Kenya Wilson is on her way to Adelaide Photo courtesy Perth Performance Photography
At eighteen years of age, Kenya Wilson is one of the youngest riders who will be galloping around the parklands of Adelaide during next week’s Australian International 3 Day Event. She is probably also riding one of the smallest horses in the field, the 15.2hh Cleveland bay mare Winifred Fair.
Kenya started riding at the age of four and the six year old Winifred Fair (known at home as ‘Winnie’ or, strangely, ‘The Fried’) was Kenya’s 12th birthday present. Six years later the two of them are embarking on their first competition at the Australian International 3 Day Event in the CCI2* and as part of the Western Australian Young Rider team.
First they have to get there; the three day journey is one which can cause all sorts of problems even before the event begins as we have discovered in past years. Kenya and her step father Ian left their home 40 minutes outside of Perth at 5am on Friday morning for the first and shortest leg of the journey, which is still a long 700km trip to the first stop at Fraser Range. Each day they aim to get to their evening destination as quickly as possible and in daylight so that Winifred Fair can have a good night’s rest but the next day’s start is a very early one at 2am. They will cover 1200km in that day to be at Ceduna in the evening and finally reach their destination near Adelaide on Sunday where they can enjoy two days rest and recovery at the Northern Equestrian Centre before settling into the temporary stabling in the centre of Adelaide’s CBD on Tuesday
There Kenya will be joined by a crucial part of her support team, her mum Lynette Winteringham
“I fly over on Wednesday” says Lynette, adding wryly “They don’t seem to want me in the truck!”
The Western Australians are a hardy lot and always seem to have a great support crew – maybe it is the isolation or the hazards of long distance travelling that engenders such strong ties. Joining Kenya on the WA Young Rider squad in Adelaide will be Emily Gray riding Jocular Vision and Sarah Dawson riding Holland Park Calgary but her planned travel mate on the long trip, Tessa Sharman had the disappointment of having to withdraw her 2* horse Glencora Poetry Inmotion due to lameness only a day before leaving Western Australia.
Luckily Winifred Fair is a good traveller, even by herself, a trait often found in horses based in Western Australia.
“Our biggest problem with travelling her is that she can actually put on weight during the trip” says Kenya “Most horses lose weight during the journey but not Winnie”
Although this is their first time competing in Adelaide Kenya has visited the event with a group of friends the last two years ‘so we know what to expect!’
And what is she expecting?
“You can’t train for the sort of atmosphere they have in Adelaide and we just don’t have that sort of crowd at events in Western Australia, especially around the water jump. But I keep telling myself that it has to be within the standard measurements and I know we can handle that. Winifred Fair may be small at 15.2hh but she has a lot of heart and she just loves the cross country”
They have a good track record, finishing fourth in the Junior CCI2* at the 2014 Melbourne International Horse Trials (an even longer journey) and being part of the winning Western Australian Junior team there, which is a bit of a confidence booster for the young rider. There is also another secret weapon in the shape of Stuart Tinney.
Stuart, the highest finishing Australian rider at the Alltech World Equestrian Games in Normandy, doesn’t have a ride at Australia’s only CCI4* this year but he will be there as coach to Kenya and several other of the WA riders including teammate Emily Gray, 2* riders Kate Ingham and Pip Oversby plus 4* competitor Belinda Isbister who rides the fantastically named Holy Bruce. This is not a last minute draft-in of the Olympic gold medallist as Stuart regularly teaches the girls and travels over to WA quite frequently. Kenya also takes lessons in WA with Stephen Johnson but in Adelaide she will be looking to Stuart for guidance and also to deal with any last minute jitters
“I do feel excited about competing at such a big event” admits Kenya “I don’t usually suffer from nerves, I try to stay calm and just focus on what I have to do but I have a feeling that I may get a bit nervous the first time I walk the course”
“My main aim this year is to complete the event successfully. If I can achieve that it will give me huge confidence in the future to know that I’ve done it at the biggest event in Australia”
Photo courtesy of Perth Performance Photography
