Wagga’s Shane McKenzie has joined forces with George Lindley and Kelly Hopkins to win the NSW Team Yarding Challenge at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

“We grew up in families who were drovers, so horses and cattle have been big parts of our lives,” said Shane, who also works at the Wagga Livestock Marketing Centre.

Team yarding involves three people on horseback working with 21 head of cattle – each with a coloured ribbon – in a yard.

“There are seven different colour combinations,” Shane said.

“The judge calls out a colour and the object is to cut out those three and put them in a yard in the quickest time.

“It’s basic stock sense ... if you read the cattle well and put yourself in the right spot, you can make it easy.

“But some days it can come down to sheer luck depending on the cattle – you might do it in a really quick time or not get them at all.”

The three earned the right to compete at the Sydney Royal Easter Show by winning the Riverina series.

“You need to be able to work well together and that’s what has been an advatange for our team,” Shane said.