Ending a long and hard fought road of competition, campdrafters have arrived in Tamworth in search of glory.
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Executive officer of the Australian Bushman's Campdraft and Rodeo Association (ABCRA) Craig Young said the National Finals being held at AELEC will see the top riders go for gold over the final stretch this weekend.
"There's a fairly good tussle on at the event for the weekend," he said.
"They compete throughout the year accumulating points towards the point score.
"We run two rounds of competition at this event and the points from that get added onto the point score for the end of the year to crown the winner."
The entrants compete across a broad range of nine different categories so it's always competitive with participants able to focus on one or another category based on their form.
Mr Young said there's 140 competitors in the running at the national finals.
"And then we've got another 1500 entries for our Australian championships," he said.
The finals are running from Thursday to Sunday and will be packed full of competition.
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But it's not just an opportunity for the riders.
According to Mr Young, each year they hold the competition the local economy also gets a kick.
"They've got their friends, families, supporters and all those others coming along," he said.
"There's something like 500 competitors who will be here over the weekend and you can multiply that by at least three.
"They buy food and fuel and all those other things to support the town."
Then of course there's the thousands of spectators who'll be spending the days and evenings out.
Mr Young said they've now been running the championship in Tamworth for 12 years and if past years are anything to go by they'll have a full capacity of 3500 people.
He said they expect that turn out every day of the event.
Aside from the championships, there's also a stockman's challenge running in the main arena on Thursday and Friday.
"And then a feature rodeo will run on Saturday as well with the main performance beginning at 6:30pm," Mr Young said.
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Mark Kriedemann
I take a particular interest in industry, environment, science, and technology subjects. Besides studies in media, my tertiary education covers genetics, as well as International Relations. I therefore strive to draw links between these varying disciplines to give a comprehensive analysis of developments in industry, agriculture, and the associated politics.
I take a particular interest in industry, environment, science, and technology subjects. Besides studies in media, my tertiary education covers genetics, as well as International Relations. I therefore strive to draw links between these varying disciplines to give a comprehensive analysis of developments in industry, agriculture, and the associated politics.
