With some eventing commentators lamenting the fact that Australia seems to be lacking depth in young up-and-coming top-level eventers, it is interesting to ponder how we can both support and celebrate our young riders. In Victoria the Young Rider Eventing Squad and the Young Ambassador awards are two such initiatives. The recipient of the Eventing Young Ambassador Award this year was Teegan Ashby and I caught up with Teegan at Friends of Werribee to talk about her amazing journey over the last little while and to see what she has in store for the future.
Tegan (second from right) at the Awards Night
I had first met Teegan and her Mum Helen at a squad weekend earlier this year and one of the first interesting facts I discovered about her was that she in fact does not live in Victoria! Being that her property is on the Murray River and the state border we are happy to overlook that and claim her as one of ours. This does, however, mean that for every event (apart from the one local one!) at least three hours of travel time has to be factored in. As is the case for loads of eventers, particularly the younger ones, a strong support team is a necessity and Teegan is quick to thank her mum, Helen, who gets her to and from the events and fulfils all those strapping duties in between and her dad who tends to the horses at home in their absence.
Tegan (age 8) competing on her 14hh pony, Scooby at the Victorian Interschool Championships in 2003
Despite being thrilled at achieving the honour of being named Young Ambassador, Teegan also admitted to being a little sad that this now prevents her from taking part in the training weekend again as a rider. "That was really the best part of the whole experience" Teegan lamented. This is the second year that Teegan has nominated for the award and taken part in the training weekend; last year she finished in the top three. "We had so much fun in what was a very busy weekend" Teegan commented "we were kept extremely busy taking part in lessons, debating, fitness, and forums on media and equestrian overseas". Another highlight was doing all this alongside riders from other disciplines.
Taking out this award is not the only recent highlight we wanted to catch up with Teegan about, as she has since backed this up with a very successful move into 2 star competition. Teegan travelled to Mt Gambier (a short nine hour drive!) for her first foray into this level and blew the socks off the experienced 2 star riders by claiming the top spot at her debut event! (To top off the event Teegan also claimed first place in the pre novice class that weekend – obviously a special time for this young rider). Teegan also ended up on a high at the recent Friends of Werribee event by going double clear and sneaking up from an eighth place after dressage to claim a second prize there.
Tegan (age 13) has her first ride on Boris in 2007
To those who don't know, these recent successes may seem to be a little out of the blue, but of course it would come as no surprise to most that behind these prizes is a long and hard road. Teegan began riding Rockingham No Reason (Boris) back in 2007 as a 13 year old. He was then popping around prelim courses and so the long six year journey to 2* level began. That Teegan has produced this horse to this level is a credit to her, especially when one considers the ups and downs to get there. "Boris has had some soundness issues,” Teegan informed me, "so he ended up spending three years at one star level!" It seemed as soon as he was ok to go again something else would crop up. They have had success along the way, however, including winning the Junior 1* class at Melbourne 3DE in 2011.
Boris at the 2011 Melbourne 3 Day Event where they won the Junior 1*
Meantime the search to find a horse that could show Teegan the ropes had been happening over that time also and this led to the recent purchase of Edward Browne, an experienced 2* eventer who had competed at Adelaide in 2012. The plan was that he would give Teegan the 2* experience whilst she bought Boris up to that level also. But as is often the case fate stepped in and Edward has been out of action long term with a foot infection, leaving Teegan and Boris to get on with the job regardless!
So where to from here for this aspiring eventer? Teegan would like to become a full time professional rider, but like many is following the wishes of her parents to also put in place a back-up plan, by currently working on her degree in accounting close to home (ensuring she still has maximum riding time!) Teegan also admits that at this stage she has no plans to make the big move overseas to gain further experience. "I am very lucky that I have great horse facilities at home … at the moment I see no reason to look elsewhere!"
Teegan is also now on the lookout for the next four legged superstar and thinking it is time to find a youngster with lots of potential for her to bring up through the ranks. After hearing all of this, and also some plans on how Teegan would like to use her year in the role as Young Ambassador to provide speakers and activities for the younger riders in squad, one can't help but feel reassured that we do have motivated and talented young Aussie riders waiting in the wings.
Article: Wendy Jeffree
