Warm weather greets crowd at Myrtleford Golden Spurs Rodeo

The 31-year-old was one of 117 people who took part in the Golden Spurs event at Myrtleford on Boxing Day.

After a break from the sport, the Swan Hill man said it was good to be back in the saddle.

“I’ve ridden horses since before I could walk,” he said.

“It’s adrenaline.

“It’s a good feeling.

“Some people like driving fast cars, we go on bucking horses.”

While the riders only spend a few seconds on the animals, the training can take a lot of dedication.

“The more you do it, practice and dedicate yourself … if you want it bad enough, you’ll be good at it,” Mr Chalmers said.

“It depends how bad you want it.”

Dave Chilcott first attended the Myrtleford gathering as a competitor in 1968.

He returned with some old friends for his 50th anniversary and said the older blokes were impressed by modern riders.

“I always swore that we would never sit up in the grandstand and say we rode them better in our day,” he said.

“And we haven’t.

“We say ‘geez, they can ride them better nowadays’.

“We can visually see that the standard has risen.

“The number of competitors has has dropped a little, but the standard is right up there.”

Mr Chilcott spent more than a decade on the professional circuit, having started when he was about 16. 

“It sounds a bit drastic – but that's what it is – it's been half a century since I first came out to Myrtleford,” he said. 

“This place is still one of the prettiest places in Australia, and the rodeo arena is one of the most picturesque rodeo arenas in all of Australia. 

“I just sit back with a few old timer mates that came down here with me. 

"We're having a great old day out.”

The temperature hit about 39 degrees during the day.

Many attendees found the free water, and stands selling ice creams and frozen drinks, to be a cool reprieve from the weather. 

While the temperature was thought to have kept some away, organiser John Panlook said a lack of competing Boxing Day events may have assisted with crowd numbers. 

Local competitors were joined by those who had travelled from as far as Western Australia and Far North Queensland to take part. 

Mr Panlook said the event was positive for Myrtleford. 

Boxing Day marked the 65th time the event has been held in the North East town, and Mr Panlook hopes it will continue to be supported in years to come. 

“It’s probably one of the longest running rodeos in Australia under the same name,” he said. 

“We’ve been fairly fortunate to be nominated for lifetime membership now, for the hall of fame.

“If we can keep the crowd coming and the money coming in, we can give a better show. 

“It is good for the area. 

“We’re only a small town and this is one of the main events in the town.

“I've spoken to a lot of competitors and they say this is probably one of the most picturesque rodeos they've been to.”

More than $50,000 in prize money was offered for the event, which featured barrel racing, team roping, steer wrestling and other categories of competition.