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Australian Junior Team Places Second at International Classique in South Africa

Published on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 in General

 

The Australian Team won on Day Two of competition

A team of four junior riders from Australia travelled to Benoni in South Africa to compete at the 30th International Classique presented by Equestrian International from 29 September to 2 October.

The team consisted of Joseph Patterson, Lachlan Wicks, Emily Van Sonsbeek and Helen Tremlett, with Penny Tremlett as the Chef d’Equipe. The Australian and New Zealand teams were met at the airport by the South African team, officials and a South African television crew, where introductions and interviews were carried out for the television. 

The competition consisted of a pool of 12 horses that were provided by South African riders; these were rotated around each team every day. On the Wednesday the teams were shown some of the pool horses and then on Thursday the pools were allocated. Each team was allowed 45 minutes to ride their first group of horses.
The first day competition was hotly contested with New Zealand finishing in first place on 3 points, Australia 2nd on 2 points and South Africa 3rd on 1 point.  The second day of competition the pool horses were rotated, with each team member allowed a short warm up on new horses before going into the arena to jump. The competition was very close with Australia taking first place after winning a very exciting jump off against New Zealand.
The final day started with Australia and New Zealand in equal first place on 7 points each, with South Africa in 3rd on 2 points. The competition was again very hotly contested and again on a new pool of horses, with South Africa finishing in first place, New Zealand 2nd and Australia 3rd , leaving New Zealand as the overall winners with Australia second and South Africa third.

Overall it was a great competition - all the team members rode really well and have gained valuable experience (both equine and life) from the trip.

Story & Photo: Equestrian Australia


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