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Campdraft MemorialPrint Page 
Memorial to Campdraft competition which also acknowledges Clarence Smith who came up with the rules in 1885. The memorial was unveiled on the 120th anniversary of the event.
The first draft was not held in the ring, but just outside the Showground on a vacant area. Mr Clarence W Smith of Boorook Station drew up the method of judging which formed the basis of this sporting event that is now widely popular all over Australia. The C W Smith Memorial Open draft is still a feature event on the campdraft program.
Campdrafting is a unique and very popular Australian sport involving a horse and rider working cattle. In the competition, a rider on horseback must "cut out" one beast from the mob of cattle in the yard or "camp" and block and turn that beast at least two or three times to prove to the judge that they have the beast under control; then take it out of the yard and through a course around pegs involving right and left hand turns in a figure eight, before guiding it through two pegs known as "the gate". The outside course must be completed in less than 40 seconds.
Location
| Address: | Manners Street, Tenterfield Showground, Tenterfield, 2372 |
|---|---|
| State: | NSW |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -29.054979 Long: 152.014975 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Monument |
|---|---|
| Monument Theme: | Culture |
| Sub-Theme: | Sport |
| Approx. Event Start Date: | 1885 |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Sunday 6th February, 2005 |
|---|
The first running of the Campdraft event in Australia was held in Tenterfield during its Annual Show in 1885. An area of vacant land, just outside the Showground, was set up by the Tenterfield Show Society and Mr. Clarence Smith, an excellent horseman from "Boorook Station" east of Tenterfield, drew up the rules. Cattle for the 1885 Campdraft were loaned by Mr. W.A. Walker of "Tenterfield Station" which was then owned by his niece Dame Eadith Walker DBE. Mr A.M.White of "Bolivia Station", a polo player, horseman and stalwart of the Tenterfield Show Society, also supported the running of Australia's first Campdraft.
In 2005, the Tenterfield Show Society, with the generous support of the Australian Campdrafting Association, the Australian Stock Horse Society, the Australian Bushmen's Campdraft & Rodeo Association, the Southern Campdraft Association and the Tenterfield Campdraft Club, saw fit to commemorate the 120th anniversary, of what has become a national sport, with this monument.
Celebrating Australia's
first Campdraft
This monument was unveiled on
Sunday the 6th February 2005
in the presence of representatives of the Tenterfield
Show Society, the Australian Campdrafting Association,
the Australian Stock Horse Society, the Australian
Bushmen's Campdraft & Rodeo Association,
the Southern Campdraft Association and the Tenterfield
Campdraft Club during the running of the Tenterfield Show
Society's Campdraft of the 2005 Annual Show.
