For Broadford girls Olivia Cleave, 10, and Addison Wate, 11, the opportunity of a lifetime awaits this September.
The exciting horse riding talents will take their skills interstate as they travel to Sydney as part of the Victorian team at the Australian Interschool Equestrian Championships.
It is an achievement spawned from years of hard work and sacrifice, and Olivia’s mother Cassie Cleave she could not be more proud to see her daughter take her riding to the next level.
“I am extremely proud to see Olivia get to this point. It comes with a lot of hard work and dedication,” Cleave said.
“I know how much Olivia loves riding and what she’s put into it, and it is a similar story with Addison, so to see them get this reward it makes all of those hours of training worth it in the end.”
Cleave outlined what it took to qualify for the championships and gave a bit of insight into her daughter’s riding journey to date.
“Olivia has been riding since she could walk. Over the years she’s had many different ponies and learnt with many different abilities to cope with each horse,” she said.
“Addison is the same. She’s been riding since she was very young as well, and to get to where they are today they have had to compete in a lot of different events.
“For these specific championships, they had to go through a number of qualifiers beginning in Elmore last year, before heading to the Victorian state championships in Werribee in April.
“It is the top four in each discipline that qualify for the Victorian team, and luckily enough both girls put in fantastic performances and got into that team to go to the national championships.”
Unlike most sports, horse riding is a true around-the-clock venture, with a lot of work going into ensuring the horses are optimised for peak performance come competition day.
Cleave described what a standard week looks like for Olivia.
“Horses don’t feed themselves so they have to make sure they tend to their daily needs,” she said.
“Things like rugging, caring, feeding and riding them, obviously. I know Olivia rides probably three to four times a week.
“So, outside of the competition there is a lot that goes into it and you have to be really dedicated to the craft.”
For Olivia, having Addison also competing in the sport makes things a lot easier, with that extra support crucial in big events such as the national championships.
“Olivia and Addison certainly know each other and our families are quite close,” Cleave said.
“They haven’t had too much of an opportunity to compete against each other because they are in different disciplines. Addison focuses more on showing and Olivia more the eventing and dressage side of things.
“But just the fact that there is another child of a similar age competing is quite exciting and gives the girls that familiar face around the events.”
And while excitement grows for the competition in September, a lot of hard work still needs to be done to ensure both families can succesfully make the trip to Sydney, with the expenses associated with equestrian incredibly high.
Cleave said both girls were doing all they could to help make the experience a smooth one through various fundraising opportunities.
“It is certainly not a cheap venture to head up to Sydney towing the horse float with fuel these days, along with the cost of accommodation, stabling and entry fees,” she said.
“Being quite a large event, we do need to fundraise and do everything we can to help make it run as smoothly as possible.
“We’ve had a couple of things donated to us. Olivia’s riding instructor has donated some lesson packages that we’re auctioning off and Addison has done a lucky numbers draw as well.”
The Australian Interschool Equestrian Championships will take place from September 26-30 at Homebush in Sydney.