Last week, the 11-year-old Denman rider claimed the Australian eight to 11 years poddy riding champion title at finals held in Tamworth.

He went up against the top 15 junior poddy riders from across the country to win the title.

Luke said he was in a good spot going into the finals but didn’t know he had won until the last day of the three-day finals.

“I knew I had a good chance,” he said.

“I led by 16 points coming into the finals and you can only win a maximum of 20 points.

“The rider behind me on points ended up bucking off in the last round.

“But after the second round I was pretty sure I had it won.”

Luke had three fantastic rides in the finals, which not only wrapped up the Australian championship for him, but also had him finished third in the overall standings for the eight to 11 years poddy ride at the end of the finals.

In addition to his Australian title, Luke also finished at the top of the table in the Junior Central Circuit that takes in central NSW and the Junior Bad Company Circuit, which is for northern NSW competitors.

“He’s pretty much won everything that he could,” Luke’s mum Jillian said.

Riding and rodeos is a passion for the Parkinson family and is one of the reasons why Luke has chosen to jump in the saddle.

“I do it to have fun, meet new friends and because everyone in my family does it,” Luke said.

Luke’s junior cowboy career has so far taken him from one end of NSW to the other plus a trip to Queensland to compete.

The 2011 season saw Luke compete in more than 50 rodeo events, including the poddy ride, barrel racing and break away racing, and he won 24 of them.

Luke practices twice a week, sometimes more, and has big things in sight for his future career.

“I want to go the PRCA [Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association] in America and be an all round cowboy,” he said.