By TANIA PHILLIPS
INTERNATIONAL pony club competition has come to the Tweed Coast in recent week’s with local riders taking on five members of the New Zealand Pony Club Exchange team in a number of events.
Six riders from the local Zone 15 of Pony Club, which stretches from Grafton to the Queensland Border, went up against their New Zealand rivals in three competition’s at the Cabarita Pony Club Grounds over the past two weeks.
Charlee Anthony, Jake Buckley, Phillipa Whelan, Leah Kilner, Clifton Davis and Alison Alstenfield took on riders from the Whakatane District Pony Club – Natalie Rowles, Christine Tipper, Brittany Nicolson, Regan Braithwaite and Rosanna Van Der Waals.
The teams enjoyed two weeks of competition, pony club camps, sightseeing, a trip to the races for the Grafton Cup and visiting the Gold Coast theme parks.
While the New Zealand team were in Australia they rode borrowed horse at three competitions held at the Cabarita Pony Club Grounds. Normally these events would be spread out over the zone but due to all the wet weather Cabarita was the only grounds suitable due to the sand base.
Some of the events the riders competed in were, dressage, showjumping, cross-country, sporting and hack and rider classes. All of the riders did very well and all took home ribbons.
In early 2014 the six Australian riders will head over to New Zealand for two weeks and compete on borrowed horses in showjumping, sporting and cross-country.
For anyone wanting to come along and see what pony club is all about the next event will be the Murwillumbah Pony Club Gymkhana to be held at Murwillumbah Showgrounds on 27 and 28 July.
