A challenge worth getting out of your swag at 4.30am in the middle of winter for
IT’S not called endurance for nothing. Long hours in the saddle over testing terrain and in all weathers is challenging but tends to...
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Fran Cleland
Jul 6, 20222 min read
Equitation - a hot new discipline testing riders with age-old skills
IT’S called by several names – working equitation, xtreme equitation, three-phase equitation – but they are all variations of a...
Fran Cleland
Jul 6, 20223 min read
Standardbred classes closing gap between racing and the show ring
MOST Standardbreds used to face an uncertain future at the end of their racing days, but how things have changed. The numbers of...
Fran Cleland
Jul 6, 20222 min read
Pentathlon equestrian is gone, will other events follow?
COMMENT IT LOOKS like the horse-riding element of the pentathlon is finished after the first test event of the new format without...
Fran Cleland
Jul 6, 20223 min read
Aachen sure knows how to put on a spectacular show
THE World Equestrian Festival at Aachen, Germany, does it so well. So much to see, so much to do at an event where the best in the world...
Fran Cleland
Jul 6, 20225 min read
Briefs: Interschools rained out, safety stirrup ban, new owner for saddlery and an apology ...
THE NSW Interschools event was cancelled two days into competition because the state was again experiencing flooding in several areas...
Fran Cleland
Jun 29, 20222 min read
Noisiest championships have to be the most fun you can have on four legs
THE much-loved head of the Pony Club Association, Kay Irving, is remembered by Victorian pony clubbers through the annual Pony Club...
Fran Cleland
Jun 29, 20222 min read
Innovative horse trials format gives every rider a chance of success
DENILIQUIN is a large town in the fertile southern Riverina region of south-central NSW. It lies on the Edward River (a branch of the...
Fran Cleland
Jun 29, 20222 min read
Determination gets winter woolies show over the line
THE Ovens Valley Classical Riders Club’s best laid plans for their Winter Woollies Show nearly didn’t happen. Not once but twice. Plans...
Fran Cleland
Jun 29, 20222 min read
'The garland man' is a pony club boy who rose to the heights
WINNING a ribbon at a show is always fun, but the biggest thrill of all is to take home one of David Calbert’s magnificent floral...
Fran Cleland
Jun 29, 20222 min read
Dressage was not always the popular sport it is now
DRESSAGE is a major equestrian sport in Australia, but it wasn’t always so. The first competition was held at Royal Melbourne Show in...
Fran Cleland
Jun 29, 20223 min read
When horse people go to the dogs ... literally
GO to any horse event and you will see dogs. Beady-eyed cattle dogs guarding trucks, Labradors sharing ice-creams with toddlers, Jack...
Fran Cleland
Jun 29, 20223 min read
Briefs: ladies lead the way, VERA Quilty shortlist out and a 60th anniversary
LET’S hear it for the girls. In showjumping, Lauren Balcomb and Verdini D' Houtveld Z took out the $140,000 1.50m grand prix at the CSI3*...
Fran Cleland
Jun 22, 20222 min read
Schools converge for grand final weekend at Werribee
THE dressage and showjumping grand finals for this year’s Victorian Equestrian Interschools Series have been held over two days at...
Fran Cleland
Jun 22, 20223 min read
Tasmanian event riders take trip of a lifetime
A KEEN group of Tasmanians has travelled to the mainland to complete an eventing circuit around Victoria to qualify both riders and their...
Fran Cleland
Jun 22, 20222 min read
Dunolly welcomes all with combined training and a roast
DUNOLLY Horse Activity Club is one of the many groups all over the country that are finally getting back into action after the long...
Fran Cleland
Jun 22, 20222 min read
Para riders edge closer to a start at World Championships
AUSTRALIA’S para-equestrian athletes are beginning to put the necessary scores in for a team place at the FEI World Championships. Both...
Fran Cleland
Jun 22, 20221 min read
Selectors name Australia’s dressage team for Nations Cup
EQUESTRIAN Australia has announced the Australian team for the invitation-only CDIO5* Nations Cup competition at the CHIO Aachen...
Fran Cleland
Jun 22, 20223 min read
Judging in the tropics: Darryl Hayes shares a personal insight
FOR many, Darwin and the Top End is a bit of mystery. Included in the many things that southerners don’t realise about the place is that...
Fran Cleland
Jun 22, 20223 min read
Horse briefs: shaving ban starts, vale Ross Marriott and a new date for Adelaide 3DE
THE Australia-wide rule to prevent the removal of whiskers from horses’ noses and eyebrows comes in to effect from July 1. There has been...
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