The country’s top horse riders will descend on the PE Riding Club for the SA Team and Individual Championships next week.
Scheduled to be contested between September 25 and 29, the five-day competition will see some talented competitors from SA’s horse riding community do battle in the arena at PE Riding Club.
The championships start on Wednesday with the teams' section and will include a series of events geared to test the overall abilities of both the riders and their horses.
The individual events start on Thursday and run through to Sunday, where riders, in their individual capacities, go head to head across five categories for the remaining days.
Juliet Scallan, show co-ordinator of the SA Adult Championship 2024, said the event was billed as a “Beauty Pageant for Horses.
She said the sport, while not at the level of sports like cricket, rugby and soccer, was still a very technical code.
“Rider and horse presentation is very important, with riders and owners going to great lengths to show off their prized possessions.
“Think about a model walking down a ramp, you want to be the most eye-catching model up there, so that is what they try to do.
“On the other hand, the riders are very technical in what they do because they have to be real showmen,” she told HeraldLIVE.
Three national judges will keep a keen eye on how closely the combination of rider and horse matches up to specific criteria.
“The judges look at aspects like overall impression, good confirmation, presentation and then the behaviour of the horses is also something that is quite closely monitored,” she said.
The event is held under the auspices of the SA Showing Association and hosted by Eastern Cape Showing.
Scallan said it was great to have the championships back in the province again after a rotation period of eight years.
“The sport has grown incredibly in the Eastern Cape. We were hoping to get about 200 entries for this particular event, but we actually received 463 entries, so it is bursting at the seams,” she said.
Scallan said a host of new events had been added to the discipline in recent years and this particular championship would see the introduction of the Grooms in Hand team and individual events.
“For the first time, we will have Grooms in Hand team competitions, as well as individual events, and we will also have a complete Grooms' Ridden Class.
“We have really tried to include the gentlemen who work with the horses on a daily basis. They will be showing off their horses in hand and in saddles, and not just the owners,” she said.
Scallan thanked the sponsors for their generous contributions towards making the show possible.
HeraldLIVE
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