The New Zealand Pony Club 2017 Inter-Pacific team has returned to New Zealand triumphant in the Nations Cup, and all members are raving about their experiences.
Coach Anne-Marie Styles was still buzzing a few days later. “I had such a great time, it totally exceeded my expectations. The people we met were fabulous, and there were so many things that we got to do. I’d highly recommend it to anyone in pony club to aspire to and I’m certainly going to tell the clubs I coach at to encourage their members to do it.”
The Inter-Pacific Exchange rally is held every two years and this year it was in South and North Carolina, USA. New Zealand’s team consisted of Nicole Sweney (Franklin Thames Valley), Zoe Gordon (Hawke’s Bay), Rosa Reiger (Auckland) and Jenny Bevege (Waikato) with Anne-Marie (Clevedon) as coach and Louise Ilton (Manawatu) as manager.
Anne-Marie admitted to being a little nervous initially about going, especially leaving young children at home, and says, “None of us really knew each other apart from Rosa and myself a little bit, so we all met at the airport, with the exception of a training session with three of the team at my place a couple of weeks before we went. The team gelled really well, we had so many laughs, and got on so well. They all supported each other, and were a really neat group to go away with. I didn’t want to leave! It was such a cool experience, I had no idea how great it was going to be.”
The teams from USA, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand travelled together, and had lots of adventures. There was plenty on the agenda, and it wasn’t all about riding horses. The trip included Independence Day celebrations, which according to Anne-Marie, were quite an eye-opener. “There were a lot of rednecks out and about that night!”
Competitions
There were three equestrian competitions, starting with a games day / gymkhana. The second was a ‘scrambled teams’ event, and the Nations Cup was held on the final day.
The standard of riding was varied, in Anne-Marie’s opinion. “The American girls were all very good and the Aussies were pretty good, very capable. A couple from Hong Kong were very good with their other two not so experienced, and the same with Canada. The Kiwi girls all did a really good job.
“The horses were quite diverse. For the games competition, there was a mule, and while she was a really cute mule, I was thinking ‘holy heck, what have we come to?’”
Fortunately the standard of horse improved as the competitions got more serious. “Some were gorgeous: the horse Rosa rode in the Nations Cups, we wanted to bring home.”
Anne-Marie says that the jumps were not particularly high in any of the competitions. “The Nations Cup was about a metre. The organisers said that even though the rules say it should be 1.10m, getting people to loan their horses for that height proved harder than getting them to lend them for the lower level.”
Kangaroo Cup
The first proper competition was a mini-ODE with ‘scrambled’ teams (i.e. one rider from each nation), which ensured that everyone got to know each other. This competition was a highlight for Nicole Sweney, fresh from her games day experience of riding a mule. “It was so much fun! Rita [the mule] was awesome to ride and I thoroughly enjoyed it!” But it was in the Kangaroo cup where Nicole really showed her talents. “I was lucky enough to finish first individually and my team was second overall.”
Nations Cup
The last competition was the serious one: the Nations Cup. As usual in teams competitions, there was one discard score for each team and a timed jump-off if teams were equal at the end of the two rounds. Anne-Marie says that it was a lot more adrenaline-filled than she expected. “Australia and New Zealand both had three clear rounds and Hong Kong and America had four faults. We jumped off against Australia for first and second. It really came down to it; there were four seconds in it in the end.”
New Zealand took the win and it was a proud Kiwi moment when the national anthem was played. For Nicole Sweney, this made it extra special. “Doing the lap of honour with our national anthem playing is an experience that I will never forget!”
Unfortunately, there was no trophy to present as the Australians had forgotten to return it! “We had been joking among ourselves on how we were keen to get our hands on the silverware,” says Anne-Marie. “It is a really impressive trophy, from what we heard. At the prize-giving, they gave out the rosettes and played the national anthem, and we were going, ‘Where’s the trophy?’ The organisers said it would be presented that night at the awards dinner. When we got there, it was ‘Umm, we’re really sorry, it’s not here.’ It was a bit of a let-down. They gave us a plastic cup instead, and all we could do was laugh and take it in good humour. Apparently Aussie is sending the trophy over, and hopefully it will be here in time for a presentation at next weekend’s Pony Club conference in Wellington.”
It’s been 10 years since New Zealand won the Nations Cup; they also won it on American soil (or perhaps sand) in 2007. Earlier Kiwi wins were in 1961, 1969, 1971, 1979, 1985 and 1987, 1991 and 1999. Will they manage to triumph again in Hong Kong in 2019?
Visiting Tryon – the 2018 World Equestrian Games venue
The teams visited Tryon International Equestrian Centre where the World Equestrian Games will be held next year. This was a big highlight for everyone, and Anne-Marie describes the venue as ‘amazing’. “We didn’t even get around the whole thing. The main arena is incredible and there are so many outer arenas which are also world class.” Jenny Bevege agrees, and will try to wrangle a trip back there next year for WEG.
The visit was made even more special as they saw fellow Kiwi, Sharn Wordley, jump a clear round in the first round of a Grand Prix. Unfortunately due to travel arrangements, they couldn’t catch up with him or stay to see the next round.
One concern that Anne-Marie does have about WEG is the accommodation. “I don’t know where everyone is going to stay, there is no accommodation in the immediate vicinity. The town of Tryon, while not that close to the venue, is a bit bigger than Clevedon but a lot smaller than Cambridge. It is a one-street town with a few shops, but I didn’t see any hotels. There are cabins at the venue which I understand the teams and staff will be able to stay in. Spectators will either need to rent houses or have to travel quite a distance.”
Everyone agreed that North Carolina is a nice place, and very pretty. “I guess coming from New Zealand you are not wowed by the scenery because of what we are used to here, but it certainly was very green and the people are very friendly,” says Anne-Marie.
The team also enjoyed some kayaking and zip-lining – which proved to be a highlight.
Outnumbered
There was just one boy among all the girls at the event. Blake, from Australia, was also the youngest rider, and took a shine to the Kiwi team, says Anne-Marie. “He tried to tell us he was half New Zealander and pretty much adopted us; he was like our fifth team member and spent pretty much the entire time with us. He was very sad when we said goodbye at the airport.”
Many years ago teams had a set number of boys and girls, but this has evolved. Anne-Marie thinks a balance would be better, and managers and coaches discussed the possibility of changes in future, but an issue for some countries is that not many of their riders obtain their B certificate (a requirement for IPE) and they struggle to make the numbers. New Zealand doesn’t have that problem, however, and we had a long list of riders good enough to go. If Anne-Marie has her way, there will be an even longer list next time. “I have already said to the kids I teach in Auckland who are about 16 or 17, that they need to make this their goal for 2019. It is such a cool experience. I will be trying to go back; hopefully I’ll get the chance.”
Lifelong memories
Obviously, everyone had an amazing time – perhaps even a life-changing experience. For Nicole Sweney, this wasn’t because it was her first trip to USA, but because of the friendships she made. “Our team was so supportive of each other; we really came together and rode our best, which was such an awesome thing to be a part of! I’ve definitely made friends for life and can’t wait to see how the rest of my teammates get on in the future – they are all such talented riders and lovely people, who I’m sure will go on to be really successful. I’d definitely encourage anyone thinking about applying for the next Inter-Pacific Exchange to do so. It is an amazing experience that I will remember for the rest of my life.”
“I had one of the most memorable, action-packed two weeks of my life,” said Rosa Reiger. “I met amazing people from all over the world and was lucky enough to have the best team I could ask for to experience it with. Highlights for me would have to be the zip-lining and kayaking as I love the outdoors and may have to rethink my profession! Tryon Equestrian Centre was unreal, and certainly a dream of mine is to one day ride there. Of course, achieving what we were actually there for, winning the Nations Cup, just topped it all off!”
Zoe Gordon adds, “Our team had so much fun together. We did something new and challenging every day, I particularly enjoyed the kayaking with Rosa and showing the Americans how to do a decent rope swing into the river! Winning at the end topped off the experience.”
For Jenny Bevege, the trip was a combination of her two favourite things: horses and travelling. She was very grateful to the owners of the borrowed horses and says, “It was amazing how generous they were. Each and every horse presented was well trained and had ability. I love riding, and be able to do it in a different country really topped it off. My other highlight was the people I was able to hang out with. I have horse friends all over the world now! I have to remind myself that it actually happened! And it definitely grew me as a person. It’s something I’d recommend to any pony club kid. USA Pony Club has a great slogan of ‘Where it all begins’.’ And here pony club has given me the chance to ride for a New Zealand team.
“Louise [team manager] was literally the driving force behind our team,” Jenny adds. “Without her we would have been very lost.”
Louise herself says, “This trip was a fabulous eye-opener that had plenty of highlights. However, the biggest was seeing our girls come together and take out the Nations Cup in what was the ultimate team effort; they rode beautifully. I heard many compliments from the sideline about their riding. It made me very proud of the fabulous work NZPCA coaches and the equine community do to produce such lovely young riders.”
All photos supplied by the team – thanks!
