AELEC | |
Location | New England Highway, Tamworth, New South Wales |
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Coordinates | 31°8′5″S150°55′18″E / 31.13472°S 150.92167°E Coordinates: 31°8′5″S150°55′18″E / 31.13472°S 150.92167°E |
Owner | Tamworth Regional Council |
Operator | Tamworth Regional Council |
Capacity | Total: 4,020 |
Construction | |
Broke ground | June 2007 |
Opened | 2008 |
Construction cost | A$30 million |
Architect | Timothy Court & Company |
Website | |
Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre (AELEC) Homepage |
The Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre (AELEC) is a multi building and arena complex that was designed for equine usage. It has two indoor arenas, stabling, plus an education and training building, which is located on the New England Highway approximately five kilometres south of the Tamworth Central Business District in the suburb of Hillvue.
The centre, designed by architects Timothy Court and Company and built by National Buildplan presents a landmark for New England Highway traffic. This complex is a multi-level, multipurpose livestock centre with a total seating capacity of 4,020 and is the biggest of its kind in the southern hemisphere. AELEC can be used in its entirety or parts thereof depending on the participants’ requirements.
Tamworth is recognised as the "National Equine Capital of Australia" because of the high volume of equine events held in the city, the presence of several equine organisation offices and many nearby breeding and training establishments. [1]
The New South Wales Government approved the Tamworth Regional Council business plan in May 2007 that provided for the centre’s construction. TRC contributed A$20 million with council cash, loans and reserves. The Australian Federal Government contributed $6.6 million and State government made grants of $3.65 million. [2] Belmore Engineering of Tamworth won the tender worth about $350,000 for the cattle yard roofing and the campdrafting judge's tower.
Work commenced on the 22 ha site in June 2007 by the National Buildplan Group of Armidale who won the tender to build it. This centre is the biggest ever construction undertaken by Tamworth Regional Council on behalf of its city and community and is a significant landmark there.
The main arena, domed sale ring and six stable buildings incorporate unique, post-tensioned steel truss technology designed by the project's Sydney based structural engineer S2 Corporation, is believed to be a first for equine centres on the world.
The complex was opened to the public on Sunday 21 September 2008 as part of a community open day from 12 noon to 5 pm. About 8,000 to 9,000 people from across the state visited the centre.
Additional seating is planned for up to 1,500 more on the mezzanine level in Stage II. Stabling will be increased to 700 stalls in stage II. The stadium will be extended to include a restaurant and an exhibition hall for a heritage hall of fame. [3] This will be the future site for the annual Tamworth Pastoral & Agricultural Show. [4]
On 23 October 2008 the NSW Chapter of the Australian Property Institute voted the Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre as the leading local government project in New South Wales (NSW) in this year. [5]
The 2010 Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Finals were held over two nights at the Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre, with five top-ranked professional bull riders from the United States and 25 of Australia’s best bull riders contesting the event. [6]
On 21 February 2009 the Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre was officially opened by the NSW Governor, Marie Bashir, before a sell-out crowd of almost 3,500 people. Professor Bashir commented that the complex takes your breath away and Tony Windsor, Independent MP for New England, stated that AELEC could be compared to the Sydney Opera House. [7] The audience was entertained by top performances of skill during the opening night. The Gomeroi Dance Troupe performed along with Mark Atkins playing his didgeridoo. Colin Friels recited "The Man from Snowy River", while a mob of 20 horses and stockmen galloped around the arena with their stockwhips cracking. [8] Other performances included a display by pony club members of the 30 Zone area. The charge of Beersheba was re-created by 52 members of Light Horse troops from NSW and Queensland. A troop of 12 horsemen appeared as the Electric Horsemen to give an unusual light display. [9] Heath and Rozzie Ryan gave dressage displays with their stallions and a liberty horse. Six of Australia's best horse riding stunts riders performed, including a blindfolded girl who made a circuit of the arena, without a lunge rein. Dan James then showed the audience, in his acts, why he is the 2008 Australian Horseman of the Year. [10]
The site is more than 72 hectares in total. Over 300 trees have been planted and even more shrubs have been installed. The perimeter of the complex is in the shape of a horseshoe.
Over 1,000 workers were employed on the project with up to 100 working on the site on some days.
The Tamworth Regional Council has spent more than $1.2 million in extending recycled water for use in the Longyard precinct and harvesting runoff water from the complex buildings.
The biggest event scheduled in 2008 was the nine-day 35th National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) ANZ Futurity which featured over $500,000 in the prize pool. The first rodeo held in the AELEC was run by the ABCRA.
Other uses for the centre include:
The bovine and equine industries have strongly supported use of the AELEC complex with bookings for 250 days of the first year of its operation. [11] Alpaca and goat events have also been held, or are scheduled to take place here.
Dressage is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined by the International Equestrian Federation, dressage is described as "the highest expression of horse training" where "horse and rider are expected to perform from memory a series of predetermined movements."
Rodeo is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States, western Canada, and northern Mexico. Today, it is a sporting event that involves horses and other livestock, designed to test the skill and speed of the cowboys and cowgirls. American-style professional rodeos generally comprise the following events: tie-down roping, team roping, steer wrestling, saddle bronc riding, bareback bronc riding, bull riding and barrel racing. The events are divided into two basic categories: the rough stock events and the timed events. Depending on sanctioning organization and region, other events such as breakaway roping, goat tying, and pole bending may also be a part of some rodeos. The "world's first public cowboy contest" was held on July 4, 1883, in Pecos, Texas, between cattle driver Trav Windham and roper Morg Livingston.
Tamworth is a city and administrative centre of the north-western region of New South Wales, Australia. Situated on the Peel River within the local government area of the Tamworth Regional Council, it is the largest and most populated city in the region, with a population of 63,920 in 2021, making it the second largest inland city in New South Wales. Tamworth is 318 km (198 mi) from the Queensland border and is located almost midway between Brisbane and Sydney.
New England is a vaguely defined region in the north of the state of New South Wales, Australia, about 60 km inland from the Tasman Sea. The area includes the Northern Tablelands and the North West Slopes regions. As of 2006, New England had a population of 202,160, with over a quarter of the people living in the area of Tamworth Regional Council.
Kentucky Horse Park is a working horse farm, international equestrian competition venue, and an educational theme park opened in 1978 in Lexington, Kentucky. It is located off Kentucky State Highway 1973 and Interstate 75, at Exit 120, in northern Fayette County in the United States. The equestrian facility is a 1,224-acre (4.95 km2) park dedicated to "man's relationship with the horse." Open to the public, the park has a twice daily Horses of the World Show, showcasing both common and rare horses from around the globe. The horses are ridden in authentic costume. Each year the park is host to a number of special events and horse shows.
Walcha is a town at the south-eastern edge of the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia.
Rodeos have long been a popular competitor and spectator sport in Australia, but were not run on an organised basis until the 1880s.
Campdrafting is a unique Australian sport involving a horse and rider working cattle. The riding style is Australian stock, somewhat akin to American Western riding and the event is similar to the American stock horse events such as cutting, working cow horse, team penning, and ranch sorting.
Practical Horseman is an American equestrian magazine that focuses on English-style riding, most notably hunter/jumpers as well as dressage and eventing.
Moonbi is a village situated on the New England Highway 20 kilometres north of Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia. It is nestled at the foot of the Moonbi Range and is part of the Tamworth Regional Council local government area. Moonbi is located a few kilometres to the north of the town of Kootingal. At the 2006 census, Moonbi had a population of 357 people.
Cutting is a western-style equestrian competition in which a horse and rider work together before a judge or panel of judges to demonstrate the horse's athleticism and ability to handle cattle. Modern competition utilizes a 2+1⁄2 minute performance, called a "run." Each contestant is assisted by four helpers: two are designated as turnback riders, who help to keep cattle from running off to the back of the arena, the other two are designated as herd holders to keep the cattle bunched together and prevent potential strays from escaping into the work area. Cutting cattle are typically young steers and heifers that customarily range in size from 400 to 650 lb. They usually are of Angus or Hereford lineage though may be a mix of crossbred beef cattle, including Charolais or Brahman lineage.
The Singapore Turf Club was founded in 1842 as the Singapore Sporting Club to operate the Serangoon Road Race Course at Farrer Park Field. It is the only horse-racing club in Singapore and is part of the Malayan Racing Association. The first race was held on 23 February 1843 with a prize money of $150.
Equestrian competitions at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics were held from 9 August to 21 August at the Hong Kong Sports Institute and Sheung Yue River in Hong Kong. It was the second time that the equestrian events were hosted by a member of the IOC other than the member hosting the main games. Unlike 1956, however, the equestrian events were part of the main games, and were held within the same period.
An outbreak of equine influenza (EI) in Australia was confirmed by the Department of Primary Industries on 24 August 2007 in Sydney. Also known as "horse flu" and "A1 influenza", the rapid outbreak was of the Influenza A virus strain of subtype H3N8. While the virus is highly contagious, it rarely kills adult horses but the performance of thoroughbred racing horses can be affected for several weeks. It can be fatal to young foals and debilitated horses.
St Paul's College is a coeducational day and boarding school providing secondary schooling in Walla Walla, New South Wales, Australia. It is a member school of Lutheran Education Australia, a network of 85 schools and 42 kindergarten/early childhood centres educating approximately 38,000 students Australia wide, and it forms part of the Riverina group of Lutheran schools together with Lutheran Primary School Wagga Wagga, St Paul's Lutheran Primary School Henty, St John's Primary School Jindera and Victory Lutheran College Wodonga (Victoria).
Radium was an outstanding Australian bred campdrafter and very influential ancestor of Australian Stock Horses. He was a bay stallion bred by Donald Beaton of Levedale, Gloucester, New South Wales. This son of the outstanding campdrafter, Cecil from Black Bess by Hukatere (1882) was foaled on 11 November 1918. Beaton took great care in the breeding of his horses requiring horses with ability and stamina, for which he culled heavily. Radium’s sire, Cecil was so successful that in 1913, his owner, Arch Simpson was asked to leave his champion campdrafter at home in order that other competitors had a chance to win the campdrafting event at Geary’s Flat Bushman’s Carnival.
A riding hall, indoor arena, indoor school, or indoor ring is a building that is specially designed for indoor horse riding. Smaller, private buildings contain only space for riding, while larger commercial facilities contain a "ring" or "arena" within a larger building as exclusively for equestrian use, but may also incorporate additional facilities for spectators or stabling of horses.
Queensland State Equestrian Centre is an equestrian sport venue located in Caboolture, Brisbane, Australia. It was opened in September 2011.
Townsville Showground is a heritage-listed showground at 72-104 Ingham Road, West End, City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 16 October 2008.
The Big Stable Newmarket is a heritage-listed former Aboriginal land, farm stables, residence, hotel, factory and detention centre and now stables at 29-39 Young Street in the Sydney suburb of Randwick in the City of Randwick local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It is also known as Cranbrook Stables;. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.