Good rides, not long rides at rodeo

JOHN BISSET/Timaru Herald

ON THE RUN: Brent Gillespie of Wanaka is chased by a bull at the Waimate Rodeo yesterday.

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The cowboys were there for a good ride, not a long ride at the Waimate Rodeo yesterday.

A beer-drinking, hotdog-eating crowd cheered from their deck chairs as cowboys tried to tame the bucking beasts.

Under the rim of his cowboy hat, Makikihi man Dave Ross watched the action with grandchildren. He came to the rodeo most years to watch the bareback riding and the bulls of course. His five-year-old grandson was excited at his chance in the ring -- riding a sheep.

Ashburton man Craig Wiggins used to love the thrill of bull riding, today he enjoyed the thrill of announcing the action.

He had been travelling the rodeo circuit for the past 20 years and always enjoyed announcing to a lively Waimate crowd.

As the cowgirls raced the clock in the barrel race, cowboys prepared for the fast and furious bulls. It could take an hour of stretching and focusing to prepare for eight seconds on the bull, said Mr Wiggins.

Once the gates opened you were no longer sitting in a bar talking about it you were out there doing it in front of everybody, he said.

"It's one of those things where you test yourself and you develop who you are."

Mr Wiggins was one of many who clocked up about 45,000km to and from rodeos last year. "I spend more Christmases with cowboys than with my family."

Rodeo faithfuls were often at a different destination each weekend from Christmas to Easter.

The sport was becoming more popular in New Zealand with a about 220,000 fans attending rodeos around the country. Mr Wiggins believed rodeos were an asset to provincial New Zealand bringing people and cash flow into rural communities.