Whanganui 14-year-old to represent NZ at China Pony Club International Exchange

Whanganui-based Amber Auret, 14, on Divani REQ has been selected to represent New Zealand in the 2024 China Pony Club International Exchange. Photo / P J Photography

Whanganui rider Amber Auret is one of four under-17 riders representing the New Zealand Pony Club Association at competitions in China this month.

Amber’s thrill of competing and genuine love of horses have earned her a spot on the trip.

“I just can’t get enough of it honestly. It’s very tiring but I love it.”

Amber, 14, owns two ponies and one horse and rides every day.

“I get home from school at about 4pm and then I get back from the horses at about 6.30pm every night, and then I have to do my homework.

“It’s quite hard to fit it all in.”

She came to the sport slightly later than most competitive riders, taking up riding only three years ago.

Whanganui's Amber Auret competing during a cross-country event on her top pony My Jimmy Choo. Photo / Take The Moment

Her father Hamish Auret is a former eventer who switched to training race horses after his horse suffered a serious tendon injury.

He now breaks in and sells young racehorses at the Letham Stud in Whanganui.

“People are saying it’s almost freakish because you can’t do what she’s doing after three years, but I guess with me having the stables she does have a lot of opportunities,” Auret said.

“But she’s come a long way in a short time.”

Amber nabbed first place from a field of competitors at the CCN95 Wellington Eventing Series and also went on to compete at the New Zealand Three Day Event Championships where she was fifth in the open championship class.

Last season she finished sixth overall in the U21 New Zealand Young Rider Eventing Series.

Auret said his daughter constantly wanted to test herself on a higher level.

“I didn’t want her to go to those championships because mentally I thought it was too much for her, but she really pushed me to allow her to go.

“All throughout her career she’s enjoyed proving me wrong.”

Most weekends Amber travels to eventing competitions across the North Island.

“In eventing, there’s definitely more adults and I ride ponies not horses, so I’m often a bit shorter than everybody else.”

Her favourite part of eventing was cross-country riding in which riders compete across a long course with solid jumps and other obstacles.

“It can be scary. I haven’t had a bad fall yet from that but I have had plenty of falls from other things.

“The reason I do it is because I love the adrenaline rush that you get, and obviously for the love of your horse.”

Competing in eventing was technical and physically exhausting, she said.

“It doesn’t look tiring because it looks like the horse does all the work, but it’s a huge workload for us as well.

“Often after I get off a horse it’s the same feeling as when you run too much and your chest is burning from the pain.”

It required a high level of focus: “Your brain can’t switch off for two milliseconds or else you’ll mess something up.”

Rachel Auret said her daughter lived and breathed horses, and it was all she wanted to do.

“This is a big stepping stone for her.

“It is hard work and she’s out there in the pouring rain, but nothing stops her; she just loves it.”

Riders from New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, South Africa and China will compete at the China Pony Club International Exchange.

Amber said she was excited to head to China on September 28.

“I’m also a bit nervous because it’s obviously a whole different country on the other side of the world with nobody I’ve met before.”

She was grateful to her two coaches Sonya Glennie and Mandy Littlejohn and her sponsor Trevo Equestrian.

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.