THE Avon Valley Showjumping and Pony Club will be well represented at the upcoming Pony Club National Championships in South Australia.
The club, which is based at Northam and has members from around the Wheatbelt, will see seven of its members setting off this week with their horses on the long treck across the Nullabor to compete for their state.
All riders had to achieve high levels in their disciplines to qualify for the Nationals Training Squad.
From that squad, riders were selected to ride in teams for their chosen discipline.
All of the riders have been training hard and attending many competitions to ensure they have had the best lead up to the championships.
In addition, they have been fundraising to raise much needed funds to assist with associated costs.
The Pony Club National Championships are held every two years and are the pinnacle of pony competition where all the top riders from around the country come together to form new friendships and compete for their states hoping to bring home a trophy or two.
Three of the Avon club’s riders heading off to the championships are from the Shire of Northam.
They are Jess Herzer, who is competing in both Tetrathlon and Prince Philip Mounted Games and Annie Herzer and Sean Fraser, who are both competing in Prince Philip Mounted Games.
Two riders, Vanessa Davis and Nerida Evans, who live in Goomalling, are competing in the Prince Philip Mounted Games.
Two riders from York, Jemma Read and Ceda Reynolds will be competing.
Read will be competing in Showjumping and Tetrathlon while Reynolds is a reserve for the Prince Philip Mounted Games.
The Avon Valley Showjumping and Pony Club is proud of all these riders who have been able to achieve their goals while managing to balance their studies, work commitments and other sporting activities.
However, these achievements cannot be met without the support from parents, family members and their local club.
Recently a breed show was held at the club to raise funds.
Many local people and businesses sponsored classes in the form of money which was used for ribbons and prizes.
The journey east to Murray Bridge will take three days.
It is quite a process to get the horses and riders over there safely and in good condition to compete.
The competition goes for one week and then the riders will make the trip home during the school holidays.
