Aussie kids, amateurs off to Mexico to ride for their country
THREE junior and three amateur riders have been selected to represent Australia at the first round of the Global Amateur Showjumping tour being held in Mexico in June.
The juniors – Tanner Robinson, Lyla Ferrari and Harley McNaughton – are all members of the Equestrian Victoria Showjumping development squad and will compete in the children’s event, with courses starting at 1.10m over the three days.
The three amateur riders in the team are Airlie Robinson (VIC), Tori Glass (VIC) and Gemma Alexander (WA). The amateur competition starts at 1.20m.
All riders will compete on borrowed horses.
The Global Amateur Tour was established in 2017 to offer amateur riders the opportunity to experience all the excitement, adrenaline and professionalism of competing internationally.
The Mexico event is the first time a Children’s Championship (for riders up to 15 years old) will be included.
More than 100 riders across Australia and New Zealand applied for the 2023 competition.
The application process included submitting performance results and videos to the international selectors.
While the team doesn’t have the cost of transporting horses to Mexico, the total cost for the Australian team to compete is still approximately $70,000 (including travel, accommodation, entry fees, coaching and cost of the borrowed horses). The cost will be funded by the riders (and their families), as well as fundraising (raffles, silent auctions, events and sausage sizzles) and through the support of generous sponsors.
A novel way of fundraising has been well supported by performance horse breeders in Australia.
Fifteen top studs have donated stallion service fees for a fundraising auction to support the riders. The auction starts this week and finishes at the end of March.
Use these links to follow the progress of the team, bid in the aution or to get further information:
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