Two members of the “Duneed a Map” Team

© Issie Hill

By Kim Warne

The HRCAV TTT Navigation Ride trophy has been won by clubs from the North East for the past four years. Albury Wodonga Adult Riding Club ran the event around the Chiltern Ironbark Forest last year and there was such a huge outpouring of goodwill when the Yackandandah Team won that we did not feel that we had any choice but to host the 2019 event.

The date of 21st July was chosen because the weather in this area at this time of the year is usually very dry but cold (up to -5) Mornings with heavy frost that clear to a perfect day. Members of the sub-committee rode the track two weeks prior on just such a Winter’s day. We started in frost and finished in T shirts - and then it turned. Sleet and cold winds with one or two millimeters of rain every day for the next 10 days giving the organising committee nightmares. The weather was so cold that a flippant comment on Facebook “I hope it doesn't snow” was a very real possibility as there certainly was snow on the tracks on the Sunday before. The weather forecast finally brightened – Frost on Saturday, Cold but no rain Sunday. It might be slippery but at least we were not going to be camping or riding in rain.

The event got great support from the Out of Town clubs – lots of W's! Wagga put in three teams, Westernport, Wyena, Willows and some Rooks – Bullengarook and Tallarook. Many travelling for 3 to 5 hours to attend. A week from closing we had only 8 teams and a sick feeling as so many events have been cancelled of late due to poor entries so we extended the date. At closing of entries we had just over 100 riders and 28 Teams set to take on the High Country.

A well deserved win was awarded to the The Wyena Wanderers, whose horses tackled the tough course without even breaking a sweat, all while being within the optimum time! It was obvious (as it should be) that the best and most experienced team would ride to the top in TTT. Close behind the winning team, consisting of Brodie, Kimberley, Karen and Sarah was the very experienced Tallarook, Echuca and Albury teams - all previous winners of the event.

Congratulations also the winners of the Special Awards. Kimberley Northey took out the Best Performed Off the Track, Christine Griffin the HERO Best Performed Standardbred and Sarah Gomez of the winning Wyena team also took out the Barefoot Award.

Stay tuned for more information on the next HRCAV TTT Navigation ride!

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