Making its New Zealand debut, the IRT The Way Of The Horse is proving to be a very popular competition at Equitana Auckland.
Four expert trainers, Tui Teka and Emily Weibel from New Zealand, and Sharna Little and Brett Davey from Australia, each teamed up with an unhandled three-year-old Holsteiner from Delta Hostein Stud in Pukekawa on Thursday.
After selecting their horse on Thursday morning, the trainers had a one hour session with them on Thursday afternoon, Friday morning and again this morning, all in the Premier Indoor Arena, each in their own round pen in front of the crowd.
In this morning’s session, each contestant worked through several exercises with their horse, including saddling, lunging, long reining, walking over plastic sheets on the ground, and even riding, amongst other training exercises.
It all comes down to tomorrow’s final where the trainers will have the challenge of riding their horses through an obstacle course. They will also present their horses to the judges, Andrew Nicholson, John Lyons and Jonny Hilberath, and the crowd, who will be eagerly waiting to hear which trainer has taken the prestigious title. Don’t miss the final in the Premier Indoor Arena at 11.45am tomorrow!