Campdrafting

The riding style is Australian stock, somewhat akin to American Western riding and the event is similar to the American stock horse events such as cutting, working cow horse, team penning, and ranch sorting.

A "tail turn" executed by a horse in the opposite direction of the beast's line of travel also incurs disqualification at any stage of the draft.

It is thought the sport developed in outback Queensland among the stockmen and drovers in informal competitions to prove horse skills.

[2] Competing at this event was Clarence Smith, a cattleman and horse breeder near Tenterfield, on the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales.

The Warwick Gold Cup is one of the premier events on Australia's campdraft calendar where around 1,800 camp drafters compete for prize money over about four days of competition.

[3] Paradise Lagoons in Queensland is the venue of the richest campdraft in Australia with A$230,000 of prize money distributed over the four days of competition.

[5] Walcha, New South Wales, has held the National titles on several occasions as the district is one of the few able to supply the quantities of quality cattle needed for these big events.

[8] The annual Paradise Lagoons campdrafting events now have three non-stop arenas that operate for four days for increased prizemoney.

If the steer will not be readily persuaded into making any particular turn, he may then be "shouldered" into position by the horse pushing him in the right direction.

These horses developed from bloodlines of various breeds, some tracing back to stock that arrived with the earliest Australian colonists.