The Camp Draft
7th to 10th October 2024
We left Millmerran on the Monday. It was later in the day, so we didn’t get far, not that we need an excuse to not travel far. Our next stop was Goondiwindi. We were a bit lucky there too. We rolled up into the Goondiwindi showgrounds in time to catch the last three hours of a Camp Draft competition.
The horses in the Camp Draft competition were absolutely stunning. Lean, with shiny coats, it was abvious they were well cared for and they seemed to enjoy the challenge.
For those of you who don’t know what a Camp Draft Competition is (I know I didn’t,) it goes like this. There is a mob of cattle inside a small yard (this is the camp) the rider has to select a beast, cut it out of the mob and prove to the judges that he/she has control of it. Once they have it under control, the gate is opened and the rider and horse move the beast into the arena. (28 points). I couldn’t get any photos of that, but it looked hard and a good few riders didn’t get passed this first stage.
Once in the arena, the horse and rider must guide the beast around two obstacles/poles. You fail one, you are out.
If they get them around both obstacles, they must finish by driving the beast through the opening formed by another two poles.
There is a huge burst of energy and action when the gate is open as both beast and horse charge through the gate.
Then the fun really begins as the horse and rider attempt to guide the beast around the course. At times, it was hard to tell who was in charge, the rider, the horse or the beast.
I’ve got to tell you, that isn’t easy. The beasts want to go where they want to go, horses and riders work incredibly hard to control the beasts, to guide them around the narrow poles, and very few complete the course.
Of course the horses were the heroes, but the beasts need a mention too. They had to keep the horses on their hooves… get it? Like ‘On their toes’. Heh heh, that’s funny. Alright, I know what they say, if you have to explain a joke it really isn’t funny.
The only disappointment was that we only got to watch for a couple of hours. This is one of the things we love about travelling, the unexpected. Whether it be a new bird or animal, stunning scenery or an activity/sport we haven’t seen before.
See you out there somewhere
On tow and on the go!
Thanks Jo it’s a good sport to watch with some very smart horses.
I had no idea there was a set routine, I just thought they chased them
Thanks for this update Jo. I have only looked at it today because life got in the way!! 🙂
You have certainly seen some interesting things in your travels.