Community & Business
8 July, 2022
Local cowboy ready to ride
SOME of Queensland’s best and toughest bull riders, including Mareeba’s own Wyatt Milgate, will be centre stadium on Saturday night as the Mareeba Rodeo kicks off with a host of bull riding action.
Wyatt has been riding bulls since he was five years old and this year will again be returning to where it all began, as he got his first taste for bull riding at the Mareeba Rodeo 16 years ago.
Now 21, Wyatt is excited to return to the Mareeba Rodeo, albeit a bit taller and a bit stronger, ready to tackle some of the rankest bulls the rodeo can offer.
“Because it was my first ever rodeo, I’ve got quite a connection to the Mareeba Rodeo,” he said.
“Every year I am just so excited to ride there in front of everyone.
“The hype for the Mareeba Rodeo is unmatched, it is hard to compete against other rodeo’s it is one of the biggest and the atmosphere is unbeatable – there is nothing like it.”
With a family history firmly cemented in rodeo, Wyatt got his first taste for rodeos and bull riding after watching his father ride.
“My dad used to ride so I used to watch him ride as well and I was just brought up into it – my uncle also did it as well,” he said.
This sparked Wyatt’s lifelong love and obsession with bull riding, as he competes in rodeos across Queensland.
“It has been really good, I have definitely achieved everything I set out to do and I’ve been gradually getting better and better,” he said.
“The past couple of years have been tough due to Covid and an injury I had.”
During the 2021 Maryborough Rodeo, Wyatt suffered a severe injury - breaking several ribs, lacerating his liver and puncturing his lung.
Wyatt didn’t stay bedridden for long and did not shy away from another stint in bull riding and after a month’s recovery, he was riding again in Mt Garnet.
“When you’ve been doing it for as long you can’t really stop, you’ve just got to kick on,” he said.
“I am so hungry to achieve goals that I have set out for myself, I’ve come all this way and I cannot quit now – I need to keep going.
“I can’t see myself stopping before achieving my goals.”
Making his Professional Bull Riding (PBR) debut last year, one of Wyatt’s current goals is to continue to ride in the series with and against the best bull riders in the country, with the ultimate goal of winning an Australian title.
