Equestrian

Despite some major setbacks, life was back on track for this Victorian rider before the unthinkable happened ... Mietta Innes-Irons is a remarkable young woman who has faced more obstacles in her life than anyone should, but still aims for the future ... “I am aiming to get onto the Australian Para Dressage High Performance Squad and qualify for the 2024 Paris Paralympics."

Racing SA is offering those living in the state’s South-East and wanting a career in thoroughbred racing a great opportunity to expand their knowledge ... Multiple Group 1 winning jockey and Racing SA’s industry, development and training officer Clare Lindop will be joined by Racing SA’s Jockey Coach Dean Pettit to host the day which will encourage and support students with the knowledge to progress their career in the Racing Industry.

Pony Club Australia has announced the winners of the 2022 awards.

Carriage driving is the quiet achiever in Australian horse sport. It is the harness answer to eventing ... Showing just how popular the sport is, competitors from five states recently took part in the second annual “battle of the border” level two combined driving event at Mullengandra near Albury.

The Darling Downs is arguably the centre of the Queensland thoroughbred breeding industry with numerous large and small horse studs scattered around the region from Cambooya to Gladfield and from Warwick to Greenmount where rich soil is ideal for growing good horse pasture. The breeding season starts in August and continues through till December with the first foals born in August and mares begin to be served by stallions in September.

Equestrian photographer Felicity Clay is passionate about saving the Australian Brumby and fans of her work can contribute to the cause through the purchase of her annual Brumby calendar. “I've been photographing the Brumbies in the Barmah National Park since 2018,” Felicity said.

Mother and daughter Carly Loughnan and Asha, 12, took part in the Australian Brumby Challenge at Wesburn Park in Gippsland on the weekend ... Asha finished second in a strong field of 19 Brumbies just 120 days out of the wild ... These Brumbies have been caught from the wild by passive trapping, from either Bogong High Plains in Victoria or Kosciuszko National Park or Bago State Forest in NSW.

Tania Hay. Equestrian Tasmania’s Horse of the Year show for 2022 has finally been held. The event is usually in January but due to Covid and flood waters it was postponed four times before it was staged at the magnificent Coal Valley Equestrian Centre at Cambridge.

After Katy Brown notched up her fourth broken bone at the tender age of 10, her mum decided that if she couldn’t buy her daughter a safe pony she had better breed one ... it was the choice of the Highland that set in motion an association that would become a life’s work for the young animal lover – saving livestock breeds facing extinction.

The competition arenas at this year's return of Equitana to Melbourne after four years were filled with some of Australia’s finest horses.

At just 29 years of age, Tom McDermott won his third senior Australian Showjumping title at Boneo Park last weekend ... Showjumping has been Tom’s life. He won his first junior showjumping title at age 12 and looks sure to follow the path of his father, Greg, who represented Australia at the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1990.

Imagine being a talented, horse-loving teen stuck in the middle of a war. Instead of dreaming about representing your country at the Olympic Games, you are helping your family set your horses free in the hope they will survive the bombing. The one thing about horse lovers worldwide is they stick together ...

The Tasmanian horse community has been given a one-month reprieve after being cut off from the mainland following a decision by the operators of the only sea link to the island state, the Spirit of Tasmania, to ban livestock transport ... The decision by TT-Line to ban livestock on the Spirit of Tasmania threw the horse community into chaos and led to some horses missing racing in Melbourne on Cup Day.

When Karen Parrish decided to run an online youngstock show, judged on photos by the noted British judge Gill Wright, the show got entries not only from each Australian state, but from Germany, the US, France, UK and New Zealand. Almost every Mountain and Moorland breed was represented in pure and part-breds, up to three years of age.

Australia's own breed was out in force at the Moss Vale Australian Stock Horse Branch show at the Sugarloaf Equestrian Centre at Cobbitty, NSW. Organiser Jackie Long said the venue cannot be matched. “It is the best place to hold a show,” she said.

Mounted games riders have the late Prince Phillip to thank for the origins of their sport. When Sir Mike Ansell was director of the Horse of the Year Show, the Queen’s husband asked if he could devise a competition for children who could not afford an expensive pony.

Over my life I have come to the conclusion there are two type of people: the “could have, should have, would haves”, and the helpers. The “could have, should have, would haves” are the majority. They would have handled things differently, ie, “you should have done things differently and then you could have not been in the trouble you are in”. They were out in force this week when television stations showed the frantic efforts to save broodmares in the Goulburn Valley floods.

Victoria's annual awards for off-the-track Thoroughbreds and re-trainers have been presented at a luncheon at Werribee Mansion hosted by the program’s organising bodies, Racing Victoria and Equestrian Victoria. The awards for the 2021-22 season included specific acknowledgement for performances in several equestrian disciplines, as well as the people who helped get the horses there.

Rita de Bon is a 15-year-old event rider with dreams of competing at the highest level. Despite being born with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) and battling the disease all through her young life, horses have been part of it. “She is determined,” her mother, Bhakti, said. “And even though at times the CF interferes, she knows what she wants to achieve and continues on.” ... Although her mother said no Thoroughbreds, they did look at one, a 16hh gelding named Puffin and Rita instantly fell in love.

When you’re at the Maldon & Baringhup Agricultural Show this Sunday, you’ll see local farmer Bill McKnight quietly going about his business as ringmaster: he’s in charge of the horse events. It’s not an easy job, with 100 to 140 horses competing in a range of events. At the age of 87, is Bill the oldest ringmaster in Australia?

Today's young show riders are dedicated and work hard at their craft, and at the NSW Horse of the Year show the attention to detail they have was shown in their success ... With three months to go to the National Show Horse championships in December, NSW has chosen a strong group of representatives.

The remarkable Lee family is proof that a love of horses means a healthy and happy lifestyle. Paul and Lyn Lee, and their four daughters Sherrie, Tamara, Brynie and Ebonie have created a show horse training complex at Whittlesea that has built on their already strong success in the very competitive horse world. This week at Royal Melbourne Show, Ebonie, the youngest of the four girls, won the famous Garryowen trophy in its 88th year riding Simone Padoin’s Wynara Signature.