Edgecombe celebrates Olympic Cup win

Brooke Edgecombe

Waipukurau rider Brooke Edgecombe is celebrating the biggest win of her equestrian career after claiming the Horse of the Year show's most revered trophy, the Olympic Cup, yesterday.

In the pinnacle event of the Land Rover Horse of the Year show, the Waipukurau showjumper and her 12-year-old Holsteiner mare LT Holst Andrea jumped double clear into what would be a nailbiting two-horse jump-off.

In the ring for the third and final time, the pair had a couple of lives as the poles rolled back and forth in their cups. The packed grandstand was silent until Edgecombe and her mount cleared the last jump. Then the crowd erupted.

It was now up to Hastings rider Melody Matheson, riding Cortaflex Graffiti MH, to apply the pressure.

But it wasn't Matheson's day. The oxer in front of the grandstand came down and the winner was declared.

“It's a huge boost,” Edgecombe said.

“You sort of think of it in the back of your mind, always hoping, and thinking you can do it, and today it happened.”

It was Edgecombe's fourth attempt at the prestigious title and she said that encouraging words from her husband Oliver, who won the title in 2007, were just the boost she needed.

“That's probably been one of the biggest things throughout my whole riding career — I've never really thought I could do it. But today I actually believed I could.”

LT Holst Andrea jumped faultlessly, but the future didn't always look bright for the German import.

“She came out here, and she was probably a little mediocre as a young horse,” Edgecombe said.

At one stage she was reluctant to take the ride on her.

“Halfway through her seven-year-old year, it was like the penny dropped. She's just gone from strength to strength and tries her heart out.”

In top company yesterday, the combination outshone the competition, and now have the Stirrups Equestrian red show jacket and rug to prove it.

Edgecombe dedicated her win to the support system around her, specifically coach Jeff McVean, and Vicki Wilson's equine therapy sessions.

But she says plans to head to Australia at the end of the New Zealand season are looking unstable given recent global concerns surrounding Covid-19.