Bits: Horse and human losses, pony club news and mental health
THE police horse known as Mr Reliable during his 20-year career at Victoria Police has peacefully passed away in retirement.
The big grey gelding named Randwick was tasked with some prestigious duties – from escorting the late Queen Elizabeth on her Melbourne tram trip in 2011, to carrying gold medallist Gillian Rolton in the Queens Baton relay for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Randwick’s placid nature made him the perfect horse to teach new members the ropes when they joined the unit.
He also boasted incredible confidence when completing operational tasks – from search and rescue operations to crowd control.
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IT’S not only the showjumpers representing our country in the US. Australia will be represented by three combinations in the CDIO3* Nations Cup dressage competition at Wellington starting today.
Hope Beerling and Uno Elando (Small Tour), Jemma Heran and Total Recall (Big Tour) and Sally Lofting and Quinlan CF (Small Tour) will compete. The Chef d'Equipe is Catherine Haddad.
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THE long-time chief instructor of Pony Club Australia Miss Kaye Irving was always so keen on every child getting to try pony Club. If she was still here, she would love to hear that in Carnarvon WA, 900km north of Perth, members at the local club will soon have access to their lessons via zoom.
Remote riders will be offered four lesson plans throughout the year and have access to online coaching and phone calls.
The program will be adapted to each individual and the equipment and riding facilities they have at home.
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THE showjumping world has lost two special people in the last week.
Champion showjumper Peter Mullins was buried on Monday. A great rider and top coach he rode the magnificent stallion Silvaneer to win two Australian championships. He was 76. The Northern Victorian Show Jumping Club Committee and showjumping family have lost their friendly gate marshall, Anne-Marie Greenway. She has been described as a person whose life qualifications far outweighed her role as one of “our nicest gate marshalls”. Anne-Marie was also for some time club secretary and was also an accredited FEI Steward.
She loved the connection with all the riders, not only working for the NVSJC, but also marshalled for the Yarra Valley Showjumping Club, Boneo Park and the Australian Championships held at Werribee.
There will be a memorial and further acknowledgement of Anne-Marie’s contribution at the Club’s March World Cup Show.
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PONY Club Victoria’s annual awards will be held this evening (February 22) via Zoom from 6.30pm. We will publish all the winners’ names next week.
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THE Equestrian Victoria state showjumping titles have been postponed due to a change to the calendar. The event will run later in the year. The Melbourne Showjumping Club has stated that it will take the April date and run a two-ring show.
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THE Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) has once again partnered with the Black Dog Institute for the Mental Fitness Program, an initiative aimed at reducing rates of mental health issues among young Australians.
Over the next six months, 22 high performance athletes, including paraequestrian Zoe Vorenas, will become AIS “mental fitness” ambassadors, sharing their personal stories and mental health strategies with thousands of high school students across the country.
Schools interested in having an AIS mental fitness athlete ambassador visit can submit an online request through their website.
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