Wendy Caban competing in the barrels at the National Finals Rodeo.
Held at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, the NFR pits the top 15 riders in each event against each other during four days of tough competition.
This year riders from Moree, Narrabri, Gunnedah and Upper Horton starred in the four-day competition.
Caban won the all-around cowgirl title with two round wins in the barrel race and one in breakaway roping. Caban also placed second in one round of the roping, and a second in barrel racing in round four.
This meant she was able to record a placing in each session, except the first session on Thursday night.
To cap off a fine NFR for her family, Wendy’s husband Troy Caban was fourth in one round of team roping with his brother Dale, of Emerald.
Caban has been competing in rodeos for 16 years now. She started competing at 14 after seeing her brothers compete in the bull riding events.
Since then she has been competing on the southern and northern circuits each year, and from 2002 she has made it to the top 15 to compete in the NFR every year.
As for her winning edge, Caban said it comes down to experience.
“For the barrels I’ve got a really good horse so that always helps. In the roping it’s just a lot of practise,” Caban said.
“I’m competing against the top 15 so there’s some really good girls but you just have to do your own thing.”
She also trains with her husband who competes in the team roping event.
Caban said the convention centre pens were smaller than she was used to.
“It’s a lot different - it’s a really small arena and my horse is 16.2 hands so I just had to ride differently to accommodate for that. I had to ride harder and have faster reactions.”
Unfortunately, Caban knocked a barrel in the final, which cost her the win.
However, she still walked away with her third all-round cowgirl title due to her strong performances in all the other rounds.
Caban credits her family as being the reason for her success.
“I want to say a big thank you to my husband Troy and my daughter Dekota for their support.”
Next on the agenda for Caban is to start over and work her way into the top 15 again for next year’s competition.
Caban’s 18-year-old horse Spider is as experienced as they come, but he will be retired at the end of next year to make way for a younger horse.
There will be no retiring for Caban though, she wants to keep doing the sport she loves for many years to come.