Star Spotters 2022-2023

Holly Clark is 10 years old and lives in Mapua, Nelson.  Her pony Tarahua Shiloh (Shiloh), is a Welsh X, is 12 years old and stands at a whopping 112cm.

Holly has been riding for 3 years but has only been in partnership with Shiloh for the last 6 months.  They have competed in Introductory Dressage and training Show Jumping up to 80cm.  They’ve competed in Pony Club Teams events for Motueka Pony Club, including the Marlborough Trophy (dressage) and Top of the South ODE in May.

This season will be Holly’s first proper jumping season and she is very much looking forward to getting out and about with Shiloh and learning as much as they can about jumping.  They also plan to do some Category A Show Hunter and have entered their first registered show in Nelson on the 27/28 August.

One of Holly’s main goals for the season is not to grow too much, as Shiloh is only 11.1hh and as he’s the best team mate ever, she doesn’t want to outgrow him just yet.  

Good Luck Holly and Shiloh!!!

Kaitlyn (Kate) Agnew hails from the Marlborough Area and is 11 years old.  Kate goes to Redwoodtown Primary School in Blenheim and attends Marshlands Pony Club, where she has gained her D+ Certificate so far.

Kate has been riding for 8 years.  It all started when her Aunty bought her some riding lessons for her 3rd birthday and after that there was no looking back.

Kate’s first pony, “Mouse”, wasn’t too keen on jumping so they focused on A&P showing classes.  When she got her current pony “Surreyholme Standing Ovation” aka “Stretch”, she was very excited to start jumping higher than 50cm.  Unfortunately, lots of shows were cancelled due to Covid, so they haven’t had too many chances to test themselves yet.  

Kate and Stretch competed in their first ODE in May at 65cm and were clear in the Show Jumping, but had some stops in the Cross Country.  They have since been doing some training Show Jumping and Show Hunter days up to 75cm.

Kate’s goal is to place in an 80cm class in either Show Jumping or Show Hunter and make it around a Cross Country course with a live score at the end.  

We wish Kate and Stretch all the best for the coming season!!!

Poppy hails from Awapuni, Palmerston North.  She has been riding for 4 1/2 years and goes to Palmerston North Pony Club and currently holds her C Certificate.

Poppy and her partner Ruatoki Nugget (Nugget) have been enjoying doing some Cat C Pony Show Hunter, with some wins and placings at the Wanganui Series.  They’ve also competed at the Dunstan Winter series in 70, 80 and 90cm.  

They’ve been part of a team at the Nga Tawa Interschools Event and have been to an Express Event.  They are also the Reserve for the Manawatu Show Hunter Champs

Their goal this season is to compete in some Horse of the Year Qualifying events and to ride consistently at 90cm Show Jumping and have their first go at 1.00m.  Poppy also has a Tb hack who she wants to start competing.

Poppy will be under the guidance of her mentor, Lucy Fell, so will be in good hands.  We wish Poppy all the best for the season and we understand she already has ribbons under her belt. 

Tyler is a 12 year old Flemington School student and a keen member of the CHB PONY CLUB. She has recently been named on the CHBPC Show Hunter team, having stolen her mother, Judy’s horse, Craighaven Kitty O’Shea, aka Kitty.

Kate is 14 and attends Ashburton College.  She has been a member of Tinwald Pony Club for the last two years and currently has her C Certificate.

Kate has been riding since she was 3 years old but has just had her mount, Bee Trix Cee (Trix) for the last 6 months.  They have attended the South Island Mounted Games and the Pony Club Champs in 2022.  They have also competed at some ODE’s up to 65cm and Pony Club Show Hunter up to 80cm.

Their goals for the season are to jump some 80cm rounds with more confidence and then move up to 90cm.  Kate would also love to work on Trix’s style, so that she can really nail some Show Hunter rounds.  

We wish Kate and Trix all the best for the season.

Faris is a 10 year old student at Wakaaranga Primary School.  He attends Whitford Pony Club where he has gained his D+ Certificate and is now working towards his C Certificate.

Faris rides Goldleigh Indelible (Indy), who he’s had for 1 year and 1/2.  They have been competing in Show Jumping up to 1m and Eventing up to Pre-Training.  He has competed in a couple of Pony Club Teams events including the Lorna Stewart Trophy at 75cm, where he placed 1st overall and the team came 3rd.  He also gained a 3rd in the 1m class at Papatoetoe Pony Club winter show jumping series.

Faris’ goals for this season are to consistently compete at 90, 1.00 and 1.05m and hopefully step up to 1.10m.  Faris has never tried Show Hunter before but would love to give it a go this season.

All the best for the season Faris and Indy.   Please send us some updates and photos.

Breanne is 13 years old and in her first year at Gisborne Girls High School.  She attends Pine Hollow Pony Club.

Breanne has been riding for two years and has had her pony Hearty Ngati (Manaaki) for a year.  Manaaki (which means “to care for”) was green broke when she got him and Breanne has done all the schooling with him.  This has allowed them to form a great bond.

With so many cancellations due to weather and Covid, they have not had many opportunities to get out and compete.  In January 2022 they competed in a Rising Star Show Jumping class.   This was their first full course of jumping.  In July 2022 they competed for a second time in 70 & 80cm.  They rode clear first rounds but made a couple of mistakes in their second phase, from which they have learnt a lot.

Their goals for the season are to ride more consistently at 80-90cm and continue to build their confidence and aim towards 1m.  They also are very keen to meet new people of similar ages and with the same love of horses.  They want to enjoy going to as many shows as possible and learn and experience many new things.

Breanne is lucky to have Leonie Belk as her mentor from the Gisborne area.  We would love to hear how your season is going and best of luck on your adventures.

Seraphine is 18 years old, hails from Dunedin and attends the University of Otago.  She has been riding for around 10 years.  She’s going to start at Dunedin Pony Club when the season starts in October.

Seraphine rides Jessie’s Girl (Jessie) who she’s had for around 3 months.  They have competed together up to 1m Show Jumping and 80cm Eventing.  Seraphine has jumped up to 1.20m at home on her previous horse.  Jessie is a new mount for the season and Seraphine feels extremely lucky to have the ride for the season.

Their goals for this season are to work towards jumping 1m by Christmas and possibly try a couple of 1.10m by the end of the season.  Seraphine would love to get to the National Show Jumping Champs in February for the Emerging Horse Championships.

We wish Seraphine and Jessie luck and hope they achieve everything they set out to do.

Ella lives in Poukawa in the Hawkes Bay, goes to Twyford School and attends Flaxmere Pony Club, where she has gained her D Certificate.

Ella has been riding for 7 years but has only been riding her pony Kaieto Tiki Tane (Tiki) for just over a year.  

They have attended lots of local pony club shows, including ODEs, Show Jumping events, Gymkhanas and Sports Days.

Their goals are to compete at ODEs up to 65cm and they would love to be placing in their 70-80cm Show Jumping rounds and aim to move up to 90cm.

We wish Ella and Tiki all the best for the season.

Tom hails from Waipu, Northland and is 12 year old.  He attends Bream Bay College and goes to One Tree Point Pony Club. They have been going to pony club for 2 years and have their C Certificate.

Tom’s pony is WG Peter Pan “Pete” (pictured below) and he’s been riding him for 2 years.  They have been jumping 70cm but are starting to do some 80cm.  They spend a lot of time at Barge Park in Whangerei and have also done some ODEs and Dressage.

Tom’s goal for this season is to jump 80-90cm or maybe even 1m on Pete.  Tom has a couple of other ponies.  Maleeka who he plans to do some 70cm on until he can sell her and Pedro, who he would like to help break in and sell on.  He would love to do some Dressage days as well.

Tom has a wonderfully supportive group in Northland and we wish him and Pete the best for the season.

Lea is 14 years old and hails from Timaru.  She attends Roncalli College and is in Year 9.  Lea has been riding for 4 years and has been riding her pony, Shooting Arrow (Dexter) for 3 of those.

Up to now they have participated in Cowboy Challenges and one low level Dressage day.

Lea’s plans are to start Show Jumping and to complete at least a 1m round clear by the end of the season.  She would love to make new friends that love jumping and ponies as  much as she does.  Also she would love to improve her position and technique to make it easier for Dexter to do his job.

We know SCNO area will help Lea and Dexter on their journey and we here at ESNZ would love to see any updates throughout the season.

Quinn is 10 years old and comes from Whanganui.  She goes to  Kakatahi School and attends Waimarino Pony Club. 

 She has been riding since she was 5 years old.  Rocky was her first pony and Mikey was her second.  They both still live with the Hamiltons. Her current ride is “Mouse”, who is known as “Oh My Choux Fly” in the competition ring.  Quinn has been riding Mouse since May 2022.

This season is going to be Quinn’s first season out and about competing.  She entered a couple of competitions towards the end of last season and had good success in the heights they jumped.

Her goals for this season are to grow her relationship with Mouse and be competitive at 90cm-1m.  Quinn’s main goal is to make more friends and to learn heaps from lots of different people.

We’re sure Quinn will achieve her goals and hope she keeps us up to date with her and Mouse’s progress throughout the season.

Rebecca comes from Cambridge and is almost a teenager, turning 13 in October.  She goes to Cambridge Middle School and is in Year 8.  She also attends Cambridge East Maungakawa Pony Club where she’s been a member for the last 4 years.  She currently holds her C Certificate.

Rebecca has been riding for 5 years and her current pony is Good as Gold (Pedro) who she has been riding for 1 year.

They have been to a few local shows, an ODE, represented their pony club in dressage and been to 2 “Let’s Jump” Show Jumping shows at the NI NEC at Taupo.

Rebecca would love to be able to gain more confidence with her jumping and her big goal is to compete at the Land Rover Horse of the Year.

We’re sure you will gain a lot of confidence with the help of the Waikato area and we look forward to seeing your progress.

Charlotte is from Tinwald in Ashburton and is 13 years old.  She goes to Ashburton Intermediate and attends Tinwald Pony Club, where she’s been a member for approx 7 years.

Charlotte started riding when she was around 3-4 years old.  Her pony “Donut” who is known as “Donut Deluxe” in the show ring is an 11 year old mare standing at just 137.5cm.

They have competed in lots of local events, including Show Hunter, Show Jumping, ODEs and they also had a go at some showing and saddle hunter.  Charlotte recently won Champion Pony at their local Tinwald Pony Club Show.  Charlotte’s favourite thing to compete in is Show Hunter.

Her goal for the season is to go to as many Show Hunter competitions as possible and qualify for the Land Rover Horse of the Year in 2o23.

With Ashburton Area supporting her, we’re sure that Charlotte will reach her goal and we can’t wait to see her at LRHOY next year!

11 year old Ella comes from Wairoa in the Hawkes Bay. She goes to  St Joseph’s Primary School and has attended Wairoa Pony Club for the last 3 years.

Ella has been riding for 5 years and has been riding “Ivin Patch” (Patch) for 1 year and a 1/2.  They have competed at the Wairoa show in Dressage, Pleasure classes and Devery Jump which is at Introductory Level.

Their goals are to compete in Show Jumping and Show Hunter, starting at 50cm and working their way up the heights.

Ella is lucky to have the backing of the Northern Hawkes Bay Area Group, so she is in good hands and we wish her all the best for the season.

Annabel is 10 years old and attends Tua Marina School.  Annabel started riding a 17.3hh old hunter when she was about 7 years old.  She’d spent quite a bit of time hanging on behind Mum, but old Winston looked after her beautifully.  But soon Annabel was after more speed.

Willowmead Melody (Willow) has been in the family since she was broken in and Annabel has been riding her for two years.  Mostly mucking around at home and doing some trekking with family.

Annabel’s goals for the season are to do as much jumping as possible and improve as much as she can.  She would love to thank ESNZ for this opportunity and the Marlborough Area for supporting her becoming a Star Spotter.

We can’t wait to hear how you go Annabel and make sure you send us some updates.

11 year old Lily had her first pony, a Shetland, at the age of 3!

Lily attends St Matthews Collegiate and goes to Wairarapa Pony Club, where she’s been a member for the last 2 years.  She’s also gained her D+ Certificate.

Lily has been riding Jack or Black Bazinga as he’s known in the competition ring, for 8 months.  They’ve been mainly doing local events like Sports days and local shows.

Their goals for the season are to do a confident and clear 90cm round and maybe even compete in a 1m class.

We wish Lily and Jack all the best for the season.  With a team like Wairarapa behind them, we’re sure they will do well.

Anikah is 17 and attends St Peter’s College.  She has been riding since she was 8 years old.  Anikah’s partner is Amaya or “Paint the Night” as she’s known competitively.

Anikah has attended quite a few training days and went to a few shows last year.  They hope to go to a lot more this season.  

Their goals for the season is to be consistent at 1m and possibly give their first 1.05m a go.  She would also be able to get better at seeing the strides before the jump.

Anikah and Amaya have a very supportive group in Southland and we’re sure they’re going to do very well.  All the best!!!

Loretta hails from Canterbury and is 14 years old and attends Kaiapoi High.  She’s been a member of Belfast Pony Club for the last 3 years and has her C Certificate.

Loretta rides Greta, who is now known as “No Regreta” at shows.  They have been at a lot of training days and pony club events with success.  She also rode in Springston Trophy 2022 and the Interschools Champs week. They are comfortably show jumping at 80cm-1m and eventing at 80cm.

Loretta’s goals for the season are to get out more and gain more experience and different types of competition environments as well as starting to place at 1m Show Jumping and 80cm Eventing.

We wish them all the best for the coming season and look forward to hearing some updates.