Largest Team of Heavy Horses to Pull a Laden (Bennett) Tabletop Wool Waggon

Atlas World Records
Oct 17, 2025
5 min read

Updated: Jan 16

BERELLAN, 17 October 2025 (Atlas) --- In the heart of the Riverina, under a pale Australian sun that bleaches both sky and spirit, sixty-two heavy horses were harnessed to a single waggon. Not wagon—but waggon, spelled as the pioneers once did, with a double consonant that clings to the age of timber, rope, and toil. The old spelling survives among those who refuse to let the dust of modernity erase the dignity of their labour.

At the Good Old Days Festival in Barellan, New South Wales, the Barellan Working Clydesdales Incorporated assembled a sight unseen in the modern world: fifteen spans of four horses abreast, with two in the shafts — a living chain of 62 giants stretching seventy-six meters from the leaders to the drivers. Five hundred meters of chain bound them together, not in captivity but in purpose.

The Bennett tabletop wool waggon, built generations ago by James and George Bennett of St Mary’s, NSW, and now owned by Ian Dahlenburg of Murramai, creaked beneath its monumental load: 32 bales of Merino wool, each weighing 200 kg, supplied by the Flagg family of Moobooldool. Together, waggon and cargo weighed 10,200 kg — a testament not to machinery, but to endurance.

The horses came from across the plains — contributed by Aleks Berzins, Bruce Bandy, Steve Johnson, Jason Gavenlock, Allison Prentice, and Heather McFarlane. Their breeds read like a litany of strength: Australian Draught, Clydesdale, Suffolk Punch, Percheron, and Shire. At the front strode the leaders — Hank, Lady, Digger, and Margaret — who obeyed not the whip but the human voice, guided across two full laps of the 800-metre trotting track at the Barellan Showgrounds.

At the waggon’s helm stood Aleks Berzins, Bruce Bandy, and Steve Johnson, the drivers who trusted voice over rope; Shane Carroll manned the brake, bearing the weight of ten tonnes of motion. Around them drifted the red dust — the very dust that once fed the lungs of pioneers hauling grain and wool before the arrival of steel and fuel.

In our century of screens and simulation, this scene borders on the primeval. There were no engines, no algorithms — only the dialogue between creature and man, the chorus of hooves and chain in perfect unison. The crowd, thousands strong, stood in reverent awe. They were not witnessing sport, but ceremony — the re-enactment of the contract upon which Australia was built: that toil and trust, bound together, can move even mountains.

For Atlas World Records, this is more than a numerical triumph. It is a monument of heritage, an elegy to cooperation in an age of isolation.

The record now stands in time:

Largest Team of Heavy Horses Hitched to Pull a laden (Bennett) wool Waggon — 62 Horses, Barellan, New South Wales, Australia, October 4–5, 2025 Verified by Atlas World Records

The dust has settled, the horses rest, and the voices of their drivers fade into the heat shimmer of the plains. But somewhere, in the silence between hoofbeats, the land remembers — and whispers back that for a moment, we were magnificent.

Record discovery courtesy of ABC News Australia. 🔗

Adjudicator’s Transparency Statement

Record Title: Largest Team of Heavy Horses Hitched to Pull a Laden (Bennett) Wool Waggon
Record Holder: Barellan Working Clydesdales Incorporated (Australia)
Field of Achievement: Heritage > Agriculture > Heavy Horse Teams
Date of Attempt: 4–5 October 2025
Location: Barellan, New South Wales, Australia
Atlas Record ID: 20425006

Verification Summary

Measurement Metric: Total number of heavy horses hitched in a single operational team pulling a laden Bennett tabletop wool waggon
Verified Result: 62 horses
Waggon Load: 32 bales of Merino wool (approx. 200 kg each) for a total payload of 10,200 kg
Distance Pulled: Two full laps of the Barellan Showground’s 800-metre trotting track (1.6 km total)
Evidence Submitted: Photography, video documentation, and media reporting from ABC News Australia and local coverage
Equipment Involved: Original Bennett tabletop wool waggon (St. Mary’s, NSW), chain harness system totaling approximately 500 metres in length
Verification Hash (SHA-256):
0bb4ad4515270aa914ee8845100d7bd7c0663cde745ff8927d
Proof of Record: Cert-20425006.pdf.ots

Adjudication Findings

Following the submission of evidence for the above world record attempt, Atlas World Records conducted a full documentation and forensic review under the Atlas Verification Protocol (AVP-72).
Primary Verification: AtlasEngine™ conducted authenticity verification of all photographic and video submissions provided by the Barellan Working Clydesdales Incorporated. Frame analysis confirmed the simultaneous forward movement of 62 individual heavy horses under unified harness and load. The configuration consisted of 15 spans of four horses abreast, with two horses in the shafts, matching traditional Bennett-style haulage formation.
Cross-Media Validation: All visual materials were corroborated by independent journalistic coverage, including ABC News Australia, which provided primary-source photographic evidence and verified event context, location, and timing. These media reports were authenticated for publication date and geolocation consistency.
Historical Equipment Authentication: The waggon used was identified as an authentic Bennett tabletop wool waggon, built by James and George Bennett of St. Mary’s, NSW. Ownership documentation confirmed by Mr. Ian Dahlenburg of Murramai. Waggon payload was validated through inventory records supplied by the Flagg family of Moobooldool, whose Merino wool bales were weighed prior to loading.
Participant Confirmation: Contributors included Aleks Berzins, Bruce Bandy, Steve Johnson, Jason Gavenlock, Allison Prentice, and Heather McFarlane. The breeds represented — Australian Draught, Clydesdale, Suffolk Punch, Percheron, and Shire — were confirmed by organization statement.
Operational Integrity: Witness statement confirmed that the entire 62-horse team remained in continuous forward motion over two full laps without detachment, mechanical aid, or supplemental propulsion. Voice and chain coordination were observed as primary control methods; no powered assistance was present at any stage.
Contextual Review: The event was held during the Good Old Days Festival, Barellan, NSW, serving as both a public demonstration and historical recreation. Atlas World Records determined that, despite its ceremonial nature, the attempt met the criteria for measurable, verifiable group effort within the Heritage > Agricultural > Heavy Horse category.
Forensic Authentication: AtlasEngine™ applied checksum and metadata verification to all image and video assets. Cryptographic hashing of verified documentation produced a SHA-256 checksum stored permanently on the Bitcoin blockchain (Block #919,388) under TXID 96e8a64c-c0af-54cd-9e13-138acf356132.
All adjudication notes, source images, and digital certificates are preserved in immutable format under the Atlas Immutability Protocol and are publicly referenceable through the corresponding .ots proof file.

Comparative and Cross-Archive Benchmark Review

AtlasEngine™ conducted an automated search across 21 verified world-record archives and databases, encompassing both legacy institutions and independent verification registries. The review included datasets maintained by multiple open-access historical archives relating to agricultural exhibitions and draught-horse competitions. No prior record under the title “Largest Team of Heavy Horses Hitched to Pull a Laden Waggon”—nor any equivalent or derivative classification involving heavy draft horses, working teams, or historical agricultural haulage—was identified in any verified database. While isolated references exist in historical festival programs and local heritage societies documenting large horse teams in ceremonial demonstrations, none included quantified measurement data, verifiable load documentation, or authenticated video or photographic evidence meeting the requirements of the Atlas Verification Protocol (AVP-72). Accordingly, Atlas World Records determines that the attempt executed by Barellan Working Clydesdales Incorporated in October 2025 constitutes the first and only formally verified record of its kind, establishing the baseline measurement for all future comparative achievements in this category.

Conclusion

Upon completion of the full evidentiary review, the Atlas Adjudication Committee unanimously certifies that:

Barellan Working Clydesdales Incorporated (Australia) achieved the world record for Largest Team of Heavy Horses Hitched to Pull a Laden (Bennett) Wool Waggon, with 62 horses successfully pulling a 10,200 kg waggon load at the Barellan Showgrounds in Barellan, New South Wales, Australia, on 4–5 October 2025.

This achievement has been verified and authenticated by AtlasEngine™ through multi-source evidence correlation, media verification, and forensic authenticity review.

Certified by Atlas World Records, 17 October 2025