Bull riding at Central Hawke's Bay A&P Show draws crowd of 1800

Jonny Ward said the happy crowd of about 1800 spent time singing, chanting and cheering. Photo / Paul Taylor

PT151120Merv.JPG Merv Church was the winner of the open round. Photo / Paul Taylor

PT151120BenSnell.JPG Cowboy Ben Snell at the bull riding event on Saturday. Photo / Paul Taylor

It's a sport with its critics but more than 1500 people turned up to watch the rodeo at the Central Hawke's Bay A&P Show.

Jonny Ward who promotes the event and provides the bulls, said the event, which is one of the first for the summer bull riding season, had a "pretty full" crowd of 1800 people.

"They were very vocal, chanting and singing and I think everyone came away happy," he said.

The event was previously the target of animal rights activists in 2017.

Animal rights group Safe is calling on Kiwis to boycott rodeos over summer 2020/21, saying "We're Kiwis, not 'cowboys'.

From an animal welfare perspective, Ward says he has "nothing to hide".

He said they have strong animal welfare protocols in place and the bulls are trained for bucking.

Merv Church was the winner of the open round. Photo / Paul Taylor

"All I can say is be educated properly ... come out and see how I treat my bulls; I have nothing to hide."

He said both the cowboys and bulls had "pretty outstanding" performances.

"To get a 90 point in the 'short go' is pretty big for New Zealand. Not many 90 point rides are being dished out."

Cowboy Ben Snell at the bull riding event on Saturday. Photo / Paul Taylor

There were 80 bull rides across a range of categories involving 38 cowboys from around the country.

Veteran Merv Church came out on top as the winner of the open round and Rylee Ward from Waipawa won the Second Division title.