But according to Wagga whipmaker and leading craftsman Anthony Rennick the industry is in good hands.

He concedes that demand currently outstrips supply for custom made whips and says he often has bookings that stretch out more than four or five months.

Yet it is an industry that is earning interest from newcomers too. 

“There are more whipmakers now than there were 20 years ago,” he said. 

This week Mr Rennick returned home to the Riverina after participating in the Australian Plaiters and Whipmakers Association NSW Plaiting Championships at Cessnock. 

And in what appeared to be a role reversal he entered four whips and won four major awards.

It was a turnaround because Mr Rennick hadn’t entered in the competition before but had sat on the other side of the fence as a judge.

“For the past two years I had been a judge … so I hadn’t been able to enter until this year,” he said. 

After wining with the four whips Mr Rennick was named champion overall exhibitor.

The whips were judged on the craftmanship and how neat and tidy they had been put together.

It was a fitting win for skills that Mr Rennick has spent the past 23 years perfecting.  

In the early days he was fortunate enough to learn the craft of plaiting and making stock whips from Herb Sephton. 

For those in the industry a beautifully plaited kangaroo-hide whips is almost considered a right of passage or the holy grail among stockmen.

And there are stories of whips being handed down from one generation to the next after surviving the test of time. 

The restoration of these whips is also something that Mr Rennick has turned his hand to over the years.

“I have done repairs and rejuvenation on whips that are 100 years old,” he said. 

To make a kangaroo-hide whip can take a day to a day and a half. Meanwhile, a cowhide whip can be made quicker. 

And whips vary in price too. A custom whip can fetch $200 with the top-of-the-range stock whips commanding as much as $1500. 

Stock whips are used all over the world yet it is an Australian invention. 

“Kangaroo hide stock whips are the best you can get,  the leather is the strongest you can get yet very soft,” Mr Rennick said. 

He said it was pleasing to be recognised by leaders in the industry for his work.

A total of 62 entries from throughout Victoria, NSW and Queensland were scrutinised at the Cessnock event.