The next generation kicking up dust in the Wide Bay Burnett
From the rodeo ring to the cattle inspection parade to the wild west of drafting cattle, these are the rising stars to look out for in Queensland’s shows and rodeos in 2023.
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Junior rodeo princesses, mini bull riding champions, and campdrafting buckle winners are just to name a few of the young cowboys and cowgirls who are kicking up dust in the Wide Bay Burnett region.
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Wielding horses, understanding how cattle work, cutting, drafting, judging, parading to barrelling and holding on and not giving up when the bull bucks you off are all part and parcel of the farm skills these young champions hold.
Rodeos and campdrafting events are integral dates on the social calendar for those living regionally and rurally. It is not just about winning prizes, but about finding a supportive community, sharing and learning new skills, and getting to see how it is done in another part of Australia or for some on this list, the world.
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Events like this also give these kids the chance to ride in front of hundreds, if not thousands of people all around Australia.
We’ve tracked down some of the savviest, skilful and bravest young competitors across the Wide Bay Burnett who are masters in the saddle of a horse or a bull.
If you’re an old hand to the circuits, you might recognise a few of these names, if you’re completely new, then meet the bucking, steering, drafting and cutting stars to look out for:
Chase Wieland
Meet Chase Wieland, the 11-year-old mini bull rider extravaganza from Bells Bridge who is heading off to Texas, USA, in May 2023 for a world title.
Chase started riding mini bulls four years ago, he won Australian titles in 2021 and 2022, and secured himself a place in the world finals after winning the Professional Bull Riding Can AM Academy Junior 2022 Championships in Rockhampton on New Year’s Eve.
Riding in America is Chase’s dream. “It’ll be huge, I’m excited,” he said.
His dad and coach, Malcolm Wieland, was a bull rider for 25 years. His mum, Bec Wieland, watches and cheers from the sidelines, always happy to see he is safe after the rodeo.
She is his biggest fan. “We’re hoping for a world title,” she said confidently.
The Holloways
Charlotte ‘Charli’ Holloway
Introducing the National Rodeo Association crowned 2023 junior rodeo princess, 12-year-old Charli Holloway from Kandanga. Charli is a barrel racer and a mini bull rider.
Winning junior rodeo princess meant “dressing up all nice, teaching your horse to be good with the crowd, and controlling your horse,” Charli said.
Charli’s been competing for the last two years in barrel racing and she’s hardly intimidated by the competition of the under 18s.
She’s also as fearless as she is a princess, and has competed twice in under 7-12’s mini bull riding, which is dominated by boys.
“The boys behind me are pretty supportive, and I’m always with my dad and my brother” she said. She’s hardly bothered by the fact she was one of the only girls in the competition.
She’s keen to get more experience from this year’s rodeo competitions in Stanthorpe and Caboolture.
Cobie Holloway
Meet six-year-old Cobie Holloway, who is well into making a name for herself in the rodeo circuit. While following in the footsteps of her older siblings, she’s hardly in their shadows.
Punching way above her weight, she barrel races in the under 18s, often facing 17-year-olds.
She jumps in and “just has a go,” her mum, Kat Holloway, said.
“We can’t get her off a horse, she’s pretty keen and pretty passionate, she just likes to ride horses all the time.”
Cole Holloway
Another bull rider moving up a level is Cole Holloway, a 12-year-old who won’t be bucked off, and he’s also keeping up with the under 18s in barrel racing.
Cole came fourth in the overall National Rodeo Association standing in 2022, and this year he’s stepping up into the under 15 age group.
His mum, Mrs Holloway, describes him as a man of few words. He opens up when he’s at rodeos though, and he says his favourite thing about the “bigger” rodeos is that they’ve “got people”.
Angus Hollands
Meet Angus Holland, a 12-year-old from Maryborough whose big dream is to get to the USA and win the world champion gold buckle.
He was a Fraser Coast young sports person of the year nominee in 2022, took places in more than five competitions in 2021 and a string of other achievements locally and interstate since 2019.
Angus is looking forward to this year, after taking a bit of time to adjust to the bigger bulls in the next age level. He’s throwing in his hat and not afraid to go pro. With the help of his dad, Sean Hollands, he’s secured three sponsors.
One of them is their local gym, Maryborough Snap Fitness, and he’s been working his legs and core.
He’s now moved up a level and is “riding the bigger bulls, it’s going to be challenging,” he said.
Despite the tougher challenge, he’s hardly perturbed and loves being in the rodeo on the bull, “the more cheers, the hyper I get, the better I ride,” he said.
While he’s pretty stoked about getting to travel around and experience different parts of Australia, his favourite place to ride bulls is in his hometown of Maryborough.
Reba Cotter
Reba Cotter is a 14-year-old from Widgee who has been riding horses since she was three and started campdrafting two years ago. Last year she placed second in the juvenile challenge at Kumbia Campdraft and fourth at Proston Campdraft.
For Reba, the sport is not just about winning and competitions, it’s also about getting to know the cattle and learning how to train and break in horses. She does distance education and spends most days helping out her dad, Rod Cotter, training and breaking in horses for people on his property in Widgee.
“I just love learning how to read cattle and ride horses,” Reba said.
“Trying to do both at the same time when you get nervous is challenging.
“My dad just told me to think term by term. Don’t overthink it all,” advised Reba about dealing with her nerves when competing.
Chloe Lough
Another superstar on the campdraft circuit is Chloe Lough, a 15-year-old from Maryborough.
Chloe took the winning buckle at the juvenile challenge at Flinders Classic Challenge and Campdraft and Cloncurry Stockman’s Challenge in 2022.
She started “getting into horses” when her family moved up to Maryborough five years ago after living on a boat in Brisbane.
“I was the first to get into horses, I was like, ‘mum, can we get a horse? Can we get a horse?’”
“Mum followed and got into horses, then my brother did.”
“I’ve always been the Mad King of the family.”
Chloe works at the Nathan Wilson Training Stables at Biggenden.
The McIntyres
Jorja McIntyre
Introducing Jorja McIntyre, a 15-year-old junior representative for the Gympie Beef Committee, a cattle judge, parader and an advocate for women in agriculture and business.
In 2022, she placed at the Gympie District Camp, Chinchilla Show, and at the Murgon Show Society, won the under 15 and the under 25 stud and prime judging, and if that was not enough, went on to win champion judge.
Jorja is most excited that she qualified for the North Burnett Sub-chamber in May as a cattle judge and is setting her sights on a successful round to see her into the judging competition at the Ekka.
Cows are a huge part of Jorja’s life, she didn’t get toys like most girls, she was given breeding cattle.
“As soon as we were born, we were with cows and always had a passion for working with cows and cattle behaviour,” Jorja said.
“We are always looking for better genetics for our herd.”
Jorja wants to be an AG science schoolteacher when she grows up. Teaching and passing on the cattle skills that she’s learned to kids. She’s hoping to see more young people become involved in cattle farming and breeding. She really hopes she can give back to the community.
Rhianna McIntyre
Another cattle breeding queen in the McIntyre family is 13-year-old Rhianna, and while she’s last on this list, she’s barely least.
She’s been soaking up the experience and knowledge from the cattle camps, schools, competitions and shows her family enter.
Rhianna has a whole set of deserving accolades from 2022, winning the young paraders at the Gympie District Camp, the under 15 stud judging at Murgon and Chinchilla, and finally, taking the incredible prize of Champion Prime Judge of Biggenden Cattle Camp.
She’s passionate about genetics and regenerative farming, and wants to be study crop production and understand soils as an Agronomist when she grows up.
“The new genetics coming in is probably one of my favourite things. Farmers are going into regenerative farming and trying not to use as many chemicals because we have to sustain our environment otherwise it's not going to last much longer.”
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Originally published as The next generation kicking up dust in the Wide Bay Burnett
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