The magnificent Claudelands arena rocked on Saturday night as the over 4000 strong sellout crowd was treated to some great rodeo action.
Twenty-seven contestants from USA (two), Canada (three), Australia (four) and New Zealand battled it out for the $20,000 prize money that was on offer.
Announcer Kedo Olson, who flew in from Oregon, USA, especially for the event, described the action to the crowd and rodeo clown Big Al Wilson from Australia kept the crowd entertained with his antics.
There was some fantastic bull riding, with Australian Rhys Angland clinching the event with a 90-point ride in the second go-round aboard Chris McGarry’s Terminator. McGarry is from Okaihau in Northland and has bred a line of bucking bulls just for rodeo events.
The balance of the bulls came from the Bird family in Fielding and the bucking horses came from as far away as Gisborne and Wairoa. Eight Barrel Race contestants came from all over the North Island.
The Barrel Race continued to be very popular, based on the reaction of the crowd. The girls turn themselves and their horses out immaculately and the crowd really get in behind them.
Production manager Fred Doherty was thrilled with how the event went off - "there are always things to improve on, but overall we are very happy. You could tell the crowd was loving it and it makes organising the event worthwhile when you see the crowd reaction".
Fred paid tribute to the Hamilton City Council and Claudelands arena staff. "They have been very supportive and helpful all along the way. The whole town seemed to be behind the event and helped make it happen."
A crew of workers travelled up from Outram where Fred lives to help him with the pack in and pack out, along with some members of the local Waikato Club. Five hundred sheets of 20mm flooring were laid on the stadium floor and then 300m2 of dirt was spread on top.
The New Zealand Rodeo Cowboys Association’s portable arena and chutes were then erected.
Said Fred: "We started work at 6am Friday morning and 56 hours later, at 2pm Sunday, we were all cleaned up. It was a lot of work, but worth it when you see the end result. I am a happy bloke this week as I reflect on how the event ran and what we achieved."
As to the future: "We will be back for sure. You couldn’t run an event that popular and not come back."
HAMILTON INTERNATIONAL RODEO
RESULTS - 19th NOVEMBER 2011
BAREBACK
1 Cody Angland 83 $1,900.00
2 Rex Church 80 $1,425.00
3 Danny Webb 77 $950.00
4 Joe Fentiman 74 $475.00
BARREL RACE - 1ST GO ROUND
1 Mel Church 14.93 $507.00
2 Kristen Tahau 15.01 $381.00
3 Kimberly Coulter 15.31 $254.00
4 Bridget Kershaw 15.69 $127.00
2ND GO ROUND
1 Kristen Tahau 14.99 $507.00
2 Bridget Kershaw 15.51 $381.00
3 Dianna Church 15.82 $254.00
4 Gayle Blake 15.9 $127.00
AVERAGE
1 Kristen Tahau 30 $507.00
2 Bridget Kershaw 31.2 $381.00
3 Mel Church 32.13 $254.00
4 Gayle Blake 33.34 $127.00
SADDLE BRONC
1 Toby Collins 81 $1,900.00
2 Paul Robinson 79 $1,425.00
3 Rhys Angland 77 $950.00
4 Brad Pierce 68 $475.00
BULL RIDE - IST GO ROUND
1 Jay Morrow 83 $760.00
2 Jono Reed 82 $570.00
3 Andrew Jamison 80 $380.00
4 Rhys Angland 79 $190.00
2ND GO ROUND
1 Rhys Angland 90 $760.00
2 Adam Jamison 86 $570.00
3 Jono Reed 85 $380.00
4 Toby Collins 82 $190.00
AVERAGE
1 Rhys Angland 169 $760.00
2 Jono Reed 167 $570.00
3 Adam Jamison 159 $380.00
4 Andrew Jamison 156 $190.00
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