Men see red as the women dominate on quad bikes

It was female domination this morning as the eight Rural Catch contestants put their quad bike skills to the test in the Suzuki ATV Quad Bike Challenge.

First up was former “gumboot girl” 28-year-old Eira Lloyd-Forrest of Geraldine who called herself “Big Red” and thought she needed to enter this year to show the boys up.

“I reckon I’ve backed enough trailers in my day,” said Lloyd-Forrest, whose ideal date would include hunting, horse-riding and some banter.

This is the first year for the Rural Catch, formerly known as the Rural Bachelor, which has been a fixture on the Fieldays calendar for the past 13 years. The competition will see four men and four women battle it out for a prize pool worth $20,000 and the coveted Golden Gumboot trophy.

With crowd interaction, safety and skills the main points the judges were looking for as part of the Suzuki Challenge, the contestants were looking to impress and hopefully take home the Suzuki King quad bike as part of the overall winner’s package.

Mairi Whittle, a shepherd from Taihape, admitted backing trailers wasn’t her strength so that’s partly what she would be looking for in a prospective husband, drawing chuckles from the crowd.

Renae Flett was the last contestant of the day as she braved the course with two broken fingers, ending on an impressively clean round.

“The quad would look good on the farm, match the cows,” said Flett, a sole contract milker who spends her days milking cows, riding horses and doing farm maintenance.

Lloyd-Forrest was announced the  winner after a close, very muddy competition, with the judges impressed by her calm and steady nature.

The Rural Catch continues over the course of the Fieldays with the winner announced on Saturday.