18 May 2026 6 min read Adventure

"Caber tossing isn't just for men" – meet the ladies who launch

Gayle Ritchie heads to Pitlochry to meet the women proving that they can compete in the Highland Games’ heavy events... just don’t ask if they’re there for the dancing!

Rebecca Maeule is looking to encourage more women to try caber tossing.

WHEN Rebecca Maeule tells people she competes at Scottish Highland Games, people often get the wrong idea.

“They often say: ‘Are you doing the dancing?’” she laughs.

The 43-year-old takes great satisfaction in informing people she won’t be performing any flings, reels or sashaying with swords – she’ll be tossing 15ft cabers.

“I mean, come on, do I look like a dancer?" she adds. "I wear a kilt, but I won’t be dressing up in lacy blouses with ruffled sleeves."

Rebecca, a fruit farm manager who lives near Errol in Perthshire, got her first taste  of the Scottish Highland Games circuit in 2019, and she’s been hooked on throwing heavy things – cabers, shot puts, hammers and weighted balls and chains – ever since.

Rebecca wearing a kilt and holding a caber upright with her hands. — Rebecca first got "the bug" for the sport in 2019.

She is among a growing community of women across the country who are passionate about the unique celebration of Scottish culture and keen to break down stereotypes about “hefty lasses” and any perceived barriers to women hoping to take part.

And, of course, because the caber toss is regarded as the most thrilling and iconic event of any Highland Games, they love it the best.

“It’s such great fun,” Rebecca, who moved from Germany to Scotland in 2002, says. “And the caber really IS the Highland Games."

What is caber tossing?

Essentially, competitors throw a large tapered wooden pole – usually made from larch – weighing around 36kg (80 lbs), and between about 14 and 20 feet in length.

While an extreme feat, Rebecca says it does not take a special kind of woman.

“We have women of all shapes and sizes, some quite slight, who do a great job," Rebecca explains. "It’s about technique rather than being bulky and muscular."

A man in a kilt tossing a caber at The Atholl Gathering. — Tossing the caber is a key event at many Highland Games, such as The Atholl Gathering.

It’s a common misconception that the aim is to throw the caber as far as possible.

However, the goal is not distance, but precision and technique. It is a test of accuracy, with competitors lifting the caber upright, cradling it in their hands and running forward to toss it so that it “flips” in the air and lands on the opposite end.

Points are awarded for the straightest flips, and the winner is the person with the toss closest to a coveted “12 o’clock” landing.

Learning the ropes (and logs)

Rebecca Maeule tossing a caber while wearing a kilt. — Rebecca participates in over a dozen events some years.

It’s been seven years since Rebecca got the caber bug, having joined a training weekend for ladies ahead of Blairgowrie Highland Games. “I took part on Friday and Saturday and was then asked to throw at the games on the Sunday,” Rebecca recalls. “I had less than 12 hours to find a kilt and all the shops were shut.

She was going to compete the following year, but then Covid hit in 2020, delaying her first competitions until 2022.

Since, Rebecca has competed in dozens of games, including Ceres, Inverness, Dornoch, John o’ Groats, Blairgowrie, North Berwick, and Pitlochry.

A woman lifts one of the reinforced concrete spheres known as The Ardblair Stones at the Blairgowrie & Rattray Highland Games.

“The games take us all over Scotland," she says.

"The camaraderie and sense of community, support and friendship is brilliant. I’m still a newbie learning the techniques for each event so it’s good to learn from others."

Rebecca says she enjoys training with other women as well, so they can give each other feedback to improve their technique.

Yet, one issue is the lack of access to train for caber tossing.

"While most of us women have our own training equipment at home – shot puts and so on – many of us don’t have cabers," Rebecca says.

"Sadly, nobody’s invented a fold-up caber yet, so we don’t get much opportunity to train, apart from when we come along to places like Pitlochry.”

From one “bad-ass” throw to a growing women’s field

Ruadh McIntosh in a kilt holding a shot put. — Ruadh McIntosh helps organise Pitlochry Highland Games heavy events but competes, too.

Fellow female Highland Games competitor Ruadh McIntosh, 35, was inspired to take up caber tossing after she watched Magda Ciarkowska throwing men’s equipment at Pitlochry Highland Games in 2022.

“I just thought she was so bad-ass," Ruadh, based in Lasswade in Midlothian, recalls.

"It was originally the promise of £20 and a nip of whisky that got me on board," she laughs. "In 2022, when there were no dedicated ladies events, Magda turned up, entered the men’s open and threw all their heavy equipment. It was amazing."

Ruadh helps run the heavy events at Pitlochry Highland Games with her uncle.

“I spoke to my uncle to see if we could run a ladies event," she adds. "We have been rounding up more competitors ever since, and in 2023, for the first time, Pitlochry ran its own ladies event.”

Power, precision, and pushing for change

Laura Barber demonstrates the hammer throw during a Highland Games practice session at Recreation Park in Pitlochry. — Laura Barber demonstrates the hammer throw during at Recreation Park in Pitlochry.

Laura Barber, 31, is looking forward to her second season of competing.

Originally from Winnipeg in Canada, Glasgow-based Laura has been involved in Highland Games since she joined a training day in Braemar last year.

“I went fully Scottish," Laura, who works in the whisky industry for John Dewar and Sons, says with a laugh.

She says that, while there’s a “base amount” of strength that goes into caber tossing, it’s largely about technique.

“On a windy day or on slippery ground, it can pull you,” she describes. “But you don’t need to be Scotland’s strongest woman to caber throw.

“Once you have the technique of where to place your feet and how to get down low into the ground to pick it up, then technique really takes over.

“You can make a lot of weight move just by using technique and physics. Balance, timing and coordination are really important."

Building a future for women in heavy events

Rebecca throwing a shot put while wearing a kilt. — Rebecca and other women have managed to get over 20 Highland Games events to run ladies' sections.

Rebecca and her fellow female competitors are on a mission to get Highland Games organisers to include a ladies section, which would mean they could use cabers and other equipment better suited to them, such as lower-weight cabers.

“We’ve always had the option of throwing with men, but with equipment that’s double the weight,” Rebecca explains. “So we’re contacting games asking if they want to host ladies.

"In 2022, there was just a handful of ladies’ games on the calendar, and now, after our efforts, there are about 22."

Rebecca hopes the changes will inspire more women to join in.

“I absolutely encourage women of all shapes and sizes to have a go at throwing," she adds. "It makes you feel so powerful and there’s a huge buzz.”

Three caber logs sitting in grass. — Being part of the community matters as much the sport to many women.

On top of the buzz of competing, one thing Rebecca has loved to find is the sense of community among women.

"We just love the social aspect," she says. "You meet like-minded people from all over the world. There are maybe 10 to 12 women on the circuit in Scotland – those we’d call regulars – and maybe 22 in the community.

"We also see Americans competing in the games, making it part of their summer holidays, and sometimes a few Paralympians and powerlifters."

You can find a list of Highland Games across Scotland in the Royal Scottish Highland Games Association's calendar of over 60 events happening this year.

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