Our next spotlight is on young Grace Birkett and her treasured mare, Rosa.

Together they won:

Enduro Youth Distance Horse - sponsored by the Armstrong Family - Rosa completed a grand total of 682km.

&

Enduro Youth Distance Combination - award sponsored by Rowan Redmond - 682km

Grace put together a few words around her & Rosa's partnership.

Rosa is a 13 hand chestnut mare and is a 15 yr old pocket rocket. Rosa is the third horse I have brought up in endrance. Rosa is the main horse I rideon for DRNZ. I am 12 yrs old and I have been riding horses since I was 5.

I grew up with horses and mum doing lots of riding and that's how I got encouraged to ride horses. When I started to ride I started with the pony club and then went into show jumping, flat work, and endurance. I started endurance with ESNZ but after a while we went into DRNZ. I love everything and everyone in DRNZ and it’s fun having people joining DRNZ.

My biggest disappointment is that this season I was unable to complete the 160km, one of the big three. My horse ended up in the Waikato equine hospital for horses. I learnt from that because it’s not always going to be the way I want so I need to make good decisions for my horse.

A good tip that I use is to bond with your horse and make sure your horse is healthy all the way through, including you. While not riding we like to go on adventures with our dogs or invite friends over to hang out or have a picnic, when it’s not cold.

Rosa makes a good endurance horse because she is light on her feet, loves to run and she has good heart rates and is also very easy to train up for a big ride.

Well done Grace & Rosa

Article added: Monday 12 July 2021