Georgie Birrell counts her lucky stars that every morning when she wakes up, the first thing she wants to do is ride her pony – which she does, early, before starting work for the day as a Freight Logistics Planner for VLine.
She rides in the morning because apart from it being the “first thing she wants to do”, she also coaches in the evenings and she’s pretty good at that too – holding a degree in education and having recently completed her EA Level 1 coaching qualification.
GE Monaco or ‘Daisy’ is that ‘pony’, standing at a meagre 17.2 hands… but she is a total lamb – until she gets out on the cross-country course, and then it’s lion mode. “She’s a V8 with a huge engine and lots of power” and it’s taken a while to harness that power. However, it was worth the wait, or rather “lots and lots of repetition until it all clicked.”
Technically speaking, Daisy is neither a lamb nor a lion, she’s a Shire cross Thoroughbred from Bucca Valley Stud near Coffs Harbour.
Georgie knew from the moment she sat on Daisy that she’d one day be a Melbourne International Three-Day-Event (MI3DE) horse, and Georgie would know. She’s got a great eye for a future eventer, and an even better feel, having produced five quality horses from their beginnings to MI3DE since she first rode there as a 16-year-old in the CCI2*L Junior class.
That first ride on Daisy was 18 months ago and admittedly Georgie wasn’t really looking for a horse, but after multiple friends had sent her the ad and knowing Daisy’s then owner and trainer, Charlie Germein, she decided to head over to Adelaide and have a sit. “Sounds like a cliché, but the universe had something at play and it was meant to be. The first ride I knew I loved her.”
They’ve been a team since late 2023, soaring from EvA80 to CCI2* in just over a year. “She’s very brave and will have a go at anything, her stride is huge, which meant she just cantered over things until about one-star level, where it actually felt like she jumped.”
Georgie set Melbourne as the goal at the start of the season but decided that Daisy would ultimately tell her if she was ready to go. If there is one thing learnt throughout her years eventing it’s “to take each step slowly and make each step secure.”
So when Daisy cruised around her first two-star start at Tooradin in February for fifth place and made it feel “like a walk in the park” Georgie knew Melbourne was within their capabilities and marked it on the calendar. A third place at Yeringberg in the two-star rounded out a solid season, and so Georgie booked their place at Melbourne.
This MI3DE will be Georgie’s ninth start at the event, but it’s “just as special as all the other times.” Melbourne holds so many fond memories for her.
Reflecting on all the horses that she’s galloped around Werribee Park with on previous June long weekends, Georgie is “so proud of them for making it there, when you look back at where they started.”
As a local rider, Georgie will have many familiar faces on the sidelines to cheer her and Daisy on. Her family, students and friends – including Kate Williams, Daisy’s breeder – are all making the trip to MI3DE. She’s excited to show what they’re capable of. “Heading out of that start box on a fresh Werribee morning is what its all about!”
