Gemma Tinney was only three years old when her father Stuart won Olympic gold in eventing at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games; she doesn’t remember much of that time but she has been riding since she was five and even then knew that she wanted to be an eventing rider like her dad
Gemma and her older sister Jaymee on one of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games fences
Having recently finished her schooling, Gemma is now heading into the family business at Tinney Eventing as a Team Tinney rider and she will be sharing some of the competition horses with her father. This isn’t a completely new role as she has been working closely with her mum Karen as well as Stuart by training horses at home for them, especially since late last year when Stuart was sidelined with broken vertebrae for several months
More recently she has taken some time out to complete her HSC (but still managed to fit in some show jumping) and in December she will be heading to North America for ‘schoolies’ of a different sort before coming home to Tinney headquarters in Maraylya, NSW to start her new career. It will hopefully set her on a track to join her dad at the elite level of the sport
“I really aspire to be like him” admits Gemma “I’ve always aimed to ride at top level with him and that really motivates me.... I want do it as quickly as I can so I can be up there with him ....”
And will she do it from an Australian base, like her father? For the moment yes “I would love to stay home with mum and dad and support them, I think that gives me a really big headstart”
There's been lots of focus on show jumping this year, including 6 Bar competitions and bareback high jumps but eventing is still Gemma's first love
