What It Takes To Be A Jackaroo

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of experience–oh, sorry! Is that not how the nursery rhyme goes? Well, it’s what you’ll get on a jackaroo/jillaroo gap year, and buckets of it.

When you think of gap years, you don’t immediately think of working the outback, but, like all gap years, it’s a chance to put yourself out there, try something new, give a few things a go and have heaps of fun doing it. Gap years help advance your skill set, maturity and confidence, and prepare you for any future you might choose, and Jackarooing is absolutely no exception.

A jackaroo is a young person working on a sheep or cattle station, outback farms and ranches–as a jack-of-all-trades, if you will–to gain experience and skills in the field. On a gap year, you’ll spend a few weeks, months or even a year living on the land and learning everything you need to become a fully-fledged cowboy.

It’s a pretty tough business, so you’ve got to be strong, motivated and willing to learn and work hard. A gap year program will help you out with training and supplies, but personality and temperament can’t be taught–that’s all up to you.

Jackaroos work hard, but the work is rewarding, because they love what they do. It’ll be a lot of early mornings, but if you love the country, farming and working with animals, every day you spend on a ranch will be part of the best time of your life. You’ll meet likeminded people and experience some of the best hospitality Australia has to offer, as well as become a part of a community like no other.

Feeding, watering and looking after animals, shearing sheep, mustering livestock, fixing saddles and horseshoes, yard work, cooking, cleaning and washing are all parts of the job that you’ll become a part of and skills that will become a part of you.

There are opportunities within Australia and overseas in the US especially. After your gap year, if find you truly love the industry, livestock mustering, ranch hand, drover, stablehand or wrangler are among your options, as well as working your way up to become a true McLeod’s Daughter–a manager, overseer or even a ranch owner one day.

Jackarooing is so firmly ingrained in Australian culture that we even made a movie about it featuring Hugh Jack(aroo)man, so if you fancy a bit of true Australia action, or fancy a bit of Hugh Jackman, check out our jack/jillaroo Gap Years page for more info today.