Blog Post #6 - Horses Still in the Blood

Stonestreet Family

7 Apr

Some stories aren’t found in archives or birth certificates, they’re found in the steady hands of a grandfather, the familiar shape of a horse’s back, or the way someone says, “You couldn’t kill him with a stick.”

This is one of those stories.

🐎 A Boy, a Tractor, and a Horse Named Nell

Bruce Stonestreet remembers his grandfather — Arthur Ernest Stonestreet — not as a distant figure from a photo, but as a walking, working part of daily life on the farm at Greghamstown.

“I liked going around the farm with Grandfather,” Bruce writes. “He’d start the Ferguson tractor, and I’d steer it while he fed hay off the trailer.”

Arthur still used an old draught horse named Nell, working alongside the more modern machines. And that contrast, the old and the new, seemed to reflect everything about the Stonestreet way: resilient, resourceful, and never quite done.

🐕 Good Dogs, Hard Work, and Dry Bush Humour

Arthur had a skill that’s almost vanished, he could send two dogs in different directions to muster separate mobs of sheep. “Something rarely seen,” Bruce adds, almost in awe.

And with that skill came sayings that still echo in family kitchens:

“You couldn’t kill him with a stick.”
“That one would have to stand twice on the one spot to throw a shadow.”
“I’m that hungry I could wipe my nose with the skin of my stomach.”

These weren’t just jokes, they were shorthand for years of droughts, laughter, and getting on with the job.

📬 A Letter for Every Baby

Even as Bruce grew older and moved away, Arthur never missed a beat. “Most important occasions in my life — like new babies — would warrant a letter and a visit from him.”

The bond never faded.

And when Bruce reread his grandfather’s Memoirs years later, the yarns were familiar. He’d already heard them, out in the paddocks, on slow afternoons, or around the kitchen table at Emily Downs or Brooklyn.

✨ The Legacy

Arthur Ernest Stonestreet passed away in 1990, just shy of 94. But Bruce, and many others, carry his stories, skills, and sayings like a quiet torch.

Some things, like good dogs and dry wit, really do stay in the blood.

And the legacy doesn’t end there.

Jason and Kate Gavenlock run Stonelock Draught Horse Stud in Cowra NSW, specialising in breeding and working Australian Draught Horses. Jason is a renowned teamster, 3-time Golden Plough winner, and part of record-setting heavy horse teams, including the 2025 62-horse team in Barellan. Their team still carries the LS brand, first used by Levi Stonestreet himself.

From hand-drawn ploughs to Golden Plough champions — the horses, the land, and the Stonestreet name are still moving forward, one steady step at a time.

💬 Got a farm story? A favourite saying passed down through the generations? Share it — we’ll add it to the Stonestreet folklore.

📚 Next up: Peter & Joan – Love, Laughter & Legacy at Springdale