It’s eight seconds of explosive energy intended to launch a cowboy across an arena, but the bucking broncs and bulls of the Gill Brothers Rodeo Company, are the culmination of seven generations of rodeo wisdom.
Eddie Gill is one member of the rodeo legacy family, who are born into the sport and are the go-to caretakers, trainers, wranglers and managers of rodeo animals across the east coast of Australia. Within the industry their stock is considered to be the best in the country, and can rival the top rodeo animals in the world.
Speaking with AFTRS Show Radio, Gill says his primary concern is the well-being of his animals, whether they are performing in Roma, Lightening Ridge or under the fascinated gaze of city audiences who are new to rodeo. It might be surprising to the uninitiated to learn that the actions of the horses and bulls are far from wild and untamed, and are the product of years of breeding, specialised training and co-operation with cowboys. Gill takes pride in the knowledge that his horses get to keep their sprit and remain ‘unbroken’ – ‘breaking’ is a term used within the equine world as the training process used to get a horse to accept a saddle and rider on their back.
One of the cowboy’s favourite broncs to draw is a 17 year old, chestnut gelding named Moves Like Jagger. His calm demeanour (in the pop-up stalls beneath the Engie Stadium), belies his astonishing rodeo capabilities that has seen him win the Australian Bucking Bronc prize. Gill speaks affectionately of the kind-eyed horse and his enthusiasm for his job: ‘when it’s time to load him up to buck… I can open a gate 100k away and he’s heading to the chute. He just wants to be there and he enjoys what he does. I mean, if anyone has seen the horse and seen how he bucks, what he does – he loves it. But you take him away from rodeo, if we leave him at home it’s like he misses something’.
Gill is aware that city spectators of the sport might not understand the work and care that goes into bringing a rodeo to life: ‘They have the expectation that it’s a wild horse or a wild bull that they’re watching. That’s far from it. The fact is they’re educated livestock – very, very well educated livestock and the only thing that’s different than watching this dressage down there is we don’t break them. They’re natural. It’s their true spirit, a true spirit. The natural thing for horse to do is buck and play and run.’
Speaking of the Wrangler Federation Rodeo Challenge at the Sydney Royal Easter Show, Gill is certain that the crowds will be impressed: ‘We’ve got good cowboys here to the Sydney show. They attract the best of the best. That’s why it is so good here. You’re not just seeing a backyard show. You’re seeing the best cowboys in Australia and the best bucking stock’.
The Wrangler Federation Rodeo Challenge kicks off at 6pm in the main arena until Tuesday 2nd April.
