The changing face of Australian rodeo culture

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TRANSCRIPT

Rodeo, or rough riding, has a long history in Australia.

With records of the sport dating back to the 1850s, rodeo was used to develop skills that stockmen were using in everyday life, such as riding difficult horses and controlling cattle.

In this archival footage from 1936, cowboys in Victoria take on the dangerous sport of bull riding.

"Most of them ride a few yards on the Horned Porterhouse, then fall off and give up the unequal struggle. But there's one bright boy who turns the rodeo into a race. If he doesn't avoid that flying hoof, he'll get a black eye, or something."

For 67 years, Mount Isa has hosted their annual rodeo, now the largest rodeo competition in the southern hemisphere.

The 2026 event included more women's, First Nations and junior competitions with prize money than ever and saw competitors travel from every Australian state and territory.

Bull riding is the most popular and most dangerous event at a rodeo.

From Cloncurry in rural Queensland, Darryl Chong is a protection athlete whose job is to be a bodyguard for the cowboys and cowgirls so that they can get out of the arena safely.

At the Mount Isa Rodeo, the five time bull riding champion helps lead the Indigenous clinic to help the next generation build their confidence in the sport.

"Oh yeah, mate. The kids were pumped, eh? And so are we like yeah, nothing better feeling than seeing the kids get out there and have fun and high fiving each other and jumping off with a big smile on their face. That's what it's all about."

Rather than riding a full sized bull, junior events usually involve what's called a steer - a young male cow that was castrated at a young age.

To prepare them for that, Darryl Chong says they first have a go on a drop barrel - a specialised training tool that mimics the movements of a bull.

"So what we do just go through the basics of their gear, their equipment, safety equipment. That's our number one priority for the junior generation, and then we put them on the drop barrel. It's just something that we just work at their technique and you know get them comfortable with teaching them their technique. And then we actually took them over to the bucking chutes pretty quickly today, and they all actually got on a bunch of steers. It was absolutely amazing to see. Yeah, there was a couple of kids here. They'd never been on them before, and they rode time. And yeah, it was probably one of the best days I've seen in a junior clinic in a long time."

A major marker in the social calendar for regional communities, the largest rodeo events in the country often happen in the smallest towns and cities.

Rodeo announcer Aaron Ryan says the energy at these events is something everyone should experience.

"A Friday night crowd here, a Saturday night, a Saturday afternoon crowd. It's just electric in this stadium. You feel the energy, and of course, I feel the riders lift. Not only us as announcers, we lift as well, because just that vibe, that whole vibe. The towns are buzzing this weekend. It's massive for the town. It's massive for the community. It's on pretty much every tourist person's bucket list to be here. And if it isn't, I suggest you put it on there because there's nothing quite like it else in Australia."

Rodeo competitions consist of a number of different events, made up of two main categories: roughstock events and timed events.

Roughstock events include bullriding, saddle bronc riding and bareback riding.

These require contestants to stay atop the animal for at least eight seconds and are judged on both the animal's bucking effort and the rider's control.

Timed events include team roping, steer wrestling and barrel racing, testing the competitors' speed, agility, and coordination.

Competing in the team roping and steer wrestling events is champion Tom Willoughby, who travelled for weeks from Benalla with his daughter Lottie.

"Yeah, it's a big haul from Victoria. It's about just under 4,000ks round trip. It's one of the best rodeos going in the country. The last 2 years, I think, has been amazing. The prize money and the atmosphere and the vibe that Mount Isa's created again is absolutely incredible. And to be able to travel the country and do it with my eldest daughter is absolutely amazing."

Following a family tradition, Tom's grandfather - also named Tom - was a rodeo champion too.

"And there's plenty of other families like ourselves that travel around, and Lottie's got some great friends that they all get to hang out together, ride their horses together. And it's just a great atmosphere to be around, camping, and then to get to come up here. And that stadium talks for itself, doesn't it? When you have a look here and you walk around, you ride your horse around here, and you realise you're at something special."

Another event at the rodeo is trick riding.

This physically demanding event sees riders perform stunts on horseback and requires an enormous amount of balance and strength.

"My name is Dayna Bradshaw, and I'm the owner of Cowgirls with Wings Trick Riding. I stand up and hang upside down on horses while they're galloping. This is my first time at Mount Isa, and I am beyond excited. So you guys are going to see me standing up, hang upside down, pretty much gymnastics on horseback. That's what trick riding is all about."

While the faces of rodeo have changed over time, the sheer scale of events like Mount Isa show the significance of the sport in Australian culture remains as strong as ever.

Here, archival footage from 1948 in Moree, New South Wales, at what was once was of Australia's largest rodeo events.

"City slickers arrive by car, but at Rodeo time, the boys prefer to get about the hard way. One minute you're up, the next you're down, the goings rough for the boys who are really down, down under."