EQUESTRIAN - Wilson carries North hopes with 10-horse onslaught

Leading Northland showjumper Vicki Wilson will launch a multi-pronged attack at the Northland area two-star equestrian event at Barge Park in Maunu tomorrow, riding 10 different horses at the two-day event.
Spearheaded by her big grey Wurlitzer, Zulu and the Mary Thorburn-owned horse With Ease, Wilson will carry most of the Northland hopes in a massive 300-horse field expected to converge on Whangarei today.
But the event will double as a preparation day as Wilson is also eyeing her three-star debut at the North Island championships in Cambridge next weekend and is keen to get some time in the saddle after several showjumping events were cancelled earlier this season.
So far this season Wilson has only managed to compete three times; the rest of the showjumping season in Northland has been hampered by wet weather. She was seriously short of competition heading into the event tomorrow and in particular the three-star world cup event in Cambridge.
That is why she has decided to turn up at Barge Park with 10 horses. She will ride eight of them and have two in reserve.
"I am going to be busy but it will be good. Everything has been cancelled up here so I have only had two competitions so far. This is my third big show, and the other two have been away in Auckland," Wilson said.
"It will be good competition too. There are a lot of very good riders who come up here for this show now, so it is going to be very tough," she said.
Thanks to the designing efforts of Kevin Hansen, riders will be tested at Barge Park too, with Hansen having a reputation for building big jumps and courses that examine the quality of rider and horse.
But Wilson is sure she has the ammunition to head to Barge Park with confidence.
Wilson plans to ride Zulu at Cambridge and introduce Wurlitzer and With Ease to three-star events in Tauranga and Taupo before Christmas.
"I have very good horses who are all very sound. Zulu is aimed at Cambridge, the three-star events are what I am really aiming at this season and the three-star world cup in Tauranga is going to be very big as well."
Riders are due from all over the North Island for the event with competition to start at 8.30am Saturday and Sunday. There will be three rings operating, with the feature jumps on Sunday in ring three, the McQuinn Pumps Amateur Rider, FMG Pony Grand Prix and IC Motors Horse Grand Prix.