Equestrian

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.

Despite the best attempts of his international rivals, Australian carriage driver Boyd Exell kept a cool head during a soaking final cones round to win a decisive sixth individual FEI Driving four-in-hand World Championship in Italy. It leaves his unbroken reign intact after his first gold 12 years ago in Lexington, US.

A NSW parliamentary inquiry into the granting of a contract to resurface two arenas at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre has found the tender process managed by the Office of Sport was flawed and that “robust probity standards” were not applied.

The Victorian Government has been accused of “side-stepping the consultation process” over proposed changes to animals welfare laws that could see licences brought in for horse events and any commercial horse activity. Animal Care Australia (ACA) horses and livestock representative Karri Nadazdy said as a major stakeholder, ACA responded to the Animal Welfare Act Reform Directions Paper in December 2020 and said no warning was given that licensing was under consideration.

Licences for any professional horse activity and events in Victoria could be brought in under proposed new animal welfare laws. The proposal has been outlined in a plan developed as part of the reform process for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986 and states that anyone “showing and exhibiting animals for a commercial purpose” would be subject to new regulations, including that a “licence is required”.

If determination has anything to do with it, Darwin's Luke Purtill, whose mum says he has as much hardware in his body as “the bionic man”, may be riding for Australia in Germany next year ... “Luke’s goals are to be selected to represent Australia at the Special Olympic World Games,” his mum, Robyn, said. “It’s not just about winning though. Luke knows he wins every time he gets on a horse and would like to inspire every rider, regardless of ability to have the courage to reach for their dreams and be the best you can be.”

Australia's success on the international sporting arena has earned the country a reputation as one of the top equestrian nations in the world. The Equestrian Australia Hall of Fame was started in 2010 and honours EA's greatest achievers, but maybe it’s time the panel took a new look and added a number of greats who are missing from the list.

There are voices that are instantly recognisable, Morgan Freeman is an example in movies, Bert Newton on TV and for the Australian horse community it’s Graeme Barker. This week Equestrian Victoria awarded him "hall of fame" status for his service to the equestrian industry as one of Australia’s finest commentators.

It's marvellous what can happen when a horse-loving wife of a tech-head husband asks him to help her with keeping her equestrian records straight ... The software and app Andy Ide developed is called “HorseRecords” and it is already being used across multiple disciplines in the horse industry.

Allora Pony Club’s Working Horse Draft and Gymkhana saw Cambooya Pony Club win the March Past and secure the trophy for the club gaining Highest Points ... There were riders from 21 Pony Clubs compete over the weekend, with riders travelling from Mt Mee, Blackbutt, Kumbia, Dalby, Fassifern, Laidley, Goondiwindi and in between.