KONGORONG hosted another successful rodeo on the weekend, with Kyle Maskiell claiming the honours in the main attraction for the night.
The open bull ride was an event that saw the animals dominate, but Maskiell managed to hold on to his bull for a score of 64 and claim the open title from a field of 13 riders.
The open saddle bronc was hotly contested, with Tanna Ireland beating a field of seven to claim the honours with a score of 76, just two ahead of David Stacey.
James Sclanders was four points further back in fourth place, while Cody Ireland managed a score of 61.
The open bare back saw six competitors, with Garrett Lynch scraping home by one point over Brody Howell.
Sclanders claimed the honours in the second division saddle bronc, five points clear of Michael Keough, with Steele Shore a further 12 back in third.
Four competitors slugged it out at the top of the field in the second division bull ride, with Joe Downs emerging as the best, nine points clear of Maskiell, while Brody Howell and Jack Woodall finished equal third on 60 points.
The women’s barrel ride was also a tight contest, with Hayley Rogers claiming the honours with a score of 13.332, ahead of crowd favourite Tammy Woodall on 13.914.
Rebecca Keough managed third place with 14.037, ahead of Morgan Hamill on 14.220.
The top two in the junior barrel race were equally close, with Ruby Kenny winner with a score of 16.320, ahead of Jessica Shepard on 16.408.
Toni Jean Woodall finished third on 18.697, ahead of Claire Foster on 17.806.
Rounding out the event Downs claimed the honours in the junior bull ride.
For the animals, Blue was judged best bucking horse, while Jackhammer lived up to his name, claiming best bucking bull.
For organiser Amanda Sealey, it was another positive result for the rodeo, which is in just its second year.
“The crowd numbers were about the same as last year, with a lot more children this year,” she said.
“We had over 1000 spectators.
“We were hoping for a few more but there were probably a few put off by the extreme weather in the morning.”
Once the rodeo was under way everything ran like clockwork, with the Woodall family delaying the delivery of the animals due to the heat and the start of the event was pushed back.
“We knew the cool change was coming so the animals arrived in the afternoon,” Sealey said.
“We pushed the start back an hour to let the animals settle down, with a band playing before start to keep the crowd entertained.”
With a vet on hand, the animals were given the all clear to compete and the competition kicked off, with the bulls having the wood over the riders for the night.
However, the night proved popular with competitors, many who had never attended a rodeo before.
“There have been a lot of favourable comments on social media about how much the spectators enjoyed it,” Sealey said.
“A lot had not been to a rodeo before and said they would like to go again.
“That has to be positive for the rodeo circuit.”
Despite being a young event, Sealey said she was pleased with the way the night ran, with much of the credit going to the Kongorong community.
“We are still finding our way, but to have it run as smoothly as it did, we were pretty happy,” she said.
“We are very fortunate, with very much a cohesive community, with a lot of the people on multiple committees who all get on really well.”
The committee is now looking to next year’s event, hoping to improve and continue to grow into the future.
