Of the hundreds of horses at this year's Horse of the Year there are a select few that have travelled all the way across the ditch for the big event.
Christchurch-born horse trainer and dealer Ross Smith, 54, is a household name for New Zealand equestrian sport and has been living in Brisbane for about five years training horses for the international market.
This year he has brought with him 22-year-old Hayley Morris who he said was an up and coming talent worth keeping an eye on.
"She's worked with me solid for five years so we've been very lucky. Hayley is the next one on the way up. She's got a very good horse and she's done a lot already; represented New Zealand at young rider level and jumped in the world cups in Australia," he said.
Mr Smith said the young rider turned up as a teenager, told him she wanted to be a professional rider and has never looked back.
"I would just about say she's the best one I've ever had by a long way and she's very devoted to it. She works hard and she's extremely dedicated to the job."
With plenty of riding experience under her belt Ms Morris has her sights set on stepping up to compete in some of the bigger classes and hopes to win the Lady Rider of the Year title on Miss Money Penny.
"Our aim for this trip was for this horse to come and get an education and for Hayley to jump in the bigger classes," Mr Smith said.
Originally from Christchurch, Ms Morris said she hopes Miss Money Penny will be good enough to compete on American turf next year.
Mr Smith's passion for mentoring young riders has come off the back of a very successful career in both riding and producing world-class horses.
"Quite Cassini was probably the trademark horse that we brought out of Europe and producing him from a 5-year-old to being a horse good enough to go on the world stage is pretty special," he said.
Now living on a 56ha property in Brisbane, Mr Smith trains upwards of 25 horses alongside his wife, and still manages to travel to New Zealand every six weeks to teach clinics in the South Island.
"The teaching I think is vitally important for the kids and for us in a business sense," he said.