Mount Isa Mines Rotary Rodeo

Here I sit on the third day of Mount Isa Mines Rotary Rodeo. This rodeo is the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere and runs for 3 days and we have been here for all 3 days. I have been to a rodeo before when I was in Broome but that one was tiny compared to Mount Isa's Rodeo. Our 3 day pass cost $90 per person and gave us access to the Rodeo, the circus, the boxing tent and sideshow alley but we have spent the majority of our time sitting and watching the rodeo. Prior to seeing a real rodeo I was always concerned about the treatment of the animals. But from what I've seen they are treated extremely well and the Cowboys have come off second best as there have been a few broken bones and injuries. Although I must add that one horse did go down probably with a broken leg and I am presuming the vet that was on hand within seconds may have euthanized him. It was very sad to see but the cowboys handled it very well for the crowd and you could see that they were visibly upset.

Ouch!!

The Protection Clowns did an amazing job protecting the cowboys from the bulls,
sometimes putting their owns lives in danger

There certainly was no shortage of cowboys

This is one angry bull and one brave cowboy

Over the weekend there have been some great events one that the crowd loved was the Poddy Ride, which is young calves trying to buck of very young children. I say children as there was one little girl riding. But the winner was a young 7 year old Aboriginal boy. He was so adorable and really played up to the crowd. When he was interviewed and asked what he wanted to be when grew up and his answer was "a cowboy". It was so super cute. 

The winner (hat on) of the Poddy Calf ride was pretty adorable.
 The other little cowboy was runner up and broke his arm 

Get off my back!!!

The Pick Up Riders (think that's what they were called)
certainly were something to witness.
Their connection with the horses was nothing short of totally amazing 

Well I'm now back sitting in Myrtle (camper) after a fabulous 3 days, but I must say I am totally exhausted. After a nice hot shower to wash all the dust off I am just about ready to tuck myself into bed after having a fantastic three days.