Joe Byrne and the Discarded Saddle

On an unknown day in September 1875, Joe rose from his slumber in Aaron’s hut at Sheepstation Creek and saddled his mare for another day of ‘roaming about the Woolshed.’ With his pipe clenched between his teeth and the reins threaded loosely through his fingers, Joe rode on, following the banks of Stoney Creek until he was in the bush below the Golden Ball Hotel. While his mare picked her way through the scrub, a discarded saddle caught his eye and he tugged on the reins to halt her movement and quickly dismounted. Hardly believing his luck at what he had stumbled upon, Joe walked towards the saddle, the covering of leaves and twigs crackling beneath his bluchers. Wiping away the dirt and debris that had attached itself to the leather, he held the saddle aloft and checked it over. In appearance and quality, it was far superior than the one he was riding in and Joe considered himself lucky that Aaron wasn’t here to claim the prize. Warily, he looked around for any onlookers and carried the saddle toward his mare, where he positioned it on her shoulders. Mounting, he headed back towards Sheepstation Creek with a broad smile spread across his face. After all, wasn’t the finder always the keeper? 
Unfortunately for Joe, however, his ownership of the saddle only lasted until December, after the owner spotted him riding in it. In his defence, Joe claimed the rule of finders keepers, which of course earned him a severe dressing down by the judge.