Australia Day Awards - Nagambie

Euroa-gazette.com.au

Wednesday, 28 January 2009

Residents in the Nagambie district gathered in the RSL Park at 9.30am for their welcoming address, flag-raising, National Anthem and Affirmation.

Nagambie's Australia Day Ambassador was Peter “Crackers” Keenan, who delivered an address for the occasion.

Nagambie's Australia Day Awards were presented as follows:

Young Citizen of the Year - Samantha Cubbin

Samantha, or 'Sam' for short, is fifteen years old and attends the Seymour Secondary School. She has been around horses since she was a baby, starting with pony rides on older Pony Club horses with her twin brother, Phillip. However, she did not take up riding seriously until the age of eleven, as she was diagnosed with a tumour in her arm. Numerous operations and treatments kept her away from horses for a few years but the growth is now under control and Sam now only misses a couple of months here and there when she needs another operation.

In 2004 Sam began endurance riding. In the past two years she has dominated the State's junior division with her horse Kimba, and may well have taken out the national junior distance title, too. She recently began endurance riding with Tiawarra Ramy, her pony club horse at Tatura Pony Club.

The State Championships at Stanley in 2006 was Sam’s first 160 kilometre ride. She was so tired when she came in off the fourth leg that she fell asleep sitting up with her soup in her lap. She headed out for the fifth leg with a promise of fish and chips for tea if she got back before the shop shut, and subsequently passed five other riders!

Sam is the third generation of a family that has been endurance riding and horse-training for more than twenty-five years, and her achievements include:

* 2006 - Sam: 1st Vic points rider junior, 2nd Vic distance rider junior, 1st Vic one horse one rider all divisions (fifth junior to ever win this title), 5th Nationals distance rider junior, 5th National points rider junior, 2nd Victorian State championship junior; Kimba: 1st Vic points horse, 1st Vic distance horse, 2nd National distance horse, 2nd National points horse.

* 2007 - Sam: 6th National points rider junior, 4th National distance rider junior, 1st Vic points rider junior, 1st Vic distance rider junior; Kimba: 1st National distance horse, 3rd National points horse, 1st Vic distance horse, 1st Vic points horse.

More...

Australia: Sutton and Best named in Australia Day awards

Mudgee.yourguide.com.au - Full Article

BY DON MAHONEY
27/01/2009

Mudgee endurance rider Mette Sutton was named Mid-Western Regional Council sportsperson of the year at Australia Day ceremonies held in Robertson Park on Monday.

The rider, who may be the first endurance rider to win this prestigious award, capped a fine year in the sport with a second in the state championships and was then selected to be part of the support team for the Australian team at the world championships held in Malaysia in November.

"The trip to Malaysia was probably the highlight as it was the first time I have ever gone overseas," Sutton said.

"I had to nominate to be a part of that team and I enjoyed the experience immensely.

"My focus for the future is to continue riding and I hope we have another great season in 2009."

More...

Australia: Horse Flu Free State a Winner

Qt.com.au - Full Article

Felicity Caldwell | 11th January 2009

THE Toft family received a belated Christmas present recently when the world officially acknowledged Australia was equine influenza (EI) free.

The official recognition from the World Organisation for Animal Health follows a sustained surveillance and compliance effort in the 12 months since the last notified case of equine influenza on Christmas Day, 2007.

Tallegalla endurance horse breeder Peter Toft said the most significant announcement for the industry was when people were allowed to move their horses and go about their normal activities.

But the official recognition was great news for Australia, as it would reassure international industry members.

"That can help put a bit more confidence in the international market for our horses," Mr Toft said.

More...

Australia: Endurance rider in Tom Quilty Cup

The Wagin Argus
16/10/2008 2:41:00 PM

photo: TROTTING TIME: Corey Lunt trotting out “Cameo Stormboy” during the pre-ride vet check at the 2008 Tom Quilty Cup National championship in Queensland.

WAGIN endurance rider Corey Lunt has just returned home from Nanango in Queensland, where he competed in the 2008 Tom Quilty Cup National Championship 160km ride, obtaining his second Quilty buckle.

The championship event travels from State to State each year, with Corey winning the junior division and his horse Assiff, receiving the best conditioned horse junior award last year when it was in Western Australia.

This year Corey and his mother Anita were offered horses to ride by former WA riders Roman and Tanya Stoffel who have relocated to Queensland.

More than 200 competitors from Australia, Malaysia, Canada, Japan, America and the United Arab Emirates started the event at 4am on Saturday with only 99 riders successfully completing the course in the allowed 24 hour period.

The course was split into six legs of distances ranging from 32km to 15km with the horses having to pass strict veterinary checks at the end of each leg before being allowed to proceed.

No longer eligible to ride in the junior division, Corey placed 38th in the middleweight division, completing in a time of 18 hours 42 minutes.

WA riders Harry O’Brien and Simon Slemint, both of Burekup, also completed the course successfully.

“The course was really hard, we were either going up or down with not much flat going at all,” Corey said.

“A lot of the course was over the same ground as the Trans Tasman last year so I had an idea of how hard it was going to be.

“The weather made it more difficult though, as it got to about 32 degrees and high humidity during the day, followed by a really big thunderstorm during the night.”

Corey was halfway up the highest peak with 15km left to go when the storm hit.

“Mum’s horse vetted out for lameness at the 120km mark so I was riding by myself at that stage, and there was that much lightning around it was like daylight and the thunder sounded like it was right on top of us,” he said.

“When it started to hail and rain I didn’t think about the cold too much, I was more worried about missing the directional markers and getting lost.

“My horse just put his head down and got on with the job, only spooking a couple of times when the thunder got really loud. He was brilliant.”

At the peak of the storm, organisers took the unprecedented steps to suspend the ride due to safety reasons.

Competitors due to go on track were held in until the storm had passed, with their ride times being adjusted accordingly.

However, riders already on the track had to keep moving and weather the conditions as best they could.

Corey said he would like thank Healthways Smarter than Smoking and Milne Feeds Team Pegasus for their continued support along with Roman and Tanya Stoffel and Wade Burgess for allowing him to ride their horse, aptly named Stormy.

[full article]

Australia: Lachlan members few but spirited in endurance ride

Full article - Cowra Guardian

10/10/2008 9:04:00 AM
There were only a few of the Lachlan Club members attend this year’s state championships at Manilla as it was very close to both the Shahzada 400kms in August and the Tom Quilty which this year took the unusual date in September in Queensland at Nanango.

This was necessary due to the timing of the comeback out of EI restrictions and the Victorian committee not quite being ready to take interstate horses at the time.

The event attracted a good number of riders with a total of 86 combinations to tackle the Manilla course which was generally considered to be an “easy” course if there is such a thing in 100 mile rides.

What did make it difficult was the concussive nature of the hard roads and tracks in the district together with lack of natural water on track.

The ride organisers did put some troughs about on the later legs of the ride during the more difficult sections of the track.

Outright winner and state champion was Stuart Hitchcock of Kurrajong riding his gelding Farras coming across the line with lightweight rider from Blayney Dianne Luker riding Peter Cooper’s gelding Anabriar Khaboul.

Robin Gossip of Woodstock made the trip with her gelding Wesswood Willow and strapper Dianne Cameron. Robin unfortunately went out after the fourth leg with Willow pulling up lame.

John Symons of Canowindra also competed on his mare Forestdale Xasperation, however this duo also suffered lameness after the third leg.

Alan Lindsay took his mare Kintamani Charisma and junior rider Emma Smith rode Alan’s gelding Kintamani Mistral in the Manilla event in order to qualify for the Tom Quilty as riders have to have completed a 160km event before they are permitted to take on the Quilty.

Both Alan and Emma were successful with Emma coming in third junior, an excellent effort considering both her and the horse were making their first 160kms event.

Australia: Endurance horse riding showcased in Tom Quilty Gold Cup

News.com.au - Full Article and a video

By Phil Hammond

October 01, 2008 05:15pm

IN the horse world, there's no better compliment than being recognised as a good rider. And in the popular sport of endurance riding, that means ensuring you ride so well that your horse stays healthy over vast distances.

So when the sport's national championship event; the Tom Quilty Gold Cup, was staged around Nanango in the South Burnett, it was a community gathering of people who adore their horses.

All year they compete and exercise their lean and elegant companions, covering multiple long-distance rides, which may include the 400km Shahzada ride and the 320km, four-day Faraway event.

Riders and horses must succeed in many events to qualify to enter the Quilty. The honour is to finish and be awarded a belt buckle.

At the weekend, 55 per cent of 204 starters finished the course. International competitor Meg Wade, from Victoria, was first home in under 11 hours, averaging 16km/h over the full distance. A massive storm on Saturday night caught 60 riders out on the course. One woman crawled beneath a parked car and held her horse's reins as rain bucketed down.

More...