Listed as one of Australia’s Unsung Heroes on the honour roll at the Stockman’s Hall of Fame in Longreach, Queensland, Gunnedah’s Lloyd Bates was the Australian buckjumping champion 10 times.
Lloyd Bates made his name on the rough-and-tumble Australian rodeo circuit in the 1960s.
For almost 20 years he travelled the circuit, winning close to 100 championship events, highlighted by his triumph in the 1965-66 Australian all-round championship – buckjumping, bullriding, bareback riding and bulldogging.
Born in Gunnedah on November 6, 1937, Lloyd was the son of Les and May Bates. He was only nine when he won his first rough riding event championship at the Gunnedah Show – the open bullock ride. He followed this with an open buckjump championship at the Narrabri Show when he was 14 and after that final, he never failed to bring home a ribbon from any of the hundreds of rodeos he contested.
At age 18, he competed in rodeo events at the Sydney Royal Shows, with his most outstanding performance at the 1962 Royal when the All-Round Australia title for his victories in the buckjumping, bullriding, bareback, buckjump and bulldogging.
Lloyd was introduced to the rodeo circuit by his older brother Mel Bates who was already a successful competitor, particularly in the saddle ride.
Legendary rodeo competitor from Gunnedah Lloyd Bates.
Always wearing his trademark green shirt, Lloyd travelled the NSW and Queensland rodeo circuit for two decades and his reputation as a “courageous and skilled rider, and a thorough gentleman of the saddle” was reported in the Bushmen’s Bulletin the year he won the ABCA Australian buckjumping championships. The article described him as one of the most popular competitors on the Australian circuit – he often rode for charity to raise money for a worthy cause
During his memorable career, Lloyd Bates won no fewer than 97 champion ribbons, including the 10 Australian champion bull ride ribbons and a total of 230 ribbons for first, second, and third placings in rodeo and riding events.
The Bates brothers never returned without a ribbon or a trophy whenever they competed where prizes were on offer.
The physical and mental strength of Lloyd Bates was also well documented in the number of times he returned to ride after sustaining injury, earned him a reputation as being ‘one of the toughest men in one of the toughest sports of all.’
Some of the Lloyd Bates’ trophies on display at the Gunnedah Water Tower Museum.
What spectators found even more remarkable, was that Lloyd only weighed 58kg (nine stone) and handled 500kg horses with ease.
The Gunnedah brothers began their careers taming wild stock when most kids their age were content to ride around the backyard on hobby horses.
Mel Bates was considered by many to be the finest saddle bronc rider ever to climb aboard a horse. He rode in an era prior to the impact of the Australian Bushmen’s Carnival, which turned the sport of roughriding into an event with a huge spectator appeal. Mel’s skill in the saddle saw him recognised at one stage as the undisputed Australian champion.
Ironically Lloyd Bates, died not in a rodeo ring but from injuries sustained in the back of a stock float at Moree when he was crushed by a beast he was loading into a stock float.
He had quit buckjump riding five years earlier but he never recovered from the injuries he sustained in that accident and his life ended on April 23, 1975, at the age of 37. His brother Mel was 79 when he died in February 2009.
Some of the trophies won by Lloyd Bates are on display at the Gunnedah Water Tower Museum.
Lloyd’s brother Mel was also a champion rodeo competitor.
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