National championships debut for Rokewood Pony Club member

YOUNG Rokewood Pony Club member Talika Dagar and her horse Harry Hot Pants have helped represent Victoria in the Pony Club Australia National Championships held at Werribee Park Equestrian Centre this month.

Riders from every state competed in the Pony Club Australia National Championships held over 1 to 5 October with Talika, 14, part of the junior girls tetrathlon team which ended up taking home third place overall for their event.

After getting through some rigorous prior qualifying events, Talika and Harry competed as part of the team which also included Bacchus Mash Pony Club member Molly Rowarth, Lexie O’Brien of Bairnsdale Pony Club and Ava Harrington of Stratford Pony Club and their horses.

Pony Club tetrathlon is a four-phase, multi-sport competition that requires both athletic ability and horsemanship as it combines target shooting, swimming a set distance, running a cross-country course, and riding a show jumping course.

The team of four young riders and their horses pushed boundaries in the swim, shoot, run, and ride events during the championships.

Talika said her favourite aspects of the competition were the riding and shooting phases, and she also mentioned the camaraderie between the competitors as a personal highlight.

The championships started with the Trot Up, a requirement to have the horses assessed for soundness, and Harry Hot Pants passing with flying colours.

The opening ceremony was a colourful affair in the evening, followed by Wednesday’s swim phase of the tetrathlon which saw Talika overcome nerves to swim a good time over the 200 metres.

Thursday’s phase required competitors in the junior girls tetrathlon to run over two kilometres in very windy conditions while Friday’s phase was the shoot and involved using a laser pistol one-handed at a distance of 10 metres with scores recorded on a digital target over two rounds.

This produced a personal best score for Talika and she placed fourth.

The final day of competition, Saturday, was the ride phase, consisting of showjumping and cross country fences as well as opening and closing a gate whilst mounted.

Harry “jumped like a dream” going clear, but a delay on the gate cost time.

At the end of the competition Team Victoria finished a very commendable third overall.

Talika had extra reason to be proud of the achievement as she was the Rokewood Pony Club’s first member to achieve a Nationals spot.

Harry Hot Pants is a seven year old off-track thoroughbred whose last race, just 21 months ago, was followed by a six month break before he started his new life with Talika doing all of his post race training since then.

“They have been a combination for 15 months and they are progressing in leaps and bounds,” Talika’s mother Beck Dagar said.

“Harry is loving his post race life.”