Park Ridge Cow Girl by Paul Jackson

Speaking of cows. I’d heard the legend of the girl who rode her cow to Park Ridge State School over the years but it wasn’t until I was reading through some archived newspapers last year that I came across an article picturing Heather Crack (nee Doran) on her cow.

The photo was taken on Mt Lindesay Hwy in 1960 when Heather was 11 years old. “My dad wouldn’t let me have a horse so I rode Heidi”, Heather said. “I rode Heidi everywhere. She had a bridle and reigns, but we couldn’t afford a saddle, so I just rode bareback.”

“Yeah, that’s true”, Peter Smith said. “We used to see Heather riding her cow all the time.”

Heather went on to become Queensland’s first Mounted Policewoman in 1975 and has continued working with horses ever since.