A team of Hauraki jumpers galloped home with more than just a “good experience” after cleaning up at the North Island Secondary School Eventing Championships last month.
Hauraki Plains College year 12 student Ella Wiggins and year 10 student Talia Robitaille returned home from the competition with accolades in tow: Ella placed first in her division for the 80cm championship, and Talia placed third in hers, but that’s not all.
Jo Street, who helps the HPC Jumpers and is also Talia’s mother, said the team’s combined effort also resulted in them winning the 80cm championship overall, and walking away with the Sportsmanship Award for the entire competition.
The team also included Hauraki riders Ava Sweatman and Chloe Aitchison.
Fourteen-year-old Talia said she prepared for the competition by training for each of the eventing disciplines, which include dressage, cross country and showjumping.
“Usually it takes a couple of weeks.”
Talia said dressage was her forte, and during this part of the competition she was thinking about keeping focussed, and getting a clear round in the jumping phases.
She rode her horse Oak Park Rock Star, also known as Flower at home.
Even though Talia said she always felt nervous going into the cross country – after a few jumps her nerves disappeared.
Meanwhile, Ella said she felt most confident going through the finish flags “knowing that you’ve gone clear and had a good day”.
Ella rode her horse, Mahogany Supreme, “but at home we call him Bronson”, and said the cross country phase was their strength throughout eventing.
However, the most challenging part for her was the dressage and “being able to keep my horse calm and [in] the right mindset for going into the arena”.
“My horse is always on the move and always ready to do something,” she said.
“So I’m always busy trying to keep him settled, and changing my riding all the time to make him happy and keep him calm”.
One thing the young equestrian riders expressed was how proud of their team they were.
“Being part of a team means to support each other,” Talia said.
“Working together to [succeed] and have fun together.”
Ella said being able to encourage and help each other meant a lot, “whether it’s helping each other in the yards, like… mucking out, or just helping each other with their riding and giving each other tips”.
Another Hauraki Plains College team, HPC White, also had two riders place second and fourth in their divisions.
