Equestrian: Amons have high hopes for wins in horse trials

Danielle Amon, 15, (front) and her brother Jeffrey Amon, 17, (left) will represent the Bay of Plenty this weekend in eventing. Also pictured is younger brother Sam Amon, 12. Photo/Stephen Parker

Danielle Amon feels right at home on her favourite horse Te Urewera Magic.

Te Urewera Magic was caught in the wild near Murupara a few years ago before being broken in to compete in equestrian.

Danielle will ride her favourite horse this weekend at the Teams Horse Trial Championships in Kihikihi, where she will represent the Bay of Plenty.

"He is a brilliant horse," Danielle said. "He is just so bold and willing to do anything, and he has a bit of an attitude like me."

Danielle, 15, said her horse was the only pony (any horse under 1.48m tall) competing in her division this weekend.

"He is a little horse that thinks he is big," she said.

The Amon family are no strangers to catching horses in the wild before breaking them in to compete in eventing.

The family currently have 20 horses on their lifestyle farm in Murupara, all of which have similar stories to Te Urewera Magic.

Danielle's brother Jeffrey Amon, 17, will also represent the Bay of Plenty this weekend at the big event in Kihikihi, near Te Awamutu.

The Bay team includes six riders who will compete in the dressage, cross-country and show jumping disciplines.

Danielle said her favourite event was the cross-country.

"It is an adrenaline rush and it is just fun." Her dad Rob Amon agreed.

"From the parents' point of view it is an adrenaline rush. I often think 'I don't really want to watch them jump this'."

During the cross-country event, Danielle will have to clear jumps as tall as 1.15m while her older brother will need to clear jumps as high as 1.25m.

Jeffrey is competing in the tough A1 division, for 17- to 21- year-olds, but is confident in his horse's ability.

"I hope to win this event. I'm really looking forward to it, we have been going well at this level and it would be neat to win because I plan to move up next year [to senior two-star eventing]."

Teams from all across New Zealand will be attending and the team with the most points will take home the title.

The event is organised by the New Zealand Pony Club and is for riders under the age of 21.

Jeffrey said there was a great culture attached to the sport which he enjoyed, as well as the thrill of riding the horse.

"It is such a good environment and everyone is so friendly. There is no real pressure, you just do your rides and help one another out."

He said when he was not practising for eventing he was often out with his dad hunting on horseback.

The youngest of the three Amon children, Sam Amon, 12, also loves the sport and hopes to ride at the Olympics in the future.

All three of the Amon children represented Rotorua at the Timberlands North Island Teams Event held earlier this month in Tokoroa.

The Rotorua team, which also included local riders Sophie Brown, Eliza Thompson and Hannah Steens, finished second out of 17 teams in Tokoroa.