Fran Cleland
Ekka signals the start of the spring show season
THE first of the big eastern state royals, the “Ekka”, as Brisbane is affectionately known, heralds the start of the new show year. It...
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Fran Cleland
Aug 23, 20232 min read
Australian carriage drivers secure another set of ashes
THE Carriage Driving Ashes – a collaboration between the UK and Australia, with identical competitions held over identical courses in NSW...
Fran Cleland
Aug 23, 20233 min read
A peek inside the secret world of flying horses
HORSES travel by air as easily as humans these days, and are possibly better cared for. Back in the dark ages, they may have merely...
Fran Cleland and the FEI
Aug 23, 20232 min read
Young endurance horses up for the challenge in Europe
ENDURANCE riding is strictly policed and unlike young racehorses whose career so often begins at age two, horses must be older than four...
Fran Cleland
Aug 23, 20234 min read
Bits: Trans Tasman win, pony ride ban and Brumby calendars
THE Australian Young Rider team won the Trans-Tasman Young Rider Challenge borrowed horse competition held at the Waratah Showjumping...
Dale Webster
Aug 21, 20236 min read
The dirty business of bank closures laid bare in WA
AT the end of two days listening to senate hearings investigating the impact of regional bank closures in Western Australia all I wanted...
Fran Cleland
Aug 16, 20232 min read
Win at Boneo made all the more special for Dianne Barnes
THE dressage championships at Boneo Park last weekend proved a successful and emotional show for para equestrian Dianne Barnes who won...
Fran Cleland
Aug 16, 20238 min read
No matter how many horses you have had, no one forgets their first
IT’S said you never forget your first kiss, or your first love. For horse people it’s their first pony. Even if the person is world...
Fran Cleland
Aug 16, 20232 min read
Juniors brush up on their craft at NSW show and clinic
WITH the show season fast approaching, the Equestrian NSW Junior Horse Show and clinic provided a chance for the show kids to polish up...
Fran Cleland
Aug 16, 20232 min read
Naracoorte takes on task of hosting zone championships
NARACOORTE Hunt and Pony Club took on the big job of hosting Pony Club South Australia’s south-east zone championships. Riders from...
Fran Cleland
Aug 16, 20232 min read
Behind every great rider (or pony club kid) is a groom
BEHIND every rider, from the smallest pony club member to the elite competitor at the Olympics, is a person following with a box full of...
Fran Cleland
Aug 16, 20233 min read
Bits: Vale Jack Ruckwood, HOTY cancelled and road use survey
JACK Ruckwood, one of the pioneers of Appaloosa breeding in Australia, has died at age 87. He was a driving force and founding member in...
Fran Cleland
Aug 9, 20233 min read
Ponies show their woolly worth at winter gymkhanas
THEY might not cost as much on the open market as the Olympic dressage horses or Melbourne Cup champions but hairy little pony club...
Fran Cleland
Aug 9, 20232 min read
Victorian takes Winton to Longreach trophy in 17 hours
ONE of the longest – and some say toughest – endurance rides in the country was revived this year as a one-off event to mark 100 years of...
Fran Cleland
Aug 9, 20232 min read
Jackpots, jumping add to the options at Barwon dressage day
WHILE other sports have their seasons, with some resting in summer, and others hibernating in winter, dressage seems to sail serenely...
Fran Cleland
Aug 9, 20232 min read
Riders show their versatility at Royal Darwin Show
THE Royal Darwin Show rolls around when the lower states are cold and grey and horses are only starting preparations for the spring run...
Fran Cleland
Aug 9, 20232 min read
Fact, fiction blend in novel based on the life of jockey Bill Smith
Book review MR SMITH TO YOU by Kerry Taylor is described as a novel based on the true story of Australian jockey Bill Smith – a life...
Fran Cleland
Aug 9, 20234 min read
Bits: Silver for Simone, good opportunities for pony clubbers and Tassie award winners
SIMONE Pearce and No Limit took the silver medal in the five-year-old final at the FEI Dressage World Breeding Championship for Young...
Fran Cleland
Jul 26, 20233 min read
Hunt clubs like Barwon in their element when winter bites
DEEP in winter is when the hunt clubs gather socially to show off their horses as saddle mounts, working hunters and in hunters’ plates....
Fran Cleland
Jul 26, 20233 min read
Future looking bright for Jessica as she makes her mark
JESSICA Dertell is a talented and versatile equestrienne but it is in dressage that she is really carving a place for herself in...
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