The crowd of about 2500 was kept on its toes with plenty of thrills and spills, with organiser Mick Rake saying the bucking stock provided by the McPhee Rodeo Company had performed “well up to expectations”.

And there was star power on hand with top Australian cowboy Brad Pierce, from Oxley, Victoria, the favourite going into the night, taking out the main bull ride.

But the crowd also enjoyed some new local talent in the junior competition.

Table Top’s Ben Gard, 14, competed in the junior bull and junior pony bareback events.

The James Fallon High School student said the bull riding involved using one hand to hold the girth strap on the bull — then hold on for dear life.

“It’s called eight seconds of glory,” he said.

“It feels pretty good.”

Lake Rowan resident Sally Malay, 14, also competed.

Sally, a Yarrawonga P12 College student, said he was lucky to have not yet suffered any injuries from his showdown with bucking bulls and horses.

Though, he says, he does boast serious scars from another encounter with an animal — he was attacked by a freshwater crocodile attack when he was young.

Organisers of the rodeo said the crowd of 2500, was slightly bigger than last year’s audience.