Eight seconds of courage price of glory

Rodeo bronc Taupo Drop Out knows how to put on a bucking good show.
The fiery  8-year-old horse has the ability to strike fear in the most experienced cowboy who dares to try  to ride him.
The chestnut gelding is one of 55 horses that will twist and turn, trying to catapult their riders off before the mandatory eight seconds are up, during events at the Mid Northern Rodeo.
Taupo Drop Out refused to stop bucking while being ridden out on the hunting fields around Taupo, so  his owner turned the horse over to the rodeo.
Now he's a star in rodeo circles, having dumped some of the best in the sport.
Mid Northern's two-day rodeo event, starting on Saturday, has attracted a field of 250 competitors from around New Zealand. Yesterday, members of the rodeo were preparing the grounds at Maungatapere and trucking in the horses. The purpose-bred bulls were scheduled to arrive today.
Experienced horseman and Mid Northern Rodeo patron Murray Darroch reckons the crowd can expect to see some of the best buckers in the business - equine and bovine - over the weekend.
And what makes a good bronc buck?
The horse needs to be athletic. The higher they can go the better. If they can twist and turn in the air it makes it more difficult for the cowboy. If the horse tucks its head between its front legs and kicks its rear legs up high it makes it a tough ride.
If the cowboy stays on they can earn $650 for their eight-second ride.
Other horses to watch out for are Warsaw, a seasoned 16-year-old campaigner, Swan Saw who has taken many cowboys to the pay window and Mount Sweet Dreams.
Drystock farmer Arthur Dyer has never ridden in a rodeo but has sat on plenty of bucking horses he has broken in on his Purua property, 27km north west of Whangarei. The 85-year-old, and oldest member of the Mid Northern Rodeo, remembers the days when Kamo was the rodeo venue.
He reckons he was too old when rodeo became popular and never ventured into the fray with the angry animals. He opted instead to help chase the horses into pens and sort them according to their bucking ability.
Yesterday, he was back in his Red Band gumboots clutching a stick ready to sort out the horses. "Some of the best bucking horses are the ones people have ridden and have been a bit of trouble with and then decided to give them to the rodeo," he said.
The action starts at 10am on Saturday and Sunday at the rodeo grounds at Maungatapere.