THE Mount Gambier Showjumping Club’s 22nd annual Junior and Young Rider Carnival brought the Blue Lake Sports Park precinct to life across four days of action last weekend.
The event received a record number of entries, as riders from South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria tackled the demanding course at the velodrome.
Although confronting weather conditions threatened to disrupt the final day’s proceedings on Monday, Mount Gambier Showjumping Club president David Johnson said the carnival was a resounding success.
“It was a super event,” he said.
“The competitors and supporters were fantastic and were an awesome help to run the event.
“The atmosphere was sensational.”
The influx of equestrians saw the number of competitors remarkably double from previous years.
Johnson believes the rise of participants was down to the rare opportunity the carnival presents to junior riders.
“The event has to be one of the premier junior and young rider events in the country,” he said.
“There is a mix of open and junior classes in other carnivals, but not one exclusively for junior and young riders.
“We had people travel up from Mildura, New South Wales, Yarrawonga, North East Victoria and the Adelaide hills.”
Riders competed in a range of classes, with points accumulated throughout the weekend to decide individual and championship events.
One of the most hard-fought prizes was the State Challenge Cup, which saw state teams from South Australia and Victoria battle for the bragging rights.
Victoria proved to be the most consistent outfit and wrestled the title from the home side for the first time in three years.
However, South Australia still managed to take home some silverware with victory in the Junior State team event on Saturday.
With multiple individual prizes on offer, some names stood out from the pack.
Rachel Hare claimed the best performed thoroughbred award on a 19-year-old horse and also won the Junior Classic.
The challenging 130cm Young Rider Classic was won by Conor Reed, while fellow South Australian Hayden Parker secured both the 90cm Junior Speed Championship and the 95cm Classic on Fatboy Slim.
With an unprecedented number of entrants, Johnson hopes the carnival can continue to go from strength to strength looking forward.
He said the support from the South Gambier Football Club, Mount Gambier Cycling Club and the Mount Gambier City Council to provide the iconic facility has been pivotal to the rapid growth of the event.
Johnson said many of the new faces are keen to return, which bodes well for the future.
“We are certainly looking to come back bigger and better next year,” he said.
“We had a lot of new and returning faces and they all cannot wait to come back.”
