Katie McVean's recovery from a broken pelvis has been capped by her naming in the four-strong New Zealand showjumping team.
The teenager from Matangi, near Cambridge, was expected to be out of action for months after breaking her pelvis in a fall at Marlborough on February 7.
But last year's New Zealand
Showjumping Personality of the Year was back in the saddle only a week later and showed the break had not affected her form when she won the Whakatane Grand Prix on Sunday.
McVean became the youngest showjumper to represent New Zealand when she starred last year in the national side that defeated the touring Australian team in a three-test series.
She will get her chance to repeat that effort when the two sides clash again, starting in Gisborne on Saturday.
McVean's mother, Vicky, said her daughter's recovery had astounded her, her father, Jeff, and the medical team. "I couldn't believe just how quick she bounced back," she said.
"The doctors were telling us she would be out of action for months. But I guess she's young and fit - and very determined."
Vicky McVean said her daughter was "90 per cent fit with very little pain - it's just her mobility that has been slightly affected".
The 16-year-old usually has up to eight horses in work but that has been reduced to three after the injury.
On Saturday, she will ride her best mount, Dunstan Dolly, against the Australians and will take her favourite horse with her when she joins the stable of top English showjumping trainer Michael Bates in Chelmsford on March 25.
McVean will be joined in the New Zealand team by the country's most experienced Grand Prix rider, Maurice Beatson, of Dannevirke, on Primo Ventura.
Wairoa's Molly Savill, who will represent New Zealand at the World Cup final in Las Vegas on Saturday's mount, Richard the Third, will make her national team debut with another newcomer, Kumeu's Lisa Coupe, on Gemima Puddle Duck.
- NZPA
