Rachel Paterson and the aptly named Made You Look head out on cross country
If you turn around as you approach the Bulla Riding Club in Greenvale, you get one of the best views of the Melbourne city skyline. Located close to the Melbourne airport, there are plenty of planes flying overhead but everything else gave the impression of being at a country event at this weekend’s HRCAV TTT Horse Trials.
Wendy Bell and Schweppervescence in the show jumping
HRCAV now boasts 5,500 members at 219 clubs and each discipline has its own Top Teams Trophy (TTT) championships. Each year the winning team of the TTT Horse Trials championship is responsible for organising the following year’s event – Bulla Riding Club have had the honour of winning for the past two years therefore the event has been held at their grounds just outside of Melbourne for the past two years. The grounds are great, access is easy and the event was beautifully run by the Bulla crew but it is the friendliness and obvious fun that the competitors are having that makes this event so special.
Approximately 450 riders competed over the weekend; most of them in teams from their own clubs located throughout Victoria and parts of NSW although some composite teams are created from various clubs. The names of the teams are usually fun and often a giveaway as to the expectations of the riders; my favourites this year included ‘3 Jellybellies & 1 Jellybean’, ‘Muddleheaded Wombats’, ‘Just Hold On’ and ‘Harden Up Princess’ (would love to know the story behind that one! Sounds like a line from a George Morris clinic)
Some didn’t even get to compete but still had a great time; I came across 66 year old Liz Pallett (above) from Bennisson ARC whose horse was not able to do all three phases due to a small injury. Undeterred, Liz, who took up riding at the age of 58, still came, competed in the dressage phase only, had a job as penciller and supported her team. She didn’t win any ribbons but was pleased with her performance in the dressage and won a bag of chaff in the raffle (hence the need for the wheelbarrow to deliver it to her car)
“I have had a great weekend” she said “It’s such fun and you learn such a lot, even from the ground”
Kylie and Aris Amerigo - honestly we tried everything to get his ears forward but to no avail!
Although many riders may not be aiming for the stars with their equestrian careers, it would be a mistake to underestimate them. I spotted a few regular EA riders (maybe they are ring-ins for the big event?) including Kylie Pedder who today won the Grade 2B riding Aris Amerigo; Kylie and Aris recently won the Preliminary D at Wandin Park. Kylie was riding for the Phoenix Friggen Fantastic team (yes, that’s another great name) based at show jumper Adam Wootten’s equestrian centre in the Yarra Valley.
Carmen and 'her' team (and flowers)
Kylie just sneaked ahead of Tayla Childs on Langarra by a count back of one second on cross country as they finished on the same score of 60.40. Tayla was riding for the ILW Freight Forwarding team from Bulla Riding Club, a team of young riders sponsored by Carmen Leigh, one of main organisers of the event. The girls surprised Carmen with some lovely flowers as thanks for her support and, at the risk of sounding soppy, it’s that sort of thing that makes this event so nice ....
Good commentary makes an event and Sue Tufnell, aided by monocular spotter Chris, did a fabulous job
The weather was kind all weekend so plenty of riders would have been heading back to their various homes with a healthy sun glow and many would have cars full of goodies from the many sponsor prizes given out. The only sad note of the weekend was to hear of local rider Ricky Bannister’s recent riding accident which has left him with serious injuries; the event was raising funds throughout the weekend for Ricky and his family.
I’m lucky to attend some of the top events in the world and, without fail, I come away from them inspired by those incredibly talented elite riders who ride at world class level. Watching them inspires me to try and ride better myself. After a weekend at the HRCAV TTT championships I’ve come away inspired to enjoy my riding, my time with my horse and the company of my like minded horsey friends more. You never know what is around the corner and we are all lucky to be able to enjoy this sport, regardless of the level we ride at.
Full results weren’t available at the time of writing but we’ll be publishing full results and a Sunday photo gallery soon. CLICK HERE for the photo gallery from Saturday
Cross country video footage was taken on both days and videos of the Team and Individual winners will be uploaded soon. For more information about ordering or viewing videos from the weekend CLICK HERE
