A 16-year-old Hauraki Plains College horse rider was one half of a pair that came second at a national mounted games event.
Heather Underwood, from Matatoki, took part in the National Mounted Games in Hastings in early March.
She and her partner Elena O’Leary, from Manawatū, came second in the Under 18 pairs division.
Mounted games is a fast-paced competition that showcases a horse rider’s athletic ability, agility, precision of riding, and general horsemanship as they navigate their way through a number of obstacles.
Heather has been involved with the Thames Pony Club for around eight years, and for five of those, she’s been participating in the sport.
She had previously competed in showjumping and eventing but was now focusing on mounted games, she said.
Heather told The Profile she and her pairs partner Elena only had one training together before clinching silver in the March nationals, and she was now hoping to attend the individual games held in Tūrangi, in the Central North Island, in April.
In July, she’ll head over to France as part of the U18s New Zealand Mounted Games teams competition.
