Chase Berry and Bailey Craig are not just good mates, they’re also some of Australia’s most talented young bull riders in their age.
The Gunnedah pair is currently ranked in the top-five in the country on the Australian Bushmen’s Campdraft & Rodeo Association junior mini bull standings.
Chase, who was born with only one kidney, lives and breathes for bull riding.
“He’s just got the bug for it,” Chase’s dad Matt said.
“He eats and sleeps for bull riding.
“Ever since he was a baby, being a cowboy has been his dream.”
The St Xavier’s Primary School student from Gunnedah has been riding bulls for only about 12 months but is already a major title winner.
Chase took out top points score at the 2024 Coonamble Rodeo and Campdraft 8-11 years mini bulls division – one year to the day since his debut ride at the same event.
Riding a beast named ‘Ripcord’, Chase held on to take out the win.
He recently took his bull riding interstate to contest the northern run in far north Queensland where he placed second at Eureka Creek.
Young Chase is also a talented rugby league player and one day mused to his father if his future career could involve “riding bulls on Saturday night and playing NRL on Sunday” – an exciting career prospect for a nine-year-old if there was ever one.
Helping guide Chase through bull riding fundamentals is mentor and coach, Josh Birks.
“He’s one of the best PBR bull fighters in Australia in my opinion,” Matt said.
Chase often makes the long car trips south for his bull riding training and is also a regular at junior coaching clinics in Tamworth.
“We’re often travelling all over the country,” Matt said.
It is a busy schedule but one the Berry family wouldn’t trade for anything – especially with such a family-orientated bull riding community.
“I’ve never been involved with an individual sport that is so team-oriented,” he said.
Chase’s good mate Bailey also has his eyes on the elite ranks of the professional bull riding circuit.
“He wants to make it to the top, he’s told me he wants to be a PBR bull rider,” Bailey dad, Jay said.
Bailey is currently ranked number four in the country on the ABCRA standings, a remarkable achievement considering the 10-year-old has been bull riding for only 15 months.
Just like his mate Chase, Bailey’s intertest in bull riding also started from a young age.
“He’s had his heart set on doing this since he was two years old,” Jay said.
“I picked him from pre school one day and he made it clear he was going to be a bull rider.”
Also spurring Bailey’s motivation to ride was his dad’s involvement in rodeo.
“I was bronc rider, although he never knew anything about my career it except from photos, but he’s on the right path to achieve a lot more than me,” he added.
Jay said although the long hours on the road for Bailey’s sport can be tough, it was all worth for the friendships forged in bull riding and support they receive from their mates.
“It’s big but my father made it clear he did it for me, so I won’t stop for [Bailey],” he said.
