Sport in the Australian outback

Over the years we have done quite a lot of travelling towing an off-road caravan in the Australian outback. One of our first trips we happened upon a campdraft competition in outback Queensland and we were enthralled by the skill of horses and riders. Since then we have purposely travelled to campdraft competitions and always find them thrilling.
 
Campdrafting is a unique Australian sport involving a horse and rider working cattle. It is thought the sport developed in outback Queensland among the stockmen and drovers in informal competitions to prove horse skills. The first formal campdrafting competition occurred in Tenterfield at the Tenterfield Show Society's 1885 show.
 
In a campdrafting competition, a rider on horseback must "cut out" one beast from the mob of cattle in the yard or the "camp" and block and turn the beast at least two or three times to prove to the judge that they have the beast under control; then take it out of the yard and through a course around pegs involving right and left hand turns in a figure eight, before guiding it through two pegs known as "the gate". The outside course must be completed in less than 40 seconds.
 
The ideal horse for this work is considered to be about 15 hands and agile enough to take a beast from the camp without trouble. The horse needs the speed to control the beast and the body weight to push a big bullock round by pressure on his shoulder, if needed.
 
A good campdrafting horse does not take its eye off the beast and the rider has to watch his or her own seat when the horse is propping and turning on the job. If the steer will not be readily persuaded into making any particular turn, it may then be "shouldered" into position by the horse pushing it in the right direction.
 
The most popular breed of horse for campdrafting is the Australian Stock Horse. These horses developed from bloodlines of various breeds, some tracing back to stock that arrived with the earliest Australian colonists. Formal recognition of Australian Stock Horses as a distinct breed began in June 1971 when over one hundred campdrafters and horse breeders met to form the Australian Stock Horse Society.