THE Dartmoor Rodeo once again proved a hit, with thousands flocking to Dartmoor Recreation Reserve for the annual event on Saturday night.

Despite a slight delay to the start of proceedings, Dartmoor Football Netball Club president, Ryan Childs said he was happy with how the night went.

“There was plenty of people, minimum of 3500 I’d say,” he said.

“We had to start it a little bit late, because Ambulance Victoria couldn‘t get anyone there before 7pm.

“Everyone had a good night, and it all went smoothly from what I saw.”

With strong  crowd numbers on the night, competitor registrations were also strong.

“All events had plenty of entrants,” Childs said.

“It looked like it (weather) was going to (impact numbers) 15 minutes before it started, then they all just rolled in.

“We haven’t tallied all the money., but with the amount of people there, it was a pretty successful event for the club.”

There were some familiar names across the night, while visitors to the region also enjoyed some success at the first Western District rodeo of 2024.

The Open Bull Ride had 11 entrants, the Open Saddle Bronc had five, while Open Bareback had two entrants.

The Ladies Ranch Saddle Bronc had five entrants, while 2nd Div Saddle Bronc had 10 entrants, while 30 people put their name down for 2nd Div Bull Ride, and 29 contested the Ladies Barrel Race.

The Junior barrel race had 23 entrants, while 10 nominated for the Junior Bull Ride.

Rodeo results

Open Bull ride – Eli Bee with a time/score of 80.

Open Saddle Bronc – Dean Oliver (75) ahead of Michael Keogh (71) and Brad Meagher (71).

Open Bareback – Patrick Fraser (64).

Ladies Ranch Saddle Bronc – Tup Forge (62) and Hayley Coburn (58).

2nd Div Saddle Bronc – Patrick Fraser (66) ahead of Brad Freund (65) Kieran Tink (60) and Dylan Brandenburg (50).

2nd div bull ride – Lachy Rothwell (69) Seb Geppert (66).

Ladies Barrel Race – Julie Breed (13.97s) ahead of Marian Thompson (14.07), Abby Llewellyn (14.28) and Peta Fraser (14.38).

Junior Barrel Race – Summer Mallia (14.52s) ahead of Natasha Baldachino (15.32), Weston Jones (15.52) and Brianna Jones (15.96).

Junior bull ride – Noah Dingle (72) ahead of Billy Banker (70).

Best bucking horse – Cody.

Best bucking bull – Golden Bay.

Best bareback horse – Austin.