Alfred Tighe Jr and his cousin Douglas Tighe are part of the new breed of rodeo goers after getting a taste for rough riding at the Spur Up Rodeo in September.   

Young Tighe, 13, said it was his first, but would definitely not be his last rodeo.

“Me and my little cousin just went to go see what it was like. Ever since then, I’m hooked,” he said. “I got a bit nervous, but then your mind just focuses on the horse and holdin’ and holdin’.” 

But it wasn’t his first time in a saddle. Dad Alfred Tighe Sr, a builder’s labourer, horse breaker and jack of all trades, put the young fella in a saddle aged five.

For his part, nine-year-old and veteran of three rodeos, Douglas won the junior poddy ride, and if he believe his account of events – without putting a hair out of place.  

“Yeah, I just holded on to that bull for the full eight seconds,” he said. “No worries.” 

The way the boys have taken to rough riding gives a proud Tighe Sr hope rodeo can have a local revival.

“It’s good to see the young kids in this sport,” he said. “It’s a dying sport for Moree and you gotta go away and travel to train and compete.”

Tighe Sr said the adrenaline rush made the sport worthwhile in-and-of-itself, but added it was a tradition that had long brought indigenous and non-indigenous communities together.

“It’s like the racehorses,” he said. “My old man’s a horse trainer and when we go to meetings it’s always a good atmosphere. It’s the two cultures coming together and having a good time.”

Tighe Sr is one of a group of locals trying to start up a training school at the Moree showgrounds next year to promote the sport. 

If they can secure funding and permission to use the grounds, the group hopes to teach both boys and girls from across North West NSW the arts of riding, cattle handling, horse breaking, leatherwork and other bush crafts. 

“Moree is a well-known country town,” said Tighe Sr. “It would be a shame for our young kids to lose those skills, and it’ll give this place another sport.”