It’s hard enough to complete the 2* at the Australian International 3 Day Event when you are an amateur rider but when the preparation is less than perfect, it takes determination to pull it off the way that Sarah Klas did
Sarah Klas and her off the track thoroughbred The Prankster were first timers at the Australian International 3 Day Event in 2015, finishing 39th in the CCI2* out of the big class of 52 combinations that started the event
For Ballarat based Sarah, an amateur rider with a full-time job as a graphic designer, it was a long road literally and metaphorically to compete in Adelaide but she never took her eye off the goal, even when things went wrong along the way.
Is that a grin or a grimace of pain from Sarah as she trots up The Prankster at Melbourne International?
At the Melbourne International 3 Day Event in June she completed the dressage phase with broken ribs (unknowingly and painfully) but realised that she had to withdraw before the cross country. Then a silly mistake in the 2* showjumping at the NSW State Championships in Goulburn resulted in elimination.
The less than perfect preparation for Adelaide continued when Sarah found The Prankster in the wrong paddock after being chased through a fence just before the Tonimbuk Hickstead, where we first met the rather unlucky pair finalising their preparation for the CCI2* in Adelaide
Dressage done at Adelaide!
However good eventing riders are the ones that simply never give up and Sarah proved that she has that rare quality by staying the course, getting to Adelaide and completing her first ever CCI2* at the big event. Even the drive to Adelaide also had its moments of drama, as Sarah explained when we caught up with her after the dressage
Sarah Klas
Sarah and The Prankster come home without jumping penalties (above) and there's a big kiss for the big brown gelding in the cool down (below)
The pair finished the dressage phase in 50th place on a score of 67.2 but moved up the leader board to 36th place during Saturday’s cross country phase with a clear jumping round and 8.8 time faults. A few rails in the show jumping phase cost them a places but for Sarah, she and The Prankster had got the job done, completing ahead of many other professional riders
Before heading back to Ballarat, her job at Designscope and helping the kids at Glenlyon and District Pony Club, the only thing left to do for Sarah was to enjoy a drink with her friends and mentors Nina and Yona Lloyd and look forward to maybe a slightly easier preparation for Adelaide in 2016!
We completed! Sarah with her friends and coaches Yona and Nina Lloyd
