Community spirit and new faces shine at the 2025 Weddin Mountain Muster

The 2025 Weddin Mountain Muster has concluded on a high note, with organisers and participants alike celebrating a week of outstanding rides, camaraderie and community support at the finale dinner held at the Grenfell Showground Simpson Pavillion on Friday 3 October.

This year’s Muster saw around one hundred riders from near and far taking to the trails and enjoying the best the Weddin Mountains region has to offer.

President of the Weddin Mountain Muster Committee, Melanie Cooper, expressed her delight at the success of the 2025 Muster remarking “Congratulations to everyone who took part this week. We had a lot of new faces this year and it has been fantastic to see them take on the rides, make new friends and explore what Grenfell has to offer.

Some riders have been building up to the event for years and when I overhear them chatting happily about their achievements, it truly makes all the effort worthwhile.”

Riders were treated to a variety of trails, exploring roads and tracks on all compass points of Grenfell.

“We were blessed with pretty good weather - while it got a bit windy and chilly at times, it could have been a lot worse,” said Trail Boss, Ashleigh Leibick.

The event’s success would not have been possible without the generosity of local property owners, who welcomed riders onto their paddocks and laneways.

“A huge thank you goes to all the property owners who made this event possible,” said Ashleigh. “Our Muster simply wouldn’t be the same without access to these beautiful properties.”

Only a small portion of the riders ride all five days, with many having a rest day at some point and others making the most of the shorter town ride on Wednesday to go shopping in Main Street.

“All of the business owners I spoke to during the week were very supportive and appreciative of the influx of visitors and business during the Muster,” said Melanie. “We get a lot of support in the way of sponsorship and donations of prizes for our raffles from local businesses and individuals so we try to support them where we can, encouraging participants to shop and eat locally during their stay, with many businesses extending trading hours during the week to make the most of the opportunity.”

Many shop owners agreed that the Wacky Wednesday parade through town this year was one of the biggest and best yet, with some great costumes created for the Australiana theme in support of Weddin Landcare, who are the chosen charity for funds raised through raffles and other donations this year.

“Everyone seemed to get in the spirit of the fancy dress this year and it was great to see so many community members lining the street to wave and cheer for us” said Melanie.

A huge team effort over many months is required to bring the Muster together each year and the Muster Committee brings together a cross-section of the community to make the event run smoothly.

“The rides ran seamlessly this year with no major incidents during the week and everything going according to plan, which is testament to the great group of people we had this year both on the committee and on the ride” said Bec Maslin, Secretary of the Muster Committee.

“We work closely with Weddin Shire Council, NSW Police, Transport for NSW, the Grenfell PAH&I Association and Grenfell Showground land managers throughout the year to plan the rides and our stay at the showground and are very thankful for the assistance provided by these organisations” remarked Bec.

“Our Committee consists of around thirty-five people and we need every single one of them to do their own special job – from our vested riders, horse marshalls and merchandise officer, to our gate-keepers, cooks and publicity officer, to our waterboys, portaloo men and pooper scoopers. Everyone does their bit to bring it all together and they are an amazing bunch of people to work with” said Bec.

As the Muster wraps up for another year, organisers are already looking ahead to the next event, with the AGM for the Weddin Mountain Muster Committee to be held on Tuesday 14 October.