Tenterfield Campdrafting Club president Gary Pitkin topped the maiden draft and took home the trophy with Nina in her first competition appearance.

Tenterfield dominated the maiden category, with Danny Thomas and Peter Petty placing second and fourth respectively, and showed the depth of the talent in the area with a strong presence in the younger classes.

Paige Koch placed first in the weekend’s youngest category, the novelty draft, and Jackson Kings and Shania Koch placed second and fourth respectively in the junior draft.

“The sport is getting stronger and stronger every year,” Tenterfield Campdrafting Club secretary Robyn Ford said.

“The competition is growing better and stronger every year, the quality of the riders and horses is always improving. We had 278 horses in the open draft and that is a lot of horses to get through. There were a lot of good horses drafting.

“The weekend ran very smoothly; it was well organised and there were no accidents. Everyone enjoyed themselves, I think, we had no complaints. There are a lot of good, hard working members at the club.”

Around 400 riders competed in around 750 runs and seven categories over the weekend, travelling from across south-eastern Queensland and the New South Wales coast to attend the event.

“The campdraft is a good thing for Tenterfield, it brings a lot of people into the town. There was 300 or 400 riders plus all their family. It is a family sport, so people will come and bring the whole family,” Mrs Ford said.