Nga Tawa Diocesan School win their Championship grade at the Hainan International Equestrian Carnival in China. (L-R): Emma Page, Rangihou McClutchie, Manaia Sheridan and Maddi Honeyfield.

Students from Nga Tawa Diocesan School reigned supreme at the Hainan International Equestrian Carnival organised by the China Pony Club recently.  They won their Inter-School Championship grade up against schools from China, with a school from Australia also invited to take part.  The trip was coordinated by elite ESNZ coach and Nga Tawa head of equestrian Andrew Scott and his wife Louise, in the first week of the Christmas school holidays.  

One team member had an especially wide smile on her face at the opportunity to represent the school.  Year 12 student Rangihou McClutchie is from Hicks Bay on the East Coast, and she is the first youngster from her community to become a boarder at the elite school, let alone make the school team that won the championship.

She says it was an experience to remember and didn’t come without challenges.  They arrived late and had the last pick of the ponies, and only had an hour to get used to them on the day before the competition started. 

“The horses were school ponies and a little bit naughty when you first got on, because they were testing to see if we were good enough to ride them and tried to take advantage of us.  But they were still quite honest, and they went for it when we needed them to,” says Rangihou. 

As a youngster, Rangihou demonstrated a natural talent on her father’s barrel racing horse.

Riding a pony she did not know “wasn’t really like a big new thing” for her.  A fourth generation equestrian, Rangihou has been riding with her whanau since she was five, first inheriting her sister’s pony then graduating to her father’s barrel racer. 

Her family breeds East Coast stationbreds that come from the Pintado Desperado line.  Also, Rangihou’s mother Georgia Komene has recently acquired a stallion from the stable of Paul Johnson, a legendary breeder from Ruatoria who is related to Rangihou’s great grandmother, Ducky Johnson.

“They’re pretty much good for anything, really.  Recreational riding – not necessarily competition – but they are really well-schooled, and good and strong.   The latest ones we’re working with are likely to lean towards the show hunter type, because they’re a bit big,” says Georgia.

Rangihou regularly uses the beach to school the horses, as there are no arenas nor flat paddocks to train in. During the school term, she takes a horse to Marton to board with her, and it falls on Georgia to keep their other horses fit for her daughter’s return in the holidays.

FEI dressage judge and breeder Winky Foley says attending Nga Tawa Diocesan School is giving Rangihou the opportunity to see what is out there for young riders with passion.

“She’s seeing what is available beyond the East Coast. She has a good future ahead of her, and if she gets the support from good people who are watching out for her, she’ll get there.  She’s brave and determined and very confident for her age.”

Rangihou McClutchie enjoys a wide range of equestrian sports on the East Coast.

Winky, who grew up in Ruatoria, says the activities of the young Māori riders are a great foundation to build their skills on.

“The horse sports are amazing. You see 10-year-old kids competing and riding absolutely brilliantly.  They have barrels and flags – you name it – and they might have show jumping and things like that. It’s the skills, the turns, how to stay with a horse, how to make it respond,” says Winky.

“Bare back riding and going down to the beach, and doing treks through the woods, they’re all riding like they should be.”

Rangihou enjoys riding in the hills with her cousins Hine and Adelaide.

Winky pays credit to Rangihou’s whanau for working hard to support her riding passion and sending her to the private school.  And Rangihou likes to share the new skills she is learning when she goes back home.  Last year, she ran her first jump clinic for some of the youngsters in Tolaga Bay.  A good turnout “kept her busy” according to Georgia.

“Since she was little, she’s always been very determined. That’s everything though, not just riding. It’s been everything that she’s done, athletics, academics, she’s just always done her best,” she says.  Rangihou’s dream is to become a horse trainer.

Meantime, Nga Tawa’s Andrew Scott plans to return to China with a new team to be selected at the end of the year.

“This will become a yearly competition for the girls to look forward to,” he says.

Rangihou and her whanau were featured in the Hōiho Riding On television series on Māori TV.  You can see her story in episode 5 of the series:  https://www.maoriplus.co.nz/show/hoiho-riding-on