Free rider has special bond with her horse

Dunedin free rider Talia Allison with Mustang Shelby. Photo / Supplied

For most horse riders, a saddle and bridle are key pieces of equipment.

Not for Talia Allison when she does her free riding. But then Miss Allison is not your regular horse riding type of girl.

She can hop on and off a horse at a canter and jump obstacles up to 1.30m high without any tack.

The young Dunedin woman started riding "right from day dot" , attending pony club when she was 3.

Now 22, she works part-time in the morning and spends her afternoons schooling and training horses and giving riding lessons.

Talia Allison with Mustang Puzzle Me. Photo / Supplied

Free riding was about riding with no gear, apart from a rope around the horse's neck. She got into it about five years ago, having seen lot of pictures "going viral" of people such as Northland's Wilson Sisters - Vicki, Kelly and Amanda - and Alycia Burton.

She taught herself in what was very much trial and error.

"I hit the ground a few times. . . got up and walked away," she said, laughing.

She met Miss Burton, from Free Riding NZ, when she came to Dunedin to give lessons. She worked with her for six months and "really got into it".

Her first big public debut was at the prestigious Horse of the Year Show at Hastings in March, performing with her mentor. While performing in front of a huge crowd was definitely nerve-racking, her horse Mustang Shelby was very composed.

She bought 15.1hh Mustang Shelby as a "project mount" about eight years ago and had taken her "pretty much from doing nothing" to two-star eventing and showjumping at 1.25m.

The two shared a strong bond, something that was crucial with free riding.

"It takes a very special kind of horse and a lot of balance. It's such a connection between horse and rider. We're so in tune now, we don't need much communication between us," she said.

Miss Allison has six horses at the moment. She tended to take on "project ponies" - horses with issues, and get them going.

Her parents did not have much money when she was growing up, so if she wanted to do well on a horse, she had to produce it herself, she said.

Most of her riding was generally with a saddle and bridle, although she tended to do a lot of bareback riding with Mustang Shelby. The horse definitely preferred it without gear and it also kept up her own fitness, she said.

Worldwide, there was a lot of interest in free riding but, because it was "so peculiar", not many people could do it at a high level. Miss Allison's goal was to work full-time as a horse rider and trainer.