Andrea puts some final touches to the water jump
I first met Andrea Kellett in the middle of Mornington Racecourse during this year’s inaugural Off the Track Triequithon. She had been drafted in at the last minute by her son, international course designer Ewan Kellett, to help out with fence judging and, as we chatted, I discovered that this sprightly lady not only was helping her son out on this occasion but that she was also involved with the preparations for Melbourne International Horse Trials.
Andrea has had a very specific, and important, task at Werribee Park for one of Australia’s top events for the past five years; she is responsible for the dressing of the cross country course which has been designed by her son Ewan.
As Andrea explains in the interview, she first became involved when Ewan wanted to improve the look of the fences a few years ago but was struggling to find enough plants and flowers on the event’s limited budget. Andrea stepped in and ended up not only buying the plants that year but being responsible for the dressing of the course. She now also grows plants year round and has helpers who also grow for the event as the budget is still pretty limited but the displays get better each year
I accompanied Andrea on her final run around the course on the Saturday afternoon of this year’s event as she checked out each and every fence, finishing with the final fence in the main arena which Ewan and the crew were moving into place as the dressage arenas were being removed. We had a chat as she was waiting for Ewan’s crew to let her dress the fence and she told me more about her job and Ewan’s twin passions as a boy – tractors and ponies, which he now manages to combine in his job as an international cross country course designer!
Andrea is a remarkable lady with an enormous amount of energy and sense of fun (unless you happen to be kicking her flowers, which is not to be tolerated, as you’ll hear) and it was a delight to spend a few hours with her and view the cross country fences through her eyes. You can see the complete CCI3* course in our gallery here
Andrea Kellett
As we drove around the course, we passed Ewan in one of his favourite toys (above) which later manoeuvred the final fence into place (below)
Mother and son finish the last fences (above) in the main arena and the finished product (below)
