In a wonderful Mount Isa Rodeo moment, the oldest certified competing cowboy in the world, 93-year-old Bob Holder from Cootamundra in NSW, met the youngest competitor, eight-year-old Asher McCullough, a local Mount Isa cowboy, and the legendary Mount Isa Mines Rodeo. The 85 year gap between these two cowboys faded away as their love of horses and rodeo took over.
And there's more – it was Asher's eighth birthday! Dad Matt said Asher loved meeting Bob and yarning.
"Bob had a couple of great stories for Asher. Importantly, he told Asher to never ever give up, to keep practicing and to keep on riding!" said dad Matt.
Asher wants to be a professional cowboy and rode in the Barrell Race at Isa this weekend. He wants to Rope and Tie, which is what Bob does – STILL!
Back to Bob. He's competed in rodeos for 78 years! Of course he has a proud place in the Australian Rodeo Hall of Fame and has inspired generations of riders across the country. ON Sunday he's competing at the Mount Isa Rodeo in the Over 55's Team Roping – and when he does, he'll make more history!
This moment followed an EPIC COWBOY HAKA performed last night by the New Zealand Indigenous Rodeo Team!
- VNR (with interviews) HERE
- Overnight something truly epic happened in Mount Isa in Outback Queensland – cowboys from the New Zealand Indigenous Rodeo Team performed the powerful HAKA on the red dirt of the world famous Mount Isa Mines Rodeo arena.
- The incredible spectacle was part of the first ever Ah One x Church Family Trans-Tasman Indigenous Rodeo Challenge, which was preceded by a moving Welcome to Country and performances by the Sundowners Kalkutungu Dancers and the Komet Torres Strait Islanders art and culture group. THEN it was RODEO TIME – the third Mount Isa Indigenous Rodeo Championships!
The New Zealanders won the Trans-Tasman Rodeo Challenge, beginning what is set to become a new annual across-the-ditch sporting event!
VNR
- Rodeo action from the Indigenous Rodeo Championships
- Behind the Chutes at rodeo
- Incredible opening ceremony
- Welcome to Country
- New Zealand cowboy HAKA
- Interview with Merv Church the NZ team captain
- Interview with Nat Flecker, CEO of Mount Isa Mines Rodeo
- Interview with Australian Indigenous Team Captain, Shilo Gosbee
- Rodeo Concert - Kasey Chambers and Christine Anu
ABOUT MOUNT ISA MINES RODEO: Hold on to your hats and dust off those boots because RODEO IS GO!
In celebrating 65 years this year, the program is a roundup of rodeo stars vying for some of the world's most famous buckles, meet country rock stars with some super-hot wings in the mix!
Natalie Flecker, CEO of Isa Rodeo Limited called on the country to rodeo! "Mount Isa Mines Rodeo is the Southern Hemisphere's largest rodeo and the third largest rodeo in the world, and this year champions return to battle for the famous buckles, newcomers will become legends, juniors will rise up, eight seconds will seem like a lifetime and the heritage and importance of rodeo in the Outback will be celebrated. But there's more: riders are coming from across the world to literally throw their hats in the ring!" she said.
The Mount Isa Mines Indigenous Rodeo Championships is proudly supported by the Queensland Government. The Mount Isa Rodeo Festival is supported by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland.
Millions in economic revenue generated from those famous 8-second rides and more!
There's something special about the Mount Isa Mines Rodeo that started this week; for 65 years this event has attracted the greatest riders from across the country to compete on the famous red dirt of the Queensland Outback. However, it's not just the riders it attracts - figures from Tourism and Events Queensland show that Rodeo ropes in significant revenue, making it a vital part of the Outback.
Straight out of the chute are the big figures - $11,328,999 was spent in Queensland by overnight visitors to the 2023 Mount Isa Mines Rodeo. Of this figure, $7,396,076 was attributable directly to the Mount Isa economy. The event was responsible for generating 45,414 visitor nights in Mount Isa. The majority of these nights were generated by intrastate visitors (27,480).
In just its third year and after taking Gold in the Festivals and Events Category at the Queensland Tourism Awards and winning the recent National Reconciliation Awards (Partnerships), the Mount Isa Mines Indigenous Rodeo Championships generated $3,138,437 in direct and incremental expenditure with $1,792,405 of this amount attributable to the Mount Isa economy. The event was responsible for 12,162 visitor nights in Mount Isa.
