Titles and Glory on the Line at Young Horse Jumping Champs (NZ)

By: Diana Dobson/ESNZ

New Zealand’s best rising stars head to Hawke’s Bay this week for the Xtreme Performance Stallions National Young Horse Jumping Championships.  

More than 300 horses are already entered in the event, which starts on Friday and runs through to Sunday at the Hawke’s Bay Showgrounds.

Up for grabs are national titles in the four, five, six and seven year old age groups, but it’s also a great chance for breeders to showcase their future champs.

But it’s a big ask to win these titles, with horses competing over three days, gaining points, and the final on the last day of the show.

Hawke’s Bay’s Kevin Hansen is building the courses at the champs.

One of the highlights of the event is expected to be the Australia-New Zealand young rider clash. Riding for New Zealand will be Melody Matheson (Hastings), Olivia Robertson (Christchurch), Melanie Weal (Te Awamutu) and Emily Fraser (Feilding), who won gold at the Youth Olympics this year.

The Australians will be headed by Gemma Creighton (Queensland), who has competed a number of times on this side of the Tasman, Mykaela Briggs (Tasmania), Zoe Boulton (Victoria) and Sophie Ahmat (Western Australia).

The teams will ride borrowed horses over the three days. It is the first time in some years that New Zealand has competed against an Australian team – usually it has been against states – and jumping performance coaching director Jeff McVean is expecting them to do very well.