Eight seconds will seem a lifetime for cowboys riding 850kg bulls at the Outram Rodeo on Friday.
Bull contractor Dan Nichol says the 25 bucking bulls he provides for the open section of the rodeo are re-charged and ready for action.
Despite lounging in pasture for the past month, the bulls have not become complacent since their last rodeo outing.
''They know what the job is.''
Among the most ominous Brahman-cross bulls are the beasts Party Time and Bones.
Cowboys have stayed on Bones for eight seconds just twice in 15 attempts.
And Party Time had been ridden only once in 20 attempts, he said.
Also ready to wreak havoc in Outram is King Kong, who broke a cowboy's arm in three places at Omarama on December 28.
Up and coming bulls to watch were Crikey, Acky and Border Patrol.
The 3- and 4-year-old bulls were showing ''real potential''.
''Real athleticism and the right attitude.
''They're thinking, they're alert and they're active,'' he said.
Those traits were what a cowboy wanted from a bull in order to score plenty of points from the judges.
''Cowboys like a bull that will spin just outside the gate. That's the ideal bull.''
His experienced 10-year-old bull Bruno had helped many cowboys climb the points ladder and could be retired at the end of the year, he said.
Cowboys had ridden ''trusted and reliable'' Bruno 10 times in 50 attempts.
''He's a consistent bull and they know what he is going to do.''
Fred Doherty, of the Outram Rodeo Club, said the rodeo had been held on his family's 100ha sheep and beef farm for the past 53 years.
The rodeo was at the ''tail end'' of the national rodeo circuit with the finals being held in Waikato on February 21.
The cowboys had been ''chasing points'' to make the finals since Boxing Day, he said.
''The best contestants in New Zealand will be here and we are fortunate to have some of the best bucking stock down this end of the country.
"So if you want to see some great rodeo action, this is the place to be.''
He had attended more than 40 Outram rodeos since the club approached his grandfather to use a paddock to run the event.
An enduring moment was witnessing cowboy Rodney Ruxton ride bucking bronco Scalpel bareback about eight years ago.
''He was the best bare back rider New Zealand has ever produced and one of the best bucking horses we've ever produced.''
As the cowboys were randomly paired with stock, often the best riders did not get matched with the best animals.
''But he got matched up with Scalpel and, man, it was poetry in motion to watch, it was just incredible ... and Rodney did the job and won the event.''
The rodeo grounds have a new crushed lime rock base and steel stockyards.
