RIDERS from three states will head to the central west of New South Wales on Saturday (Sept 3) for the Dubbo Xtreme Bulls event.

The bull ride will be held at Macquarie Inn and the bulls will come  from Gill Brothers at Upper Horton.

The event has attracted a strong field, including Sonny Schafferius who will travel from Dysart in Queensland.

Jackson Gill from Upper Horton was a champion junior bull ride and is now starring in the open ranks and has nominated for Dubbo.

Jason O’Hearn from Rothbury in the Hunter  Valley is in the field and is a past championship winner in the Australian Professional Rodeo Association.

Toowoomba cowboy Ben Palmer is a recent winner in Queensland so will head to Dubbo with form on the board.

A second Xtreme Bulls event will be held in New South Wales on Saturday week at Albury at the Boomerang Hotel.

One of the major attractions of the Xtreme Bulls events is riders who secure prize money boost their position in the standings in quest of a top-15 spot in the bull ride in 2016-2017 APRA standings and qualification for The Warwick Rodeo National Finals in October 2017.

The finalists for this year’s national finals have already been determined and some of the field at Dubbo will use the event to fine tune their form for the 2016 finals in Warwick on October 27-30.

A large contingent of New South Wales riders have made it to the finals this year.

Three New South Wales riders enjoyed great success at the richest rodeo on the circuit at Mt Isa in mid August. Fred Osman (Tibooburra) split first in bareback at Mt Isa with Queensland rider David Worsfold while Heath Nichols from Scone won the rope and tie.

Murrurindi cowgirl Jo Caldwell won the top all around cowgirl award at Mt Isa and will be one to watch at Warwick this year.

Dubbo Bull Ride will start at 7pm and there will be two rounds of the open bull ride.

APRA PROGRAM: September 3 – Xtreme Bulls, Dubbo, NSW; St Brendan’s College Rodeo, Yeppoon, Qld

September 10 – Xtreme Bulls, Albury, NSW; Bundaberg Rodeo, Qld

October 2 – Marrabel Rodeo, SA

October 27-30 – The Warwick Rodeo National Finals;  Warwick  Rodeo Second Division and Junior Events