From Tentpegging to Team Penning - TEE 10 had it all!

The Inaugural Tamworth Equestrian Exhibition (TEE 10) was held 22 - 24 October at AELEC, with plenty of events and excitement for everyone, including Freestyle Dressage, Showjumping, Horseball, Tentpegging, Team Penning, Trick Riding, Liberty/training exhibitions and Miniature horses, as well as extensive trade shows, Noddy the world's tallest horse and other exhibitions.

Event though mainstream equestrian sports, such as Showjumping and Dressage are included, the main goal of TEE 10 is to showcase smaller and lesser known horse sports and give competitors the opportunity to compete at the wonderful AELEC complex. TEE 10 is also an excellent opportunity to introduce people to the smaller sports and also to show non-horse people all the fun and action that horse sports can provide and maybe encourage them to become involved with equestrian activities.

One of the organisers, Mike Rowland, said that overall they were very happy with the first ever TEE 10 event. Entries were full for all competitions and there were waiting lists of people wanting to enter if there were cancellations. Good crowds attended all events, however, with the huge crowd capacity of AELEC there was plenty of room for more!

All events were popular with spectators but Mike advised that probably the competition that really got the crowd going was the Bareback Jump - Hoof and Woof. This unique event required that competitors compete in fancy dress and ride bareback, but that's not all! The first element of the competition was to jump a course (some fences were up to 1m) not easy without a saddle and wearing a costume! Competitors then dismounted and gave their horse to a handler who was holding their dog (thus the 'hoof and woof'!) they then had to take their dog around an obstacle course that included jumps, bending around cones, going through a concrete pipe and sliding down a tarp covered in soapy water! Of course, this event gave the opportunity for plenty of hilarity with costumes including Indians and Hippies and one enterprising fellow, dressed as 'The Stig' (a hugely popular character from British Motoring tv show - Top Gear), complete with a car racing helmet and a white quarantine suit. After jumping the course on his horse, 'The Stig' removed his quarantine suit to reveal saucy lingerie! The sight of this character leading his Dachshund (yes, a little sausage dog) around the dog obstacle course, had the crowd in hysterics! Sensibly, he did not remove his his helmet and reveal his true identity. Understandably, The Stig won the 'People's choice' award for best costume!

As well as all the excitement of the Hoof and Woof competition, there was plenty of action with the Showjumping, Tentpegging, Trick Riding and Team Penning. However, one of the most crowd pleasing events were the Horseball competitions. This sport is fast and furious and has plenty of atmosphere, with a commentator calling all the action and music pumping, ensuring there's never a dull moment.

The first ever Horseball Australian Titles were held at TEE 10, with 11 teams competing, as well as an International Selection Match, which included German and French riders. Horseball is especially suited to indoor arenas and is therefore hugely popular in Europe. It was originally founded in Argentina but the Europeans, especially the French, really embraced the sport and have been holding Horseball competitions - a recognised FEI sport - since the 1970s.

The European Horseball competitors were very impressed with the abilities of the Australian horses and riders and said that our skills and quality of horses is as good as anywhere in the world. The horses who excel at Horseball in this country are the ever versatile Australian Stockhorses. They seem to possess the most suitable temperament and ability for Horseball, especially if they've had experience at Polocrosse or Tent pegging. The Europeans agree the Australian Stockhorses are the perfect Horseball mount.

Those who enjoy their horse activities slightly more sedate were highly entertained by the skill and beauty of the Freestyle Dressage, Drill Teams Challenge, Liberty Horse Training and Miniature Horse classes. Although, the Miniatures provided plenty of excitement when they competed in a six bar competition - showcasing just how high these little guys can jump! The trade shows were also in-demand, providing soothing retail therapy after so much horsey action.

The other area of TEE 10 that was always packed with people and proved to be very popular, was the Animal Nursery, which included lambs, ducks, pigs, goats, a donkey and even a water buffalo! These many and varied critters, supplied by local people, were a huge hit with families.

The TEE 10 organisers are already busy discussing extra events and additional exhibitions they can include next year to make TEE 11 even bigger and better!

On 7 November at 10:00am Channel Nine's Wide World of Sports will be screening highlights from TEE-10 (Tamworth Equestrian Exhibition) at the Australian Equine and Livestock Event Centre which was held on October 23 and 24.