A protester at the Urenui Rodeo in north Taranaki earlier this month filmed a rider wrestling a steer for too long. The Ministry for Primary Industries confirmed a breach of the welfare code, but said no offence was committed.

New Zealand's national rodeo body has acknowledged processes need to change after a rider was filmed wrestling a steer at a Taranaki event for longer than allowed.

A video provided by a New Plymouth district councillor, which was captured at the Urenui Rodeo at around 11am on Saturday, showed a steer wrestling event go for 12 seconds longer than it should have.

New Zealand Rodeo Cowboys Association president Lyal​ Cocks was at the rodeo. He said the event that was filmed obviously breached the code of welfare, and was discussed afterward.

"It's very rare - that doesn't make it right - we'll make steps to make sure it doesn't happen," Cocks said. "We've got to get a better process."

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Steer wrestling sees a rider on a horse chase a steer, drop on to it and wrestle it to the ground.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) code of welfare for rodeos states the steer may only be wrestled for 30 seconds from the time it leaves the chute.

The video from the Urenui Rodeo shows the rider let go of the steer at 42 seconds. On Monday MPI said it was investigating the breach.

Supplied A still from the video captured at the Urenui Rodeo on Saturday, which showed a steer wrestling event go on for too long.

Cocks said this was the first time in a long time that he'd seen the event go over 30 seconds.

"The average time is eight seconds so it's never been an issue."

He said the blame didn't fall on the commentator, but the time should have been "transmitted quicker".

There are a number of rodeo events where time was monitored more closely and a buzzer automatically went, but steer wrestling wasn't one of them.

"I want to bring that in for all the other time restriction [events]."

All animals were checked before and after each event by a veterinarian, and there were no injuries at the Urenui Rodeo, he said.

Cocks added he personally checked on the steer at the centre of the time violation.

"There was no injury or distress.

"It came off best,"

In a media release sent on Tuesday by animal rights association Safe, spokesperson Will Appelbe​ said steer wrestling was "obviously cruel by any measure".

"The rodeo code of welfare allows organisers to conduct a lot of animal cruelty, and yet they still can't stick to the minimum standards," he said.

"If rodeo organisers can't meet the minimum standards, their social license to operate should be revoked."

Organisers of the Urenui Rodeo have been approached for comment.