Deloraine District Pony Club member Ruby Atkins has swapped the Meander Valley for Kentucky, after being selected to represent Australia at the International Mounted Games Exchange.
The 16 year old, who lives at Dairy Plains and is in Year 10 at Deloraine High School, left on 6 July for the ten day trip, joining a five rider Australian team that competed against Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain and the United States.
Letter to the Editor
Mounted games are a fast paced, relay style competition built around obstacles and timed tasks, ridden in teams of five. Riders do not compete on their own horses. Instead, they are allocated “borrowed horses” and swap mounts every five or so races, meaning every rider in the competition eventually rides every horse.
“It’s definitely daunting,” Atkins says. “You just don’t meet them or anything, you just get on and race, but it’s lots of fun and you just kind of go with it.”
The North Coast Post: BSB 633 000 · Account number: 2366 8 9535
Atkins says the unpredictability of the sport means a good attitude matters as much as riding ability.
“A lot of things do end up going wrong and you just kind of have to have a good attitude about it and just have some fun, and do the best of what you can,” she says.
She has been involved with Pony Club for twelve years and keeps a small team of horses at home, including one used specifically for games and others for different disciplines.
Training happens through Deloraine Pony Club’s monthly rallies at the Deloraine Showgrounds, alongside private coaching and regular practice at home after school.
Atkins says being selected to represent Tasmania, and then Australia, is something she has hoped for since watching older riders take on the same opportunity.
“It was very exciting,” she says. “Something that I’ve definitely dreamed of for a long time.”
This year’s exchange was hosted in the United States, with the Australian team travelling through Atlanta, Cincinnati and Kentucky over ten days. Alongside the mounted games competition, the tour includes visits to equestrian venues such as the Kentucky Horse Park and Churchill Downs, along with group activities including hiking, ziplining and kayaking.
Atkins says the trip involved far more than competition. Riders only compete on one day and ride on another, with the rest of the time spent travelling and taking part in activities alongside teams from other countries.
“We travelled around and met different people from different countries,” Atkins says. “I’ve made lots of friends around Australia, but also around the world, that I can keep in contact with for years to come.”
For anyone hoping to follow a similar path into the sport, Atkins points to the people around her as the biggest factor in her own success.
“Just find people around you,” she says. “Having lots of people around you that are really supportive is very helpful, and I’m very grateful for the people around me. Just get into it and have some fun, because the main thing about Pony Club is having fun.”
Results:
Ruby Atkins, along with her Australian teammates Ellie Steele (WA), Jack Hamilton (VIC), Bailey Logue (NSW) and Chelsea Davidge (NT) have won the International Mounted Games. The other results were: UK (second), USA (third), New Zealand (fourth) and Canada (fifth).
