Fran Cleland, The Regional

With the dust now settled on the Royal Adelaide Show for 2025, what stands out when taking a closer look at the winners is the amount of new talent that has progressed quickly to the top of the lineups.

Experienced event rider Delwyn Ogilvy and her current mount, Walter, are proving that in the sport of equestrian, age is just a number. Walter, a Thoroughbred who raced as Bonny Ezra, only came off-the- track about eight months ago after 56 starts and winning more than $500,000 in prize money.

Winter is the time of year when many hug their fireplaces with a book and warm lap rug but it’s also when breeders of horses and ponies like to brave the cool breezes and join together at shows to compare their youngstock. There were all sizes, breeds and colours at the NSW All Breeds Foal, Youngstock, Winter Hack, Hunter and Newcomer Show at Hawkesbury, with Buckskins well to the fore in the Welsh rings.

The Melbourne International Three-Day Event at Werribee has again delivered a long weekend of highlights in spades. With a blast of winter weather adding to the challenges of the event, riders who finished in the placings across all classes deserved every inch of the accolades, with many combinations not making it through the cross country course due to the wet and muddy conditions.

There's an old saying, "he's got a good eye for a horse". It means someone is skilled at recognising all-round quality and that undefinable “something” that is a combination of conformation, temperament and suitability for a specific purpose, such as racing or riding. Greg Gerry and Darren Telford, who run Whitmere Stud, certainly know how to do that.

Just under 50 competitors from across Australia and New Zealand gathered at Longwood in Victoria over Easter for the 2025 Australian Combined Driving Championships. The event was hosted by the Longwood Carriage Driving Club on behalf of the Australian Carriage Driving Society and featured some of the best driving talent in the country.

The Riddells Creek Pony Club Easter Horse Trials, held at Candlebark in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges, is always one of the most popular events of the season. Established in January 1954, the club is one of the seven founding members of the Pony Club Association of Victoria and has a long history of running quality events for pony club and open riders that want to train young horses over good courses.

You have to admire an agricultural show that has been around since before the telegraph was connected. Crookwell in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales held its first show in 1879 and 146 years later it is still a showcase for the state’s finest horses.

Croydon is one of the state’s classic old agricultural shows. It has had three homes, first in the old Croydon sports ground, then for a while at the Royal Melbourne Showground and lately at the Yarra Glen Pony Club ground. After hearing the forecast for extremely hot weather for the weekend, the Croydon committee discussed how to proceed with the show.

Spring is in the air and with the Olympic dressage watched and rewatched, inspiration has flourished. New, young horses and ponies are out and about in the dressage arenas all around the country. Boneo Park’s August competition held over two days had it all.