After 40 years in the arena, these two bushies are still hanging off the rails at the local rodeo, and clowning around every once in a while.
Evan Batch, Roma, and Col Grealy, Miles, have been in the rodeo game for quite a while but there's nowhere they'd rather be than in amongst the dust and some bad-tempered bulls.
Mr Batch said the pair had attended many rodeos around the circuit over the years, first as competitors, and then as bullfighters and clowns.
"Col and I have been rodeoing for a long time," he said.
"I was about 18 when I started so I've been doing it for about 37 years.
"There's been a lot of miles and a lot of rodeos."
Mr Batch won a bullock riding title in 1988, while the big bulls were more to Mr Grealy's liking.
"I used to ride because that was just something that you do in the bush and I just loved it," Mr Batch said.
Having never played a game of footy in his life, Mr Batch hailed rodeo as "the real bushman's sport," saying that it was an integral part of rural communities.
Mr Grealy agreed, saying that rodeo was a way of life for country people.
"My life was catching scrub bulls, droving cattle and rodeo," he said.
After calling his retirement a couple of years ago, Mr Grealy decided to bring back the chaps when he was asked to return to Chinchilla last year.
"I've been doing this since 1980, and I thought I'd retired, but they asked me to come back," he said.
"I love the action and the atmosphere, and if you do a good job, you get acknowledged for it."
Mr Grealy noted the shift in clowning over the years, saying it had transitioned to focus more on safety and less on entertainment.
"As you can see, it's all changed now," he said.
"Years ago we used to be bullfighters and do the comedy at the same time, doing different things to make the crowd laugh.
"They've got really good, top bull fighters there now and they're there for protection, like we used to do, but without the comedy.
"They don't paint themselves anymore and they don't don't dress up as much, so if you saw them around you wouldn't actually know they were clowns."
These veterans however, choose to take a traditional approach and commit to the whole clowning experience, donning full facepaint and creative costumes, much to the delight of the crowds.
Mr Batch's emu costume, affectionately known as Annie, made her debut at the Chinchilla rodeo last week and received a very warm reception, particularly from the young rodeo fans.
Although their duties have been reduced to a few smaller acts, Mr Batch said he still loved being a part of the rodeo.
"It's a good social outing, even though I'm probably too old for those now," he joked.
"You see a lot of old rodeo people, old fellas that you've known for years and years but haven't seen for a while, so it's great in that way."
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