Look at the photo above and take yourself back to 1999 to the Trans Tasman at Taupo. The team members consisted of myself, Heath Ryan, Olivia Bunn, Amanda Ross, Karen Owen, Tara Trebilcock, Shane Rose and David Middleton. Boy was that an experience, as most of us were youngsters then! The Trans Tasman was only the second CCI*** that I had ever competed at, so it was a huge eye opener. I certainly wasn’t prepared for the large fences with the huge hills, which New Zealand provides.
Did the team win? Nooo! With a huge lead after the dressage, the Kiwi's certainly showed off their jumping capabilities to us. My horse at the time, Billy Bathgate and I were riding as individuals and with a 4th place after dressage, we were a bit slow as Billy got very tired Cross Country. A few rails down in the show jumping phase put us back to 11th. I learnt so much about three day eventing in Taupo. Bear (the team vet Dennis Goulding) and Jim Dunn (Chef d' Equipe) took me under their wing and taught me so much. They must have thought I had just rocked up from Pony Club … well in fairness a year before I had done just that, so my knowledge was pretty limited.
Now fast forward to 2012 and I find myself heading back to New Zealand. It is hard to believe it’s been that long since I tackled those hills and rode my trusty steed Billy around the challenging course (see photo above). It has taken me a long time and a lot of riding to get back up to this level and now I am totally excited to be representing Australia once again at the Trans Tasman event in Kihihiki New Zealand. I am more comfortable with pressure situations. I have developed a good training program for both fitness and improving my horses skills in all three phases and I know a lot more about getting horses peaking at the right time for the competition! All very important.
This year, I have the added task of trying to get my horse to peak fitness at several different times. Firstly the Trans Tasman then two weeks later the Sydney Three Day Event. Hopefully if I cross all my fingers and toes and ride well at both these events the London Olympics might just be the next fitness test!
