Tua Marina Rodeo’s last ride
Seventy years of rodeo action in Marlborough will come to a close this month with the last Tua Marina Rodeo – the oldest rodeo in the country.
Tua Marina Rodeo Association president Jason Gill said rising costs and poor attendance had prompted the association to pull the plug.
‘‘Last year, we barely broke even,’’ Gill said. Gill said they weren’t able to find a major sponsor for the event this year, but the end of the rodeo had nothing to do with protesters.
Gill said numbers attending the event were ‘‘well down’’ the past two years and the event hadn’t made any money for the past two years.
‘‘We were going to pull the plug last year but we thought we would do the 70th,’’ Gill said.
‘‘The biggest thing is finances. ‘‘It’s just getting too hard.’’ Profits from the rodeo used to go to Tua Marina School and the residents’ association.
The rodeo was once the main fundraiser for the rural school.
Tua Marina School principal Nick Raynor said their Christmas fair was now their primary fundraiser.
‘‘We promote the rodeo when we can and have a stall there,’’ Raynor said.
‘‘A few of the children have a go at riding the calves and families go along but I don’t think there’s any involved in the community like in the past.
‘‘There’s a lot of people who really get into the spirit of it. It’s the end of an era, for some people."
New Zealand Rodeo Cowboys Association president Lyal Cocks said it was sad to see a great part of the circuit, Tua Marina, go. ‘‘It’s a great community organisation and they’ve put on some great rodeos,’’ Cocks said.
Cocks said attendance was good at most other rodeos around the country.
‘‘There is some financial assistance but it’s only a small amount. Clubs have to make the decision on whether it’s financially viable.
‘‘Tua Marina has done great over the years and I congratulate them.’’
Former rodeo cowboy Carl Gratton said it was a pity the rodeo was not going to run any more.
Gratton got involved with the rodeo through former Tua Marina Rodeo organisers, Ken and Janice Thompsett, in the mid-1990s. ‘‘I went along and watched it one year and decided I wanted to do it,’’ he said.
Gratton ended up chasing the rodeo circuit around the country, riding bareback, for just over 10 years.
He said only two rodeos in the country were ‘‘non-point rodeos’’ that allowed anyone to have a go, Tua Marina being one of them.
‘‘A lot of cowboys got their start at Tua Marina,’’ Gratton said.
Tua Marina Rodeo’s ‘‘last showdown’’ is on Saturday.