Rydal’s Nigel Kable has been crowned campdraft world champion for the third year in a row after the competition final at the Sydney Royal Easter Show last week.
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Despite all his success, Kable thoroughly enjoyed his most recent victory.
"Oh yeah, it's a big competition and you're against some of the best competitors in the country and that so it's still a buzz to win," Kable said.
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For the uninitiated, the sport of campdrafting requires competitors to “cut out” a beast from a group of five to ten cattle and guide it through a course of right and left hand turns before steering it through a final gate.
Points are awarded for the cut out, horse-work and course completion, from a possible total of 100 points.
A good campdrafter is not just a fine horseman, but also has the skill to select a suitable beast from the mob that will run well.
Kable’s triumph is particularly remarkable considering he suffered a serious injury in November last year.
"I actually had a fall and had a fractured skull and was in Westmead hospital for eight days."
“I'm back to normal or as normal as I was before," Kable said with a chuckle.
Kable showed his appreciation for Chevin Ivory, the 19 year old stallion he has ridden in competition for close to 15 years.
The horse has won over 100 campdrafts and over $290,000 in prize money and trophies.
"We've been doing it together for a long time and I did actually compete his mother in the world championship down at the old showground at Moore Park as well."
I actually had a fall and had a fractured skull and was in Westemead hospital for eight days.
- Nigel Kable, campdraft world champion
The pair were also awarded the T B Macfarlane Perpetual Trophy for the highest score in any session conducted throughout the world championship competition.
Kable hopes the winning partnership can continue for as long as possible.
"There's people still competing into their 80s but the horse any year sort of could be his last year. He's still going just as strong as he ever was at the moment… he could keep going for another three or four years possibly."
Campdrafting runs in the Kable family with Nigel’s wife Carol and three sons Jack, Tom and Daniel, aged 18, 14 and 11 also competing in the sport.
The family travel up to seven hours to compete in competitions and in 2015 all five family members qualified for the national finals in Tamworth.