Toowoomba's Royal Show success - Queensland Country Life

Holding onto their hats at the Toowoomba Royal Show are St George's Angus Haymes, 9, Olivia Haymes, 4, Summer Haymes, 11, Brooke Grieve, 15, Toogoolawah, and front, Hunter Haymes, 7, St George, who were showing cattle at the show for RiverRun Charolais, Linville.

IT was lights, cameras and plenty action at this year's annual Toowoomba Royal Show held over three huge days last week.

Crowds defied the windy and damp conditions to pack out the Toowoomba Showgrounds for the Australia's largest regional royal show.

Delighting crowds for 149 years, the Toowoomba Show has always been a benchmark for some of the finest exhibits, livestock and entertainment within the Queensland show circuit.

Josh Milton, Milton Park Suffolk and White Suffolk Stud, Allora, with his champion champion white Suffolk ram, and Chris Rubie, Sovereign Poll Dorsets, Oakey, with his champion Poll Dorset ewe. Click on this image to see more photos in our online gallery.

Numbers were at their strongest in the horse rings with just under 4000 entries taken for the showjumping and riding categories, equating to about 800 horses and 400-500 riders.

The novice, Galloway, hack, riding and breed classes were strongly supported by both the local contingent of riders and visiting competitors as well as hefty showjumping classes which ran for the show's entirety.

Ringmaster Catherine James (pictured), in her 12th year of charge, said the quality of horses and riders this year was on par with that of any other major show in the country.

"We have seen an outstanding quality of horses and riders this year, and the quality of Toowoomba's line-up would be equal to any royal show in Australia," she said.

"Many people have travelled travel long distances especially to compete at Toowoomba, from Far North Queensland to southern NSW, and this is definitely one of the better shows."

Catherine currently lives in Toowoomba but was raised in Condamine, and competed in all shows on the western Queensland circuit, so she has plenty of experience in the show ring.

Each year, she handpicks the judges based on their international level of judging and competing experience, and many travelled from interstate to take part, as well as the showjumping course builder from New Zealand.

Other highlights of this year's Toowoomba's action-packed show included the entertainment lineup of the Jet-Ski Pirates, Noah's Thoroughbred pig racing, the reptile shows, the RASQ Outback Riders, Eljay Driessen's trial bikes stunt show, the Toowoomba City Cheerleaders, Queensland Woodchop Championships, Tastes of Queensland produce display, and Toowoomba's largest ever seen fireworks display.

• Read more in Queensland Country Life, on sale every Thursday.