The 2017 Tasmanian interschool equetsrian team.

By Equestrian Life

The 2018 Australian Interschool Championships are due to take place in the first week of October at Werribee Park National Equestrian Centre. Riders will travel from all around the country, including Tasmania — in fact, this year the Tassie team are descending on the national championships in record numbers!

“We’ve got around 30 riders coming over,” explains Team Manager Andrew Gibson. Last year, with the event being in Toowoomba, only six Tasmanian riders attended due to obvious logistical challenges. Five of these riders were allocated pool horses, while one arranged their own loan horse. Chloe Daun was the standout performed, finishing reserve champion in the 80cm showjumping — a great effort on a borrowed horse!

With the event a little closer to home this year, the Tasmanians are out in force and will bringing their own horses!

Andrew explains that the 30 students span 20-odd schools, and the ages range for 10 years old in the Primary section through to 17-year-old secondary school students. Some of the older kids are well versed in regards to the trip across Bass Strait, but for many of the younger ones it’ll be their first competition on the mainland. “The older kids will look after the younger kids; we’ve set up a Facebook page for the whole team so they can trade advice before the event,” says Andrew. No doubt there will be plenty of team spirit and camaraderie with such a big team representing all disciplines at the event.

To qualify for the nationals, Tassie students had to finish in the top four places at individual discipline championships. If those selected didn’t take up the offer, secondary qualifying events around the state filled the spaces.

Crossing Bass Strait with horses in tow is an expensive exercise, so as Andrew explains “you have to be pretty dedicated” to attend. “We’re doing a bit of fundraising, and we’ve got a good deal with Tasmanian Horse Transport who have helped us out with sponsorship to take the horses over, which has saved them (the students) a fair bit of money,” he explains. The majority are going on the trucks with Tasmanian Horse Transport, while a couple of the older riders are staying to do a few more events the weekends after and are therefore taking their own floats.

While interschool equestrian events have taken off in Victoria, Andrew explains that they are still gaining recognition in Tasmania. “Pony Club is so strong down here, so Interschools struggles a little bit to get recognised. Our schools focus on football, netball and the traditional sports, so we’ve really been trying to push it; we’re trying to lift the profile within the schools. They’re starting to realise that it’s an actual sport, rather than a pastime!” he laughs. With 30 combinations heading to the nationals this year, there is no doubt the circuit will see a boost in popularity in the coming years.

The team:

Alesia Dyke, aged 12 (The Friends School)
Alice Paterson, aged 17 (Rosny College)
Ava Walker, aged 13 (St Thomas)
Bethany Hirst, aged 16 (Scoth Oakburn College)
Billy Wilson, aged 9 (Longford Primary)
Charlotte Youngman, aged 16 (Leighland Christian College)
Chloe Daun, aged 11 (Margate Primary)
Chloe Mcfarlane, aged 15 (Scoth Oakburn College)
Ella Jones, aged 10 (Cambridge Primary)
Ella Nast       
Ellie Lane, aged 17 (The Friends School)
Emily Irvine, aged 16 (Rosny College)
Georgia Elias, aged 17 (Launceston College)
Georgia Mcgrath, aged 18 (Fahan School)
Georgia Van der drift, aged 17
Hannah Scott, aged 15   
Jasmyne Ringrose, aged 14 (The Friends School)
Jessie Grove, aged 15 (Scoth Oakburn College)
Jordan Gale, aged 14 (Ulverstone High)
Lara Baker, aged 16 (Port Dalrymple)
Laura Monty, aged 17 (MacKillop College)
Lucy Johnston, aged 10 (Longford Primary)
Nicola Hutchinson, aged 16 (St Marys College)
Rebecca Rogers, aged 17 (Hobart College)
Ruby Hirst, aged 11 (Scoth Oakburn College)
Sahara Rumble, aged 13 (Launceston Church Grammar)
Samuel Dyke, aged 14 (The Friends School)
Shakira Miller, aged 16 (Oatlands District High School)
Sharna Dolbey, aged 12 (Sheffied)
Sophie Richardson, aged 11 (Sheffield)

2017 team member Caitlin Radford reading the riders oath at SIEC.

 

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