Bob Holder, the man known as “The Cootamundra Cat,” is a living legend whose story is deeply rooted in the dust of the rodeo arena and the heart of rural New South Wales.
At 94, his passion for the sport hasn’t faded, and his life is a testament to unwavering grit and a love for the cowboy way. “I’ve been Rodeoing for eighty years, and I love every moment of it,” he says, his voice a testament to a life well-lived. He was just 14 years old when he got his start, bending the rules to compete in his first rodeo in Tumut. “I went up there, and in those days, you couldn’t ride until you were 16,” he recalls. “So I got a friend of ours who was going to school, and was pretty good at writing, and he could write a letter. So he wrote a letter and signed my mother’s name that I was 16, so I could ride, and I won it. I won the bronc ride. And I never look back since.”
His father’s influence was a constant force, pushing him to be better, to be tougher. “He had always had horses buck. They’d buck us off occasionally, and he’d say, ‘Get back on him again, boy,’” Bob remembers. It was in those moments, dust on his jeans and a fresh bruise on his arm, that he knew. “I thought, ‘This is my stuff, I want to be a cowboy.’
“I used to claw at the front of them really hard. It was really hard riding them,” he says. The way he rode, with a fierce, clinging grip, earned him a fitting nickname. “They reckon it’s like a big cat trying to claw at the shoulders.” The Cootamundra Cat was born.
Bob’s philosophy on life and rodeo is intertwined. It’s about perseverance and an unyielding spirit. “Horses, people, and rodeo, that keep me going,” he states. “I get up in the morning and I think, well, if I can’t go to the rodeo, I’ll go and do a bit of work on the farm, but if there’s a rodeo on the weekend, I’ll go to it.”
He was a cowboy who never backed down from a challenge. When he travelled to America, he was told not to ride a horse named Meat Hook, a beast so difficult that no one could get a score on him. “They said, ‘Don’t ride him, you’re going home to Australia. Go home like you are, you did well,” Bob recalls. But that wasn’t his way. “I said, ‘I’ve never turned a horse down yet, and I’m not about to.’ I took him out, and he gave me everything he had.” The ride was a triumph, a testament to his grit and the first time an Australian won money in a professional rodeo.
He even rode for royalty. “I rode before the Queen on the 10th of July 1959 at Calgary Rodeo.” He smiles, a twinkle in his eye. “I always said she waved to me. She waved back to the crowd, and I waved back to her. I’m not quite sure if she meant me or not.”
Though rodeo has its good days and bad, he embraces them all. “I got outrun the first year, and I got my foot hooked in the second rope. I should have roped that steer without any doubt because he was a good steer. It shouldn’t have happened, but that’s rodeo.” He knows there’s always another chance to get it right. “Go to another one tomorrow, and it would be a different story.”
Bob has seen rodeo grow in Australia, a sport he believes suits the national character. “Mount Isa rodeo started in 1959, about two or three miles out of town, and it got bigger and bigger and bigger. That’s how it is today,” he says. “It’s the biggest rodeo in Australia, and it would rate with the biggest in American outdoor rodeos. It’s a good rodeo, very well run. They pay big money for the bucking stock to come here, and all the top cowboys of Australia, New Zealand and America mostly get here, because they know they’re good stock and they come here, they can win money.”
He also believes Australians have a natural affinity for the sport. “Australian people are tough for a start. They don’t mind a bit of dirt on them and rodeo is a sport they love because it’s a bit wild, it’s reckless, and they like to see a few boys buck off and a few hurt too I think pretty bad at times, but anyway, to be a rodeo cowboy, you want a bit of gravel in your guts to keep going.”
His philosophy extends beyond the ring. His family is his foundation, his biggest supporters. “Your family, it’s a part of life, your family and your family’s sort of backing you all the way, and you know they are there for you. It’s all a good part of the whole thing. It all makes the rodeo good. Makes any sport good.”
At 94, Bob Holder doesn’t feel old. His secret is simple: “If you mix with young people, you won’t feel old.” He avoids the talk of aches and pains that come with age. “I don’t do any of those things,” he says with a shrug.
His outlook is one of relentless pursuit. “If you want to do something in this world, you’ve got to try and keep trying. Never give up because if you give up, you might as well not start it.” And so, he continues to ride, with the same fierce determination he had at 14. “I’m gonna ride to win. That’s what I do every time, whether I win or lose, I still ride to win.” For Bob, being a cowboy is more than a sport—it’s his identity.
“It means a lot to me. I started to be a cowboy, and I’m a cowboy, and I’ve conquered my sport. In this game, you can never say no, and you never give up. No matter how many times he throws you off, get back on again. You’ll learn to ride, but make sure you’re tough and do not give up.”
– Tully Potts
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