Hot school competition

Schools are great, not just for learning in the classroom, but for organising events such as this fabulous equestrian one! But it didn't happen without a lot of student involvement.

Tim Wilson riding Feather Storm clearing 1.20m and looking like they are loving it! (Image: Trewey's Photography)
Tim Wilson and Feather Storm clearing 1.20m and loving it! (Image: Trewey’s Photography)

Woodford House has been hosting equestrian events for more than twenty years, and the latest one, on September 19, attracted excellent entries. What made the show even more special was that the students were the main organisers and were not only involved in running it, they were competing and winning too!

Woodford House Black won the prized team competition and the school’s Silver and Red teams were second and third respectively. The winning riders were Willa Aitken, Mollie Moffett, Annabell Kerr and Hereworth School student Tim Wilson (pictured above) who was drafted into the team. His mother, Claire, went to Woodford House just a few years ago and we understand that she was one of the people who contributed to getting this event started.

Willa Aitken riding Kirkwood Greenlight (Image: Trewey's Photography)
Willa Aitken riding Kirkwood Greenlight (Image: Trewey’s Photography)

This year, though, it was up to a group of current students. Willa Aitken was not only in the winning team, but was also on the organising committee and worked hard to get the show happening. “There was a group of us that organised it. Molly Goodison, Ginny Gibbs and myself; and this year we also had the help of Amy Roydhouse, the show jumping rider. We sorted out what was going to happen, what classes we were going to hold. We ordered the ribbons, picked the judges, sent out the entries, designed the posters and things.”

Somehow, Willa and her classmates fitted all that into their school and horse time. On the day itself, it was all go. “In the morning when we arrived we had a quick meeting after I unloaded the ponies. I finished my classes about lunchtime I came back to the office and helped out.”

This is Willa’s last year at the all-girls school. “The highlight of the show for me was that Woodford did so well and I am excited to leave Woodford on such a high note; it’s cool. I think it is the first time we have been first, second and third. It was awesome being part of that team,” she says.

Milly Dever from Iona College riding Bridie in the 80cm jumping competition (Image: Trewey's Photography)
Milly Dever from Iona College riding Bridie in the 80cm jumping competition (Image: Trewey’s Photography)

We think it is pretty awesome that you can go to a horse show instead of going to class, and Willa agrees. “I’ve missed so much school for horses.” However, she has obviously done well academically, as she will be going to Victoria University next year. “I’m doing Law and a Bachelor of Arts. For the second semester I will hopefully bring Annie, my horse, up to uni and keep her at Upper Hutt.”

But before all that happens, Willa has school holidays to enjoy from next week, and the rest of the season and academic year to get through. She also plans to go to Horse of the Year. “I’ll do Level 3 on my horse, Alpha Beta, and hopefully Level 5 by the end of the season. My pony, Kirkwood Greenlight, is in the medium class for the FEI World Challenge. I focus mainly on dressage but all horses need to do something a bit different every other day. I do a lot of pony club stuff, volunteer and teach at Otane Pony Club. I did my B certificate on Ted, so he has done cross-country and show jumping. I do a little bit of showing here and there too.”

Blake Davis riding Toby in 1.10m jump off (Image: Trewey's Photography)
Blake Davis riding Toby in the 1.10m jump-off (Image: Trewey’s Photography)

The event ran smoothly and the most popular class must have been the two-fence challenge. Willa agreed this was a highlight. “Five riders jumped 1.40m, which is awesome. A couple of them were on ponies! We haven’t had the two-fence challenge in a bit; we stopped doing it a while ago. I don’t know what height they got to before.”

Molly Prenter from Iona riding Rump Shaker was successful over 1.40m (Image: Trewey's Photography)
Molly Prenter from Iona riding Rump Shaker was successful over 1.40m (Image: Trewey’s Photography)

The fence got to the maximum height of 1.40cm, which is why the five who cleared it had to share the first prize. Well done to Ruby Mason of Napier Girls’ High School on Mr Acho, Julia Hyslop of Woodford House on The Mighty Quinn, Iona College’s Molly Prenter on Rump Shaker, Havelock North Intermediate School’s Grace Stevenson on Tallyho Reuben James, and Feilding High School’s Blake Davis on Toby.

Julia Hyslop riding The Mighty Quinn was another of the successful combinations to clear the 1.40m jump. (Image: Trewey's Photography)
Julia Hyslop riding The Mighty Quinn was another of the successful combinations to clear the 1.40m jump (Image: Trewey’s Photography)

As well as show jumping competitions at various levels, there were dressage classes, again with good entries.

Rebecca Anthony riding Otare Sarge, from Nga Tawa, came 4th in her dressage group (Image: Trewey's Photography).
Rebecca Anthony riding Otairi Sarge, from Nga Tawa, came 4th in her dressage group (Image: Trewey’s Photography).

Eight other schools were represented at the event: Nga Tawa, Napier Girls’ High School, Campion School, Gisborne Girls’ High, Feilding Ag, Iona, Karamu and Havelock North High.

From Iona College, Isabella Narracci on Greedy McCreedy in 80cm (Image: Trewey's Photography)
From Iona College, Isabella Narracci on Greedy McCreedy in 80cm (Image: Trewey’s Photography)

Organising this show was done purely in the students’ own time, and they didn’t receive any extra academic credits for their efforts. Willa obviously enjoyed it, however, and perhaps we will see her doing more in the future? “I probably could do it again. Hawke’s Bay held the Pony Club dressage champs this year and as I was team captain, I got to sit on a few of the organising committee meetings and that was quite cool.”

Well done Willa and your team, great effort!

The Woodford House day was followed by another day of competition, with the Havelock North High Inter-school equestrian event. The results of both days are here:

Zara Waldon on Jaycee Comet, from Woodford House, in 80cm (Image: Trewey's Photography)
Zara Waldon on Jaycee Comet, from Woodford House, in 80cm (Image: Trewey’s Photography)

Results

Woodford House Competition

Dom Health Dressage 1C A
Little Man (Campion School 2) Darian Dalziel-smith 75.385 1
Tallyho Reuben James (Havelock North Intermediate) Grace Stevenson 68.462 2
Mr Hare (Woodford MAGENTA) Tessa Wallace 67.885 3
Olivia (Nga Tawa 2) Katrina Vagg 66.538 4
Little White Cloud (Woodford SILVER) Bella Ladbrook 61.731 5
Dom Health Dressage 1C B
A Touch of Blue (Nga Tawa 1) Rebecca Robertson 66.346 1
Kaycee Comet (Woodford RED) Zara Waldin 65.962 2
Bertie Bassett (Woodford GREY) Poppy Renton 62.115 3
Otairi Sarge (Nga Tawa 2) Rebecca Anthony 61.923 4
Cameo Boy Alex Naera 61.538 5
Dom Health Dressage 1C C
PL Hobson (Nga Tawa 1) Victoria Haig 70 1
Tidal Emilia Birkholz 70 1
Paint the town (Napier Girls High School) Madison Benbow 65.577 3
Thrillseeker Caitlin McGregor 64.615 4
Oh My Goshka (Fielding High School 2) Ellen Davis 63.077 5
BetaVet Dressage 2A
South (Iona School WHITE) Emma Matches 67.25 1
Whata Babe (Campion School 1) Isabella Collier 65.75 2
A Patchy Pony (Nga Tawa 2) Emma Gibb 64.25 3
Rosewood Classic Fame (Woodford BLACK) Annabel Kerr 64.25 3
Mr Acho (Napier Girls High School) Ruby Mason 64 5
BetaVet Dressage 3A
Kirkwood Greenlight (Woodford BLACK) Willa Aitken 72.059 1
Kiwi Dula (Woodford BLACK) Mollie Moffett 61.618 2
Master High Voltage (Havelock North High School STARS) Mackenzie Heaton 56.176 3
Gemco 80cm AM5
Wishful (Woodford SILVER) Lucy Buchanan 71.07 1
Chekkera (Havelock North High School STARS) Kendyll Miller 67.25 2
Rosewood Classic Fame (Woodford BLACK) Annabel Kerr 69 3
Mouse (Havelock North Intermediate) Samara Thorpe 67.67 4
Otairi Sarge (Nga Tawa 2) Rebecca Anthony 73.2 5
Lowe Family 95cm AM5
Triple Star Silver Shadow (Woodford RED) Phoebe Burns 66.26 1
Glenvar Black Prince Clementine Coates 76 2
Silver Xanadu (Woodford RED) Laura Foss 69.61 3
Ataahua Captivate (Havelock North High School STARS) Tess Gordon 71.29 4
Bridie (Iona School NAVY) Milly Dever 68.26 5
Bayleys Real Estate 1.10m AM5
Mr Acho (Napier Girls High School) Ruby Mason 71.86 1
Oporaes Sky High (Woodford MAROON) Tessa Wallace 71.42 2
A Touch of Blue (Nga Tawa 1) Rebecca Robertson 69.92 3
Rump Shaker (Iona School NAVY) Molly Prenter 65.77 4
Kiwi Silverkee (Gisborne Girls High School RED) Sinead Dolman 64.61 5
Gemco 80cm Table C
Little White Cloud (Woodford SILVER) Bella Ladbrook 56.63 1
Harley Farley (Iona School WHITE) Isabella Narracci 59.22 2
Wishful (Woodford SILVER) Lucy Buchanan 64.76 3
Mouse (Havelock North Intermediate) Samara Thorpe 65.54 4
Chekkera (Havelock North High School STARS) Kendyll Miller 65.81 5
Lowe Family 95cm Table C
Missing Pieces (Fielding High School 2) Jackie Giesen 59.9 1
Triple Star Touch Of Colour (Iona School NAVY) Anna Rasmussen 61.44 2
SunKist CSNZ Ally Stevenson 62.12 3
Tallyho Reuben James (Havelock North Intermediate) Grace Stevenson 62.63 4
Feather Storm (Woodford BLACK) Tim Wilson 67.23 5
Bayleys Real Estate 1.10m Table C
Mr Acho (Napier Girls High School) Ruby Mason 58.75 1
Kiwi Dula (Woodford BLACK) Mollie Moffett 60.23 2
The Mighty Quinn (Woodford RED) Julia Hyslop 68.49 3
Oporaes Sky High (Woodford MAROON) Tessa Wallace 68.9 4
Matilda II (Woodford MAROON) Sarah McKinnon 69.27 5
1. Woodford House Black (Willa Aitken, Mollie Moffett, Annabell Kerr, Tim Wilson)
2. Woodford House Silver (Clementine Coates, Bella Ladbrook, Milly Waldin, Lucy Buchannan)
3. Woodford House Red (Phoebe Burns, Laura Foss, Julia Hyslop, Zara Waldin)
4. Napier Girls’ High School
Jessica Barr from Nga Tawa riding Magnetism in 1.10m (Image: Trewey's Photography)
Jessica Barr from Nga Tawa riding Magnetism in 1.10m at Woodford House  (Image: Trewey’s Photography)

Havelock North High Inter-school Equestrian Event 2016

Dressage 0D
The River Pirate (Iona School Gold) Bridget Haliburton 68.5 1
Leggo Aidan Wilkins 67.333 2
Oh My Goshka (Feilding High School) Ellen Davis 64 3
Toby (Feilding High School) Blake Davis 63.667 4
Watch Me Cruise Jennalee Rose 63 5
     
Dressage 1B
Alpha Beta (Woodford House) Willa Aitken 79.615 1
Paint the town (Napier Girls High School WHITE) Madison Benbow 70.385 2
Percy Mollie Moffett 70.192 3
Zanda Xanthe Furkert 66.731 4
Kaycee Comet Zara Waldin 65.577 5
Dressage IB b
Highbridge Zephyr Anna Rossiter-Stead 70.577 1
Triple Star Touch Of Colour Anna Rasmussen 67.5 2
Wishing Crown (Napier Girls High School BLUE) Ruby Mason 63.654 3
Atticus Rebecca Smith 62.692 4
Capriola Storm Harriet Savage 61.923 5
Dressage 2C
Alpha Beta Willa Aitken 73.333 1
Jubilee Fineprint (Woodford House) Willa Aitken 70.625 2
Get Smart Lauren Dolan 70.625 2
Brookslane (Dannevirke High School 1) Rebecca Aplin 67.292 4
Jet Grace Gray 66.875 5
Jump Cross 65
Summer Elegance Emily Marett 1
Chloe Cardashian Danielle Giles 2
Penny Duke Carys McCrory 3
Wishful Lucy Buchanan 4
Roll On Dior Pippa Smyth 5
Jump Cross 80
Little Man Darian Dalziel-smith 1=
Sounds Like Fun Lily Nilsson 1=
Mouse Samara Thorpe 1=
Maxwellton Friday Flash Grace Stevenson 4=
Macy Bay Julia Hyslop 4=
Jump Cross 95
Mustangs Blueprint Carys McCrory 1=
Flaming Heights Rachel Greene 1=
Kamakaze Kev Molly Prenter 3
Glenvar Black Prince Clementine Coates 4
Ataahua Captivate (Havelock North High School) Tess Gordon 5
80 cm AM5
Leggo Aidan Wilkins 1
Harley Farley Isabella Narracci 2
Triple Star Silver Shadow (Woodford House) Phoebe Burns 3
Wishful Lucy Buchanan 4
Showtym Ziggy (Havelock Intermediate) Libby Charlton 5
90cm – 1.0m AM5
Brookslane (Dannevirke High School 1) Rebecca Aplin 1
Bridie Milly Dever 2
Triple Star Touch Of Colour Anna Rasmussen 3
Glenvar Black Prince Clementine Coates 4
Flaming Heights Rachel Greene 5
1.05m – 1.10m AM5
Ballerina (Havelock North High School) Tess Gordon 1
Mr Acho (Napier Girls High School WHITE) Ruby Mason 2
The Mighty Quinn Julia Hyslop 3
Mr Fox Amanda Steele 4
Jakaranda (Dannevirke SJ Team) Amanda Steele 5
80 cm Table C
Rosewood Classic Fame Annabel Kerr 1
Little White Cloud Bella Ladbrook 2
Harley Farley Isabella Narracci 3
Triple Star Silver Shadow Phoebe Burns 4
Mouse (Havelock Intermediate) Samara Thorpe 5
90cm – 1.0m Table C
Triple Star Touch Of Colour Anna Rasmussen 1
Maxwellton Friday Flash (Havelock Intermediate) Grace Stevenson 2
Lets Chacha (Havelock North High School) Gabrielle Bell 3
Cracker Jacker (Dannevirke High School 1) Adele Rycroft 4
Spirit Of Liberty Isabella Narracci 5
1.05 – 1.10 Table C
Mr Acho (Napier Girls High School WHITE) Ruby Mason 1
Ballerina (Havelock North High School) Tess Gordon 2
The Mighty Quinn Julia Hyslop 3
Roxborough (Iona School Gold) Emmy Mullinder 4
Matilda II Sarah McKinnon 5

 

 

Previous articleKent falls off & wins!
Next articleGetting ready for Equidays