AUSTRALIAN STOCK HORSES

Bred for high-intensity work, this agile breed excels in a precision sport, finds Stacey Carter

CAMPDRAFTING — USING A horse to steer a cow around an arena — is a fast-paced sport that attracts crowds in their thousands in rural Queensland, Australia. Starting in a pen with up to 15 cattle, the rider’s first job is to select a cow and separate it from the mob using a ‘cutting out’ technique. Riders use the horse to control the cow’s movement, riding ‘rollbacks’ — where the horse pivots on his hindlegs — to mirror the cow and blocking it so that it doesn’t rejoin the mob. When the rider shouts for the gate to be opened, the cow is herded into a large arena. There, the cow is driven around one post before circling to another on the opposite side of the arena. They then ride away from the starting pen and turn back on themselves in order to pass through a gateway to finish. The positioning of the horse is crucial: creep ahead of the cow and it will escape by turning away from you; fall behind and you lose control on a turn. A score from a possible 100 is given. Should the judge deem control of the cow is lost, a whip is cracked to signal elimination. Success isn’t just a sign of the rider’s prestige, but a credit to the horse’s training and breeding too. A confident, agile horse who is receptive to his rider — and able to respond to a cow’s movement without hesitation — is vital. The rider must be able to read a cow and foresee its next move — key skills honed while mustering wild cattle in the outback. The ideal mount for campdrafting is around 15hh, because bigger horses struggle to make the sharp turns required. They must be fine-tuned to a rider’s movements and strong enough to steer the cattle into position, often using body contact. Australian Stock Horses are first choice for many. Campdrafting hails from the skills learned by stockmen when separating and moving cattle (known as ‘beasts’ in Aussie terms) on a daily basis. In 1885, these skills were showcased in the first-ever campdraft at Tenterfield, New South Wales.