Santa Teresa horse races preserve a long-running Indigenous tradition

Indigenous men and women gathered in central Australia for the annual Santa Teresa/Ltyentye Apurte horse races, a community event held on the first weekend of October. The races take place about 70 kilometres south-east of Alice Springs. Riders compete on a dusty track where helmets are optional and heavy stock saddles are used.

Children run across the track between races, while spectators watch from the boundary or from vehicles parked nearby. Raymond Palmer, chair of the Atyenhenge Atherre Aboriginal Corporation, said the amateur meeting had been running since about the 1960s, when many Indigenous people in the region worked as stock workers on cattle stations. Palmer said the event remained important because it had been maintained for generations and would continue.

Walkabout Bore horseman Peter Kenny, who has attended since the early 1990s, said the races were a highlight for the community. Kenny said he learned to ride and handle horses from his father. He continues to breed and prepare horses at Walkabout before bringing them to the annual meeting.

After the races, residents and visitors returned to the community for a free barbecue and an evening dress-up competition. Children wore cowboy clothes, while adults appeared in outfits featuring boots, hats, belts, chaps and whips. Sidney Mahinya, an occupational therapy student on a placement at the local clinic, judged the competition.

Although she had been in Santa Teresa for only two weeks, she said residents had welcomed her and that she would like to return.