Maria Neville-Foster, principal Sacred Heart College in Napier, and student Georgia Coory who will be representing NZ next week at an equestrian event in Australia. Photo / Paul Taylor
Maria Neville-Foster, principal Sacred Heart College in Napier, and student Georgia Coory who will be representing NZ next week at an equestrian event in Australia. Photo / Paul Taylor
A dream has come true for Sacred Heart College student Georgia Coory, who will represent New Zealand across the ditch with her trusty steed - 10-year-old chestnut gelding, Paddy.
She will compete in six classes at the Australian Grand Nationals and the prestigious Sydney Royal Show from this week untilApril 3.
"My aim is to get in the top 10 of at least one class. The main thing I want to get out of it is the experience. I want to just do my best because that is all I can ask for and do the best my pony can do under the circumstances of all the stress of having a three-hour flight."
Ahead of her trip earlier this week, she said she was nervous as Paddy was flying overseas for the first time.
In preparation, the dedicated sportswoman has been riding up to two times a day, six days a week, which means training at 6am before school.
"We are having to fatten him up because they lose a lot of weight, so we've pretty much been pumping feed into him and he's just been worked every single day. So it's been pretty full on, I've had no time for anything else."
The 16-year-old has been riding since she was five-years-old and is a member of the Havelock North Pony Club.
Despite having competed in show Jumping and dressage, her passion lies in showing, which she describes in layman's terms as "pageants for ponies".
"It's all about the conformation of the horse, how it moves, how the horse and rider are presented and how the rider rides.
"I love everything to be precise and so hours and hours of work the day before and the morning of the show is put in so the horse is turned out perfectly."
Coory qualified for the Australian events at the recent NZ Show Horse Council Nationals in Taupo.
"I was really surprised just because the of the competition I had. Most of the girls I was riding against have been doing this for years and this is my second year of showing."
Last week, Coory competed in one class at the Land Rover Horse of the Year and said it was a good learning experience.
"It was really good to do the show because we have just picked up on every little thing that could go wrong over in Australia in terms of him being settled and not pressured and warm-up times and everything so it was really good practice."
