The rodeo will return to Echuca on February 25, the first time the event will be held here in at least 15 years.
Mr Oliver, an Echuca local, said he was looking forward to participating in front of his home crowd.
“It’ll be a fair bit of pressure on, competing in front of the home crowd. You always want to try and do well,” he said.
“It’s pretty good to be able to do it back home. There hasn’t been a rodeo here for a long time, so it will be good for the town.
Mr Oliver competes in saddle bronc riding, one of the most historic rodeo events.
“I’ve always just been a saddle bronc rider ... it’s just what I like, that’s just what I’ve always done,” Oliver said.
“The adrenalin rush is pretty good, and when you get in time with the horse it’s pretty magnificent to be up on top of it and be in time with them.”
Oliver competed in the Australian Professional Rodeo Association National Finals Rodeo last month, held over two weekends in Chiltern and Alexandra, with only the season’s top 15 riders for each event qualifying for the rodeo.
Mr Oliver said he had a mixed performance in the finals, but he added that it was still good to be able to qualify and compete.
“We got a couple rode and got a few placings and moved up the ladder a little bit for the end of the season, now we start again and work towards this year’s finals,” he said.
After the COVID-19 pandemic impacted much of last season, Mr Oliver said he was keen to get back into the swing of things.
“Last year down here in Victoria there probably wasn’t as many [rodeos] as there could have been, but hopefully now that things are sort of starting to get a bit better, we’re going to get more shows back on the road again, it will be really good.
Mr Oliver has competed in rodeo events for over a decade, and he remembers first getting hooked on the sport as a youngster.
“I went to this practice day and had a go and thought, ‘that’s me, I’m into this’,” he said. “I couldn’t not go, so I’ve got to go everywhere now.”
The Echuca Pro Rodeo will be held on Friday, February 25, at Rotary Park at Rose St, Echuca. Tickets are available at www.m5rodeo.com.au
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