Insect bite sidelines young rider’s ‘Coastie’

ONE IN A MILLION: Olivia Newsom and Apache One In A Million on their way to victory in the open pony AM5 1.5-metre class on day 1 of the Larsen Sawmilling Show Jumping Championship at Showgrounds Park. Picture by Paul Rickard

Mainlander Olivia Robertson had been hoping to make her Larsen Sawmilling Showjumping Championships debut on board a “Coastie”. One of her top horses is locally-bred Ngahiwi Cisco, who also made the trip to Gisborne but has been scratched after suffering a nasty insect bite on his leg.

The Bruce Holden-bred Cicso would have competed in tomorrow’s Grand Prix. Instead, Robertson will be on imported Dutch mare DH’s Ceniki. The pair were fifth yesterday in the against-the-clock 1.4m class.

Originally from Queenstown but based in Christchurch, Robertson has been in the North Island since November competing on the Ultra•Mox FEI World Cup series among others competitions.

The 21-year-old is a member of the New Zealand young rider team taking on the Aussies in a transtasman test over the Gisborne show. Winner of the Young Rider title at the 2015 Horse of the Year Show, it’s her last year in that division, so she would love to go out on a high.

The daughter of All Black Duncan Robertson (1974-77) and former eventer and top skier Jan Hunt, young gun Robertson continues to impress on the national circuit. Holden’s Ngahiwi horses, like Cisco, have played a part that.

“They are fantastic young rider horses,” she says. “They’re a great mix.”

Last season she almost sold Cisco but changed her mind because she felt the 12-year-old would be too hard to replace.

For the past few winters, Robertson has trained and competed at De Dinkel Hoeve horse breeding and training facility in Holland, and is reaping the benefits of that. She heads home on Monday to compete at the national champs and Canterbury championships then heads north again for the Horse of the Year Show (HOY) early March.

Robertson has been living in Otaki for much of the season and has a base in Christchurch too, but home will always be Queenstown.

“But it’s just a little far for us to travel for shows,” she says.

Last weekend she was fifth-equal in the Ultra•Mox FEI World Cup Series, making the sojourn north well worth while. She’s hoping for a successful defence of her Young Rider crown at the HOY in March and perhaps even a placing in the prestigious Olympic Cup where the Showjumper of the Year is decided.

That will most likely come down to her “Coastie” mate Cisco.