Rodeo rider denies drink riding
May 21, 2004

A HORSE'S owner walks into a bar ...

Patriotic ... Drewitt Smith vowed to fight the charges / Pic: Tracee Lea

In a horse tale to give a Digger a good belly laugh, Christopher Brian Drewitt Smith, a stockman from Box Hill, was arrested for drink driving while riding his horse along a Baulkham Hills street on Anzac Day.

Drewitt Smith, a champion rodeo rider and registered ploughman, faced Parramatta Local Court yesterday charged with driving under the influence.

While Magistrate Maxwell Taylor adjourned Drewitt Smith's hearing until July 1, the 30-year-old stands to lose his driver's licence for up to three years if the charge is upheld.

Documents tendered to court said police allegedly observed Mr Drewitt Smith "unable to compose himself in the saddle and hold an upright seated position" while he was riding his horse Meatloaf on April 25.

They allege he "appeared to be unsteady on his feet and smelt strongly of intoxicating liquor" when he dismounted.

Drewitt Smith also had "glazed and slightly bloodshot" eyes and "flushed" skin, according to the police statement.

Outside court, Drewitt Smith vowed to fight the bizarre charge, disputing a police claim that his blood-alcohol reading was in the mid-to-high range.

He said police refused to give him a test to determine his PCA reading.

Instead, he said, his blood-alcohol level was judged according to police observations of his behaviour.

He said riding Meatloaf into the Castle Hill Dawn Service "seemed like a patriotic thing to do".

"My grandfather and my great grandfather served for Australia and I wanted to pay my respects," he said.

He left home at 2am to make the 25km trek into the Dawn Service.

Afterwards, he said he met friends at the Castle Hill RSL about 6:30am, where he said he drank two schooners of beer and two rum and cokes over the next six hours.

He said he left the RSL after midday, riding Meatloaf, and headed along Showground Rd before he was stopped by police just before Kellyville.

"It's un-Australian to arrest a bloke for being patriotic on Anzac Day," he said.

Known as "Cisco" in local rodeo circles, after The San Francisco Kid, Drewitt Smith said he took offence to police claims he was riding his horse unsteadily.

"How are you supposed to get the sun out of your eyes if you don't lean forward on your horse?" he asked.

"I break horses in for a living, so I reckon I can ride one," he said.

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