30/12/2025
Itβs been a great start to the Christmas Rodeo run, with some awesome performances!
Itβs going to be an awesome day on January 3rd - we are hoping the sun shines for us!
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January 3rd 2026
Peria Saleyards, Oruru Rd, Far North
Gates open 9am
$15 Adults
$10 Child (under 15)
Under 5s free
$40 Whanau pass (2 Adults, 2 Children)
CASH ONLY. NO DOGS.
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So the weather Gods didnβt play ball early in the day but the strong crowd of rodeo fans that came through the gates got plenty of outstanding action and when the sun finally broke through for the open events it capped off another awesome day of rodeo at one of the best rodeo grounds in New Zealand.
It's one of our favourites for sure and all the top North Island cowboys and cowgirls turned up and turned on a great day of action.
Here's a few of the highlights:
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The 19yo Te Karaka cowboy Zack Taylor is the real deal!
A two event roughstock cowboy today broke open in the Ba****ck event and is well on his way to doing the same in the Saddle Bronc event as well. He won 2nd Division today then placed third in the open contest, keep an eye on this young fella into the future.
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With the Godfather of NZ Rodeo, Mervyn Church OBE watching on, Sam Church did what he has done at every rodeo so far this season, he won the Open Ba****ck contest with a strong 69pt ride on βAlfβ to make it seven from seven event wins and he holds a commanding lead in the national standings.
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Once again proving they havenβt come for a holiday the βAussieβ cowboys and cowgirls got amongst it today at Rerewhakaaitu led by Johnny Gordon who made it back-to-back Steer Wrestling wins and Kolt Ferguson, one of the rodeo royalty Aussie βFerguson Familyβ who improved on his second placing yesterday at Opotiki with a win and the highpoint marking of the season so far with 73pts on the big bucking paint bronc βReseneβ in the Saddle Bronc contest.
Expat Kiwi (Western Australia) based Tui Magner collected fourth place money in the Barrel Race, Brandee Ferguson picked up third place money in Breakaway Roping, Aja Tito just once place back. Maybe weβre giving them too much horse power???
Nah, itβs great to have you all over here, bring your mates, then we can have a βbucking Bledisloeβ with some timed events too and a Trans-Tasman test in Aotearoa?
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The Te Awamutu based Wood sisters are burning it up this season and today both sisters added to their season tally with Lylah and βDiceβ winning the Breakaway Roping contest in 3.34 secs, just a cruise compared to the fastest time in the open ranks for the season that they have run at 2.435 secs.
They held off our very own NZRCA Secretary Jayde Asher who with a second placing now joins the All Round cowgirl standings and will be one to watch throughout the season as she Breakaway Ropes and Team Ropes with partner Aaron Church Junior.
Lylah and βDiceβ then backed-up for their second event, the 2nd Divi Barrel Race and finished second behind younger sister Riley and βBostonβ who claimed their fourth win for the season in this event.
Thereβs something in the water up there in Te Awamutu, these cowgirls are nailing it and giving Mum, Shelly lots of great photo opportunities!!
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Itβs been a great Christmas run so far for the now Taumarunui based cowboy Will Potts including back-to-back wins in the Rope and Tie at Opotiki and Rerewhakaaitu and he shows no signs of slowing down in his quest to claim his first All Round NZRCA Champion Cowboy title. And he better not slow down, in the rear-vision mirror with still two-thirds of the season to go, thereβs some very awesome cowboys who have him in their sights!
But this kid is good and itβs going to be fascinating to watch the season unfold.
All the best cowboy for your title challenge.
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Thereβs no doubt the bulls in New Zealand right now have the upper hand over the cowboys.
We saw it at the PBR Australia Tasman Cup and itβs translated to the last few event where there have been no qualified rides but today, at Rerewhakaaitu, the home of champions, a couple of champions stepped up!
Klay Ward won the day with a great spurring ride on βUpper Cutβ for 85pts to move into second place in the standings behind brother Rylee who made the only other qualified ride on board βChop Sueyβ for 78pts to see him remain at the top of the standings early in the Christmas run.
Rylee heads to the USA after the Christmas run so heβll be keen to rack up plenty of money to (hopefully) come back for finals and have a crack at a NZ record breaking four-in-a-row NZRCA Bull Ride titles.
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Matamata cowboy Kurtis Pertab has been close to a few rodeo goals in his time, the question is, could this finally be the year?? He is a master with a lariat, no question.
In the Rope and Tie and Team Roping events he has so often been in the mix and sadly just fallen short.
As we stand right now, Kurtis is around $900 behind Will Potts in the Rope and Tie but after making a qualified run today with Bevan Clayton Greene in the Team Roping, Kurtis is well and truly in the mix in both events and importantly, he now sits third in the All Round Cowboy title chase.
He's just $2600 or so behind Will in the All Round title hunt and thereβs a long way to go in this season!
A couple of Team Roping wins will deal with that and heβs got one of the sharpest headers in the country on the other side in Bevan Clayton-Greene who will invariably make the head catch, itβs going to be up to Kurtis to define his destiny and place in the record books by getting get the job done at the back-end if he wantβs to be in contention come finals time at Waikouaiti Rodeo on the 14th March. This is going to be awesome to watch. And weβll be following every step of the way!
Today a rest day then onto Warkworth Rodeo on New Yearβs Day then on the 2nd of January we rodeo in the north (Far North Rodeo Events) and in the South (Wanaka Rodeo) before we go to Oruru Valley Rodeo Club on the 3rd January.
A full calendar of events here:
https://www.rodeonz.co.nz/upcoming-events/
Full results from Rerewhakaaitu Rodeo here:
https://www.rodeonz.co.nz/results/2025-2026-club-results/rerewhakaaitu-rodeo-30-december-2025/
Photo and words Stephen Mowbray
(Any errors / missing horse names, please PM me with details!)
