For Meagan MacIntosh, the ideal horse is one with both exceptional performance-horse genetics and faultless conformation and looks. Her breeding program is uncompromising, “I like horses that are bred to compete, but look like a show horse. I’m putting the pretty back in cow horses!”

Handy Hyde represents the fruition of that ambition. He is impossible to miss. A stunning palomino with three white socks and a big white face. He is often referred to as ‘Ken’ or ‘Barbie Horse’, for his blonde perfection. He is the sort of horse that makes people do a double-take, stop and take a good look.

He carries deep roots in the Bullenbong program, a stud first registered in 1954 and handed down through three generations of Meagan’s family. The Bullenbong brand traces back to her great uncle Mike Donelan, passed to her grandmother Wendy, and now carried forward by Meagan herself. Handy Hyde’s bloodlines have been in the family for more than seventy years – a rare continuity in modern breeding.

His pedigree is stacked with proven performers. His sire Mister Hyde won more than 50 campdrafts, excelled across led, hack and working classes at National, Riverina and Royal level, and claimed Champion Working Horse at the Sydney Royal Show. Mister Hyde was out of Bullenbong Messmate, who Mike Donelan called his best mare, a multiple Open winner and a Warwick Gold Cup Cutout winner with a score of 25.

Handy Hyde’s dam, Handy Impression, more than holds her own. Tom Fay, Meagan’s partner bought her from the Nutrien Supreme Sale as a broodmare. Meagan gave her a ride to see what she was like, knowing that Nathan Wilson had won Snafflebit and Challenge events on her, and subsequently brought her back into work. “She was quick and a really gritty, good stock horse.” Meagan went on to win a reining cowhorse event on the mare and said she is the type of horse who could excel in any sport.

Both Hyde’s sire and dam were buckskin, eye-catching, and typey. He carries the very best of their traits and genetics. He is an exceptional type – long in the front, with great bone, strong feet, and balance throughout. His temperament is as flawless as his looks. Under saddle, he is smooth and soft to the point Meagan jokes you could “sip a cup of tea off him.” He floats. He doesn’t open his mouth, swish his tail or waste effort. Everything feels easy, because he consistently puts himself in the right position and never creates pressure for himself or his rider.

These traits Meagan recognises as familial – shared by his half-sister Miss Rydell, who she is also currently riding. And while Handy Hyde may look pretty and ride effortlessly, she’s quick to point out he is no ornament. “Don’t be fooled,” she says. “He has done the miles and can handle the work.”

The combination of softness, strength and mindset gives Handy Hyde the ability to succeed as a campdraft and challenge horse. Meagan is understandably very excited about his future. He will start in futurity drafts and challenges in 2026 and progress from there.

As a sire, Hyde is already making a statement. His first foals have what Meagan calls the “wow factor” – correct, eye-catching, and faultless in type. Foals from his first year as a sire were so impressive that every breeder sent their mares back to him.

True to form, Handy Hyde is as fuss-free in the breeding barn as he is everywhere else. He can be collected, hand-served, and then returned to the paddock with other horses – and is quiet enough for the kids to ride.

In Handy Hyde, the Bullenbong program has produced something special: a stallion that honours generations of breeding, satisfies any breeder’s uncompromising eye, and promises a competitive future. He is proof that beauty and ability don’t have to be traded – sometimes, they arrive in the same horse.

2026 will see Bullenbong Handy Hyde hit the competition arena for the first time.
Expectations are high!

WATCH THIS SPACE!

Photo by Grace Mary Photography. Bullenbong Handy Hyde & Megan Macintosh having a dry run at the Charleville campdraft after judging.