He had two round wins, a second and an equal second to win the title at the finals in late October.

Worsfold also won the aggregate at the Warwick Rodeo APRA National Finals for the third time in five years.

At age 36, Worsfold hasn’t thought about retirement.

“As long as I win a bit of money and keep enjoying it, I will keep going,” he said.

His toughest competition in recent years has been from Tumbarumba (NSW) cowboy Ben Hall.

“Two young fellows, Jarrod McKane and Luke Higgins, are rising stars in bareback ranks,” he said.

He started his rodeo career as a bull rider before jumping on a few bareback horses when he lived in Rockhampton.

“I made two national finals as a bull rider but didn’t like it as much as bareback so now do one event,” Worsfold said.

He scored a high of 85 in the national finals on the Garry McPhee horse Queen of Spades.

His career best is 91 on the Gill Brothers horse Little Egypt is an APRA record.

Worsfold is planning a short break from the sport before heading to Mitchell on New Year’s Eve.

He has won at Mitchell in the past.

The Wandoan cowboy travels the circuit with wife Sharna and one-year-old daughter Rainey.

“Sharna competes in barrel racing,” Worsfold said.

“Rainey has a little pony already.”

He is thinking of a trip to Victoria in March for the three rodeos on the Victorian long weekend and then concentrate on rodeos close to home and on the Northern Run.

“We went to Taroom, Cloncurry, Mt Isa and Townsville for Northern Run rodeos this year,” Worsfold said.

In between rodeos, Worsfold rides horses to muster at home at Wandoan.

He and Sharna break in some horses

The next APRA rodeo in the new season is Kapunda Rodeo in South Australia on November 16.

Riders will be aiming for prizemoney at Kapunda and the chance to be the early standings leader in quest for a top-15 spot and qualification for next year’s national finals in Warwick.

 

Photo of David Worsfold by Framed Forever Fotos