Horse of the Year: Juggling school and horse riding tough

Sophie Scott.

Juggling school and competitive riding is no mean feat but it is a daily task for tens of thousands of young horse riders.

Farmlands Horse of the Year played host to many of these riders, some as young as four and five years old.

Sam Norman, general manager of Pony Club New Zealand said managing riding commitments alongside schooling required a lot of support from parents.

"Obviously kids need a lot of support from their families and this sport requires a lot of dedication," she said. "It is tough for kids generally to juggle outside commitments with school and there is so much on offer, there are so many things you can do. Quite often kids want to do something else like ballet, karate and it can be hard for them to choose to specialise in something."

Ms Norman said supportive parents were the key behind kids being able to succeed in the sport whilst they were still at school.

"You will find that a lot of kids riding at this level are very lucky because they have supportive families and they put a lot of hard work into the sport. It would be a shame if they couldn't keep up their equestrian because of outside pressure."

At 13 Sophie Scott has had to manage her school work alongside her riding commitments.

The youngster and her mother Tania Scott have attended around 13 competitions this year which has meant a lot of time off school for Sophie.

Ms Scott said trying to balance schooling and riding was tough and required a high level of commitment.

"It is a bit manic at times but Sophie is really committed and dedicated to her riding and she is doing really well," she said.

"Sophie generally attends school for four days of the week and will occasionally miss weeks at a time to attend competitions across the country.

"We do worry about how she gets on at school and it will be harder once she hits Year 10. At the moment she is in Year 9 and is able to manage."

Ms Scott said she and her husband often met with their daughter's teachers to make sure she was achieving good grades at her Wellington-based school. "... we discuss what competitions we will be attending and why. "Sophie's school is very academic and they push really hard for their students to get good results. It is great but she has to put in a lot of work," she said.

"She often has to do homework and assignments while we are away at compe- titions and will be doing homework in the truck when we are travelling."

Ms Scott said many young riders were in the same situation and were also required to do homework and assignments while travelling.

Hawke's Bay couple Kellie and husband Jonty Moffett meanwhile, have five of their children riding in competitions at HOY.

Mrs Moffett however, said her children's schooling had not been as affected by their riding commitments as some other competitors at the event. Jesse, 21, Will, 16, Mollie, 15, Tom, 13, and Annie, 7, are all avid riders and have been from a young age.

For youngster Annie, this year was the first year she could compete in First Ridden - an off-the-ead youth competition.

Ms Moffett said her children had been able to work in their riding around school but would also occasionally miss school to attend competitions.

"They will miss the occasional Friday if there is a competition that goes over the weekend or occasional week but other then that they don't miss much school," she said.

Ms Norman said ultimately, each child would be affected differently by their riding and schooling commitments. "Everybody is in a different situation and they all deal with managing school and riding differently. Some of them handle it better than others but that is the same with all sports," she said.