempt will be held on Sunday at 1pm. They need 85 horses.
A team is returning from Western Australia with six heavy horses and will compete in events including the golden plough, which dates back to early days before tractors.
Bewildered when Maddie died, Prince is getting back into stride for Wooback 2. "Maddie sat with the foal all day grieving, then all of a sudden she got up and walked away," Mr Broers said.
When Maddie left Prince in an empty paddock, the 16-year-old giant panicked. So friend John White brought his shire gelding Wes over. Now mates, the pair raise puffs of dust whenever their plate-sized hooves trot along for the sweet smell of cut lucerne hay wafting from the stable.
"He is my boy," Mr Broers says, patting Prince. "When you walk up to your horse and he puts his head and neck over your shoulder and just stands there, I think there is no better bond than that. As soon as I pull up out there he will come running from down the paddock. He is like a person."
