RODEO WRANGLING
Rodeo is growing, but as its profile rises, so does the backlash at the perceived cruelty. Pat Deavoll looks at both sides of a spectacular but divisive activity.
Ablustery nor’wester whips down Lake Wanaka, picking up the sand in the rodeo arena and forcing the 5000 spectators seated on the embankment to hang on to their hats. The oppressive heat has been building all morning.
On the north side of the arena in a corralled area there is a ruckus – a clatter of hoof on metal and the snort and bellow of a large animal. A bunch of cowboys in chaps, stetson hats and checked shirts perch on the top of the railings like a flock of birds watching the commotion that is evolving beneath them.
Suddenly a gate opens and a bull, with cowboy rider astride, bursts from the corral. The crowd roars. The beast is spectacular – all horns and muscle and sleek copper coat, burnished for the occasion.
The animal bucks and writhes in the air while the rider hangs on grimly to a rope around the bull’s girth. The stetson flies off, the chaps flap wildly. The rider’s other hand is raised in the air, grasping gamely at nothing.
The spectacle goes on for a split second, then just as suddenly, the rider is flipped in the air and dumped on the ground in a cloud of dust. He scampers out of the way of the flying hooves. Three men in matching pink shirts rush about flapping their arms at the bull, which gives another halfhearted buck, then turns with a snort and trots head high out of the arena.
The bull riding, the penultimate discipline of any rodeo, is under way. The expectation of a spectacle is high. The crowd love it. This is what they have come from all parts of the country to see.
But outside on the dusty road, two dozen tired protesters hand out leaflets to the last of the arriving carloads. Some drivers stick their hands out the window and take the flyers, others shout abuse.
The leader of this small protest group, Queenstown Animal Activists, is Kat Gollop and she says it is her third year campaigning at the event.
Rodeo does not qualify as a sport, she says.
‘‘It is simply animal abuse.’’
The number of organisations lobbying for New Zealand to join a burgeoning quota of countries to ban rodeos is growing.
Save Animals From Exploitation (Safe) campaigns director Hans Kriek says his organisation is ‘‘strongly opposed to rodeo mainly because we believe it’s cruel to animals and imposes unnecessary stress and at times causes pain and death.’’
‘‘We do not believe in this for the sake of entertainment.’’
Safe also believes rodeo is against the Animal Welfare Act which states that ‘‘animals must be handled in a manner that minimises the likelihood of unnecessary pain and distress’’.
‘‘When you chase a little calf around, flick it in the air and dump it on the ground, this causes distress – even the rodeo people will acknowledge this.
‘‘The act says we can’t do this and yet we allow it to happen. We have a law that says one thing, but it’s not enforced.
‘‘If a farmer were to do things to his farm animals that are done in rodeo there is a good likelihood that farmer would be prosecuted for animal cruelty.’’
WANAKA farmer and builder Patrick McCarthy is leading this year’s points tally for the open division of the New Zealand rodeo circuit.
He has accrued nearly 9000 points based on the amount of money he has won across the season to date. One dollar equates to one point.
‘‘Things are tracking pretty good as far as points go for me this year. My team roping partner and I just have to try and keep doing what we are doing over the next eight rodeos leading up to the national finals,’’ he says.
There are 30 rodeos across the country culminating in the national finals in Canterbury in March. The top eight finalists from each discipline get to compete. These include bull riding, bare back riding, saddle bronc riding, rope and tie, barrel racing, team roping and steer wrestling.
At 37 years, McCarthy, who has been competing all his life, is no longer a youngster in the sport.
‘‘It’s a sporting environment I grew up with; it was part of our lives every summer – being involved with horses and animals,’’ he says. ‘‘Dad was always into it, so I grew up with it.’’
These days he limits himself to the rope and tie and team roping events, but used to do bull riding.
‘‘Bull riding is a young man’s event, and I don’t really fit into that category any more,’’ he says.
‘‘But that’s the beauty of rodeo, there are disciplines you can do at whatever age. My dad still competes in team roping, and he is 70 now. And still loves it.
‘‘You travel all around the country doing rodeo especially if you are trying to get points for a national ranking.’’
You get to know all the competitors, it’s like a big family with everyone easy going, and on the same page, he says.
‘‘Sadly rodeo has had some bad press over the last few years. We are a small group that seems to have got a lot of attention.’’
A spokesman for Direct Animal Action, Apollo Taito, says his organisation’s long-term goal is ‘‘the total ban on rodeos across New Zealand’’.
‘‘We want the new Labour Government to meet the pre-election promises around banning the worst practices in rodeos,’’ he says.
These include electric prodders, flanking (putting a strap around the animal’s waist to make it buck) tail twisting and the use of calves in the rope and tie discipline.
‘‘We want the Government to start phasing these out as soon as possible,’’ Taito says.
‘‘The main reason being we know removal of these worst practices will put rodeos at a massive disadvantage as these things make up a lot of what is a rodeo. The reaction the cowboys want from the animals, agitation, to run away in fear, and buck is a critical element of rodeo.
‘‘A lot of Kiwis weren’t even aware we had rodeos in New Zealand. They thought they were confined to the US and Australia. They’ve been appalled. The fact that we are getting info out there about animals in distress and even dying has heightened the distaste of the New Zealand public around rodeos,’’ he says.
‘‘What we see year after year is growing support for our position.’’
‘Everyone involved in rodeo is an animal lover, that’s what the sport is all about.’ LYAL COCKS RODEO COWBOYS ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT
LYAL Cocks is president of the Rodeo Cowboys Association. Cocks has quite a pedigree in advocacy having served on both the Wanaka Community Board and the Queenstown Lakes District Council.
‘‘Rodeo has an image problem yet is enjoyed by thousands. As many as 100,000 attend throughout the country each year.’’
The sport is growing, and this year has seen more inquiries than ever before from parents wanting to get their kids involved. The association wants to do more to enable this, he says.
‘‘What attracts people to compete in rodeo? It’s a very competitive sport involving male, female and animals against the clock. It involves teamwork with and against animals. Competitors have an affinity with animals and want to work and compete with them.
‘‘It’s not a mainstream sport, but there are about 500 contestant members in the association and a whole lot moving up. Some of our guys are competitive on the world stage and in the money. We had quite a few competing in Canada and the States this season.
‘‘How dangerous is it? It’s like rugby, very physical but rugby goes on for a lot longer. Competitors under 17 have to wear safety equipment. After that, a lot choose to continue wearing it. There are injuries, but at the Wanaka event this year the worst was a few scratches to both animal and competitor.
‘‘In any sport with animals, regrettably there are accidents and this saddens the rodeo community. But it’s no different to farming or horse racing.
‘‘Without healthy competitive animals, we don’t have a sport. Everyone involved in rodeo is an animal lover, that’s what the sport is all about. We
‘It is simply animal abuse.’ KAT GOLLOP QUEENSTOWN ANIMAL ACTIVISTS