02/07/2026
I’m so pleased to share a few photos from an incredible weekend at the latest ANWE Qld affiliated club event and NDHD’s inaugural Working Equitation Horse of the Year. It has already become another wonderful gathering place for our growing, supportive and enthusiastic Working Equitation community.
🥈 Eldi once again proved himself to be a consistently reliable and ever-willing partner, finishing 2nd in Consagrados 1. He absolutely loved the atmosphere of the event, not only indulging in every moment of his pampered preparation but also thriving on the opportunity to show off in front of the evening crowd. Together, Eldi and Hodges brought a little Aussie flair to every phase of the competition. We couldn’t be happier with Eldi’s steady temperament and incredible work ethic, which make him an absolute pleasure to have around.
🏅 Lacey stepped up another level to Debutante W, finishing 4th, and proved she was more than ready. She is a wonderfully complicated mare—very much black and white in both colour and character—and I am constantly striving to refine not only our performance but also our understanding of one another.
For a horse who gives 110% almost all of the time, I’m learning to trust our training and resist the temptation to overdo the warm-up before the test. Otherwise, she starts offering “new and creative” answers to questions she already knows! One of my biggest lessons from this competition came during the Ease of Handling and Speed phases. When walking the course, I realised I need to visualise every possible scenario—not just the less-than-ideal ones. To my surprise and absolute delight, Lacey executed my dream line perfectly, maintaining the right canter lead over the jump before making a sharp left turn back in counter canter to approach the coat pick-up on the correct lead. I was so excited she’d pulled it off in canter—an obstacle I’d fully expected to ride at walk—that I completely missed my timing for the coat drop-off! We live and learn. 😉
🥇 Frankie... where do I begin? This incredible 4-year-old Lusitano came to me in October last year as a green-broken horse, and our journey together has been interesting, challenging and incredibly rewarding. Frankie has never lacked talent—or big emotions! In the past, he could go from 1 to 10 in the blink of an eye, so much of our partnership has focused on developing the confidence and emotional regulation to come back from 10 to 1.
With every outing, he continues to improve, allowing his natural ability to shine through. I couldn’t be prouder of him for taking out 1st place in Introductory, and I truly believe this is just the beginning of what will be a very exciting career.
A huge thank you to Bec and Susanne for entrusting us with these amazing horses; Kate and the wonderful welcoming NDHD crew; the judges for their time and valuable feedback; Abbie for the sensational tail plait; our sponsors CEN Horse Nutrition for keeping our horses in tip-top shape, and BlackHorse Equestrian for keeping us competition-ready in their super stylish breeches and waterproof leather paddock boots, which proved invaluable in the mud over the weekend; photographers Snapped Shots and RowanW Photo for capturing these special moment.
Finally, a special thank you to our fellow competitors. The friendships, encouragement and absolutely hysterical laughter shared over the weekend are every bit as memorable as the competition itself.
Congratulations to everyone who competed. It’s a privilege to be part of such a positive and passionate community, and we’re already looking forward to the next one!
