Fran Cleland, The Regional

Fans of the Thoroughbred would have been excited to see more than 200 ex-racehorses competing at the Friends of Werribee Park Horse Trials at all levels last weekend ... The great popularity of horse trials shows that it’s not only the high flyers looking for sporting glory who participate.

When a stud’s open day attracts a crowd big enough to rival a rock concert, you know it’s going to be great. The attention to detail at Future Farms’ open day and sale on Saturday was perfect, as you would expect from internationally successful trainers Kate and Doyle Dertell and their children Kody and Jessica.

The Carriage Driving Ashes – a collaboration between the UK and Australia, with identical competitions held over identical courses in NSW and Wales – has been won by Australia, with five wins to Britain’s three. The event was the brainchild of British driver Julia Liles, who said “sometimes you just have to go a bit maverick to see what happens”.

Endurance riding is strictly policed and unlike young racehorses whose career so often begins at age two, horses must be older than four years before they can compete ... The minimum age of horses at the inaugural FEI Endurance World Championship for Young Horses in Northern Europe was even higher again at eight years.

Naracoorte Hunt and Pony Club took on the big job of hosting Pony Club South Australia’s south-east zone championships. Riders from Beachport, Keith, Kingston, Millicent, Mt Gambier, Naracoorte, Penola and Tintinara took part and competed at different levels of experience in jumping, dressage, novelties and flat riding individually and in teams.

Behind every rider, from the smallest pony club member to the elite competitor at the Olympics, is a person following with a box full of grooming equipment ... the annual FEI Best Groom Award has paid tribute to the heroes behind the scenes ... last year’s winner, Emma Olsson ... works for six-time world driving champion Boyd Exell.

Mr Smith to you by Kerry Taylor is described as a novel based on the true story of Australian jockey Bill Smith – a life lived in secret and that’s pretty right, but there’s so much more to it. Bill Smith was a well-known jockey in the bush area of Queensland for many years in the 1940s and ‘50s. Although nicknamed “Girlie”, he was always thought to be a man until an admission to hospital when aged in his late seventies revealed the truth: Bill Smith was a woman.

One of the longest – and some say toughest – endurance rides in the country was revived this year as a one-off event to mark 100 years of Queensland's Country Women's Association and raise money for charity. The Winton to Longreach Endurance Ride, which was held from 1980 to 1988, covered 220km along the original Cobb and Co route between the two Queensland towns.

Deep in winter is when the hunt clubs gather socially to show off their horses as saddle mounts, working hunters and in hunters’ plates. Barwon Hunt Club held its show last weekend, with some quality horses put forward for Mariece Paine to judge. The show was an opportunity to pay respects to hunting identity Kathleen Cust, who died recently at the age of 78.

Australian carriage drivers are preparing to take on Great Britain in a world-first “stay-at-home international” ... The teams will be led by two equestrian legends; the British team by multiple European and World Champion and Olympian David Broome and Australia by multiple World Champion and World Cup Champion Boyd Exell.