Equidays is all about the horse. And they come in all shapes and sizes, all colours and breeds and all of them have enthusiastic riders, owners and breeders loving the spectacle that brings horse and horse-lover together.

The three-day horse extravaganza at Mystery Creek on October 14-16 certainly delivered on variety and entertainment with seminars, clinics, displays and competition. The horse-loving spectator needed the three days just to take everything in.

Lucy Olphert won the feature event of the second day of Equidays, on a horse her and her family bred and produced. Winning the $10,000 Hyundai Derby was a tough competition with several top riders contesting closely for the win.

Lucy went into the tough competition with a positive mindset. “We had prepared for this as best as we could. I have a very special horse and at the end of the day you just have to ride your heart out and she [the horse] jumped her heart out,” says Lucy.

Eve Saint Laurent has been a nine-year project for Lucy. “It is just a very special and rewarding feeling when hard work and patience pays off.

“It has been a tough road and a lot of people have asked me why I have hung on to her. She has not been easy, but I think the good ones have those quirks and that is what makes them so special.”

Sensible spend

Lucy says the $10,000 first prize will be spent on sensible things. “The equipment I use, the horses’ nutrition. I need to put the money towards those things but maybe I will be able to upgrade my tow vehicle. We are so lucky to have incredible sponsors like Hyundai. It is a really, really generous prize.”

Lucy was the only rider in the two-round competition to produce two clear rounds. Vicki Wilson on Ngahiwi Showtym Premier really put the pressure on Lucy, jumping clear in the second round after having just one rail in the first round and finished second. Taupo rider Holly Morrell was third on Pampero and the horse Grand Prix winner, Amanda Wilson on Showtym Cassanova, was fourth.

Bling certainly lived up to his name during the ‘trot up’ with his rider Oliver Dalton.

The Equidays Pony Grand Prix was also hotly contested but in the end it was Emma Watson on Fun Time who won. She was just a second faster than Deanna Horsburgh on Showtym Endeavour in the timed jump-off.

Credit to Pink

Emma gave her 12-year-old part-Appaloosa pony, who goes by the nickname of ‘Pink’, a lot of the credit. “The competition was very tight, there were some really fast clear rounds.

“I am lucky enough to have Pink and we took an inside turn that no one else did and so we came away with the best time!”

Emma was last to go in the jump off, so she knew what she had to do. “It was either make it or break it with that inside turn.”

 
A lovely Gypsy Cob under saddle in the Gypsy Cob display.