Australian Stock Horse Archives ⋆ The Whoa Podcast

Texas Campdraft ~ Campdrafting USA ~

February 25, 2014 by John 2 Comments

Texas Campdraft

Campdrafting Comes to Texas ~ Episode #016

Horse and riders are getting the campdrafting USA fever. Last summer’s campdraft in Kiowa, Colorado was so popular that new associations are forming to promote campdrafting in the States. On Today’s podcast we chat with Dr. Kellee Campbell, a small animal veterinarian in Austin, Texas. Kellee is a breeder of Australian Stock Horses at and owns SandHaven Farms. She is also an avid polocrosse competitor. I met Kellee last summer in Colorado. When she told me she was forming an regional association under the US Campdraft organization and producing her own event, I had to talk to her about it.

Sand Haven Farms

Although the winter has been terribly cold in Texas and many people have not had a chance to get out and ride their horses, this event happening in March is sure to have a big draw. Kellee and her group, the Texas Campdraft Association have convinced Steven Hart, clinician and champion campdrafter to come to Texas and put on a clinic and competition. The dates have been set. Mark your calendars for March 6th – 9th. The first two days will be a clinic. The clinic will teach you the rules of the campdraft. There is also a short judges clinic. Even if you are not interested in being a judge, the clinic can help you be a stronger competitor. Kellee tells us all about the Texas campdraft, her horses, and a little about Texas.

Steven Hart is a campdraft champion and clinician in Australia. Steven is flying to the States to teach the skills necessary to be a better campdrafter. Steven has won over 200 open campdrafts in Australia. He not only is a fierce competitor, he is a great instructor. I had the opportunity to watch him work last year in Colorado. He has a teaching style that is clear and effective. I really saw the riders make some huge improvements in their skills over the two days. Steven tells us exactly what campdrafting is and how it is scored. He tells us what to expect at the Texas Campdraft. And, he covers information about the horses and equipment best suited for the sport. Steven works with Select Sires of Australia to produce some of the finest performance horses.

Oh, and if you are a fan of campdrafting and want to keep up with what is happening in the States, I’ve set up a Campdrafting News blog. Just click the follow, and we’ll keep you up-to-date on what is happening in the world of campdrafting.

As always, we are very interested to hear what you have to say about this episode. You can email us at: john@whoapodcast.com And, if you have any comments or suggestions for future shows, please pass them along.

Thanks for sharing these podcasts. Our numbers are really growing and we owe it all to you, our loyal horse loving listenership. You guys are the best!

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Polocrosse with Paul Johnson

November 12, 2013 by John 1 Comment

Polocrosse with Paul Johnson

I first met Paul Johnson at the Campdraft event held in Kiowa, Colorado in August 2013. Paul was there to try his hand at campdrafting. A longtime polocrosse player, Paul likes the high speed pursuit of both sports. Paul Johnson is from McDade, Texas. Paul has been involved in polocrosse for many years, has written a book, and produced a DVD on the sport. Polocrosse is a high speed horse competition that is very popular in Australia. There are pockets of players in the US and its polocrosse play is on the rise. The game is played with three horses on a team. Each player has his job. Paul explains those jobs and tells us how the game is played and scored.

We also get Paul to talk about the qualities he looks for in a good horse. Paul has spent quite some time playing and coaching the game and offers his insights. In fact, Paul has made a training DVD. In it Paul takes three horses and three players on a journey. From initial contact to first polocrosse competition, you see it all. Learn how Paul’s polocrosse teamed fared.

One note at a point in the interview we have a few technical problems, but we got them resolved and carry on. There is a little change in the audio quality. Sorry about that…

The Link to: Paul Johnson’s Polocrosse DVD

The Link to Paul’s website: Paul Johnson’s website for horses, books, and dvd’s

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Campdraft in Kiowa Colorado

September 5, 2013 by John

The First US Campdraft

The relatively newly formed US National Campdraft Association held it’s first ever event in Kiowa, Colorado. The even included a Judges Clinic followed by a two-day Campdrafting Clinic with professional Campdrafters and clinicians, Pete Comiskey and Steven Hart. After the 20 or so participants absorbed as much campdraft knowledge as the could, they put what they learned to the test. If you are not familiar with campdrafting, it is one of the most popular sports in Australia. There are two parts of the competition. First a rider must cut and control a “beast” (usually a full grown steer). The rider gets a score and yells “gate” That signals the gate to open and the beast is released into the arena. The rider has to negotiate the beast around a series of 3 “pegs” and receives points for the run. The two scores are added up.

The competition on Sunday had many different classes and quite a few participants who had not attended the clinic. They just came out to have a go at campdrafting! Many did quite well. The cows were fast and rank and proved to be a big challenge. Australian Stock Horses made an impressive showing over the entire weekend. About half the field in the clinic was comprised of Australian Stock Horses that had come from across the United States to attend.

I covered the event for the Australian Stock Horse Society Journal. You can find the article here.

The very first run of the day was taken by an Australian vacationing in Colorado. He won his class. But, there was much talk of hosting more Campdraft events in the US. Watch out Australia, the US campdraft riders are looking to make a clean run at your beast of a sport.

Campdrafting USA It’s Coming!

August 10, 2013 by John Leave a Comment

Campdrafting USA

Campdrafting is one of the top disciplines in Australia. It’s making its way across the pond and coming to Colorado. A judging clinic, teaching clinic and a competition is coming to Kiowa, Colorado in August 2013.

About Campdrafting USA

From the US Campdraft Assn: Campdrafting involves a mounted rider riding into a “camp” (corral or yard) which has six to eight head of cattle in it. The rider (cuts out) one steer or heifer from the cattle in the camp and brings that beast to the front of the camp. The rider blocks and turns that beast at least two or three times to prove to the judge that they have the beast under control. The rider then calls for the gates to be opened. The cut out is worth a total of 26 points.

The rider then proceeds to draft (work) the beast around a figure eight course in a larger arena.

Generally the course is set to the left. Once the beast has gone around the left peg, it must then be drafted around a peg on the right.

Once completed, the rider then guides the steer through the “gate” which is two pegs placed apart. Once gated, the campdraft is complete. The rider can be awarded up to a total of 100 points. Points are awarded for horsemanship and control of the beast… The time limit is usually 45-47 seconds.

On today’s Whoa Podcast about Horses and Horsemanship we interview Mary Harris, President of the US Campdraft Association. Mary tells us about the event. We find how she started the organization. She also talks about why she wanted to campdrafting in the US. Later in the show, Pete Comiskey joins us via Skype from Australia and tells us about the inner workings of the clinic. More to come on campdrafting USA.

Thanks for listening. We would love to hear your thoughts on this episode. Email us at john@whoapodcast.com

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It took us awhile, but we finally got it. Now listening to the show just got easier. Help support the show. Checkout our new Whoa Podcast Android App at the Amazon Store.