Emma Webb and ‘Western Acres’ on course during the 2026 Man From Snowy River Bush Festival. Photo: Stephen Mowbray Photography.
Emma Webb has dominated the Man from Snowy River (MFSR) Bush Festival like no-one before her – but ask her what her historic 10th Ladies Challenge title feels like, and she’ll be the first to tell you the scoreboard never quite captures it.
“When I first won for the 10th time, it felt the same as every win I’ve ever had,” she said, “but having a few days to reflect on it, it has sunk in a little more how big the achievement is.”
At Corryong, she recently claimed a record that puts her beyond every other competitor in the event’s history – woman and man.
Emma, who previously competed under her maiden name Emma O’Shea, is part of a well-known bush partnership.
She and her husband, fellow competitor Morgan Webb, are based near Cootamundra, where they run a performance horse training operation.
The pair train, travel and compete together, building a reputation as one of the most successful combinations in the sport.
Morgan has won the MFSR open challenge three times and, broadly speaking, he’s won everything worth winning – meaning the Webb household knows a thing or two about what it takes to stand at the top of the podium.
This year he came agonisingly close again, missing out on the open title by just 13 points – a result made all the more poignant as horse and rider took a bow together, with Morgan announcing the retirement of his champion horse Dolgwili Norman – “Norman” – from open competition.
Held annually in the foothills of the Victorian high country – the very country that inspired Banjo Paterson’s beloved poem – the festival has been celebrating Australian bush culture since 1995.
What began as a test of traditional stockman’s skills has grown into one of the most prestigious horsemanship competitions in the country, drawing well over 20,000 people across the four-day weekend.
Riders compete across multiple disciplines – cattle work, cross-country, packhorse, whip-cracking and the dramatic wild horse catch – before the top finalists meet in a Sunday showdown to decide the champion.
The weight of that expectation, and what it means to be its greatest ever champion, is not lost on Emma.
For someone who first arrived as a relative unknown – a Far North Queensland contract musterer from Spring Valley Station, Almaden, west of Mareeba – the scale of what she’s built is remarkable.
“I know I was feeling the pressure I put on myself to not let everyone down and win for the 10th time,” she said.
It’s a format Emma has made her own not just at Corryong, but across the broader circuit.
She has taken ladies crowns at the Battle of the Bidgee at Gundagai and the King of the Ranges at Murrurundi several times each, along with the Coonamble Classic Challenge and numerous drafts.
At the 2018 Battle on the Bidgee, she amassed the highest accumulated score across all divisions – not just ahead of the women, but the men and juniors too.
The difference between winning once and winning repeatedly, Emma says, comes down to something far less dramatic than a single standout moment.
“Consistency, dedication and improvement,” she explained. “Even after every win, I didn’t come home thinking I’d got it all covered. We’d work through things I felt I could’ve done better.”
That mindset – never quite satisfied – has underpinned her dominance in a competition designed to find weaknesses and exploit them.
And despite her record, Emma is the first to admit she hasn’t mastered every part.
“I’m still not great at the pack saddle. It’s always something I’m relieved when I’ve got it done and achieved a reasonable job.”
It’s a reminder that even at the top, there is no such thing as a perfect run – only the drive to keep improving.
That’s become more important as the competition around her has sharpened considerably.
“The standard has definitely picked up a lot since my first challenge,” she said. “You can see in the juniors coming through that their standard has lifted so much by the time they break into the open or ladies.”
Her own approach, she says, has stayed largely the same.
“I don’t think my training has evolved much. I think we’ve probably just refined different things.”
At the centre of it all are the horses.
Hilite Dads Acres – affectionately known as “Dude” – carried her through the bulk of her titles, with Western Acres – or “Westy” – stepping up alongside him.
“Dude has definitely played a huge part in my success,” she said. “We had a great relationship and he was always with me through every event.
“They’re very different horses, but at the same time, when they’ve been needed, they are there.”
When asked what she looked for in a competition horse, she said temperament and athleticism were a must.
“You need a horse that can jump a big jump if needed and has the heart to run a horse down on finals day,” she said. “Knowing a horse is with you when you ride into the arena is a bloody good feeling – looking back on a run and thinking there’s nothing I would have done differently is satisfying.”
For Emma, the event means something beyond the competition itself.
“I think it’s a great legacy that we’re lucky to be a part of – something I don’t think we should ever lose,” she said. “I’d definitely love to be part of preserving it for the next generation.”
It’s a sentiment that speaks to something deeper than trophies – an understanding that what happens at Corryong each year is a living connection to the mountain stockmen and the country that Paterson immortalised.
And with a new generation of young women coming through the ranks, Emma is equally clear about what it takes to get there.
“You have to start somewhere. If you want something bad enough and dedicate yourself, you can achieve great things.”
The legend of the MFSR is built on horsemanship, hard work and the will to get the job done.
Ten titles in, Emma Webb embodies all three.
