Merensky riders in action at Bela-Bela games
Two riders from Merensky Agricultural Academy competed in the South Africa Western Mounted Games Association (SAWMGA) qualifiers in Bela-Bela on March 18 and 19.
On the first day of the games AJ van der Westhuizen, a level 4 rider, took first place in the single stake, second place in the quadrangle, fourth place in the bi-rangle, and was placed seventh in the figure eight flags and hurry-scurry events in the SAWMGA open division. This performance saw Van der Westhuizen take second place overall in the open division. In the South African National Equestrian Schools Association (SANESA) schools’ division, he placed second overall as well and claimed the top three positions in each category.
Van der Westhuizen took first place in the single stake again. On the second day of the competition, Van der Westhuizen took seventh place overall in the open division and placed second in the SANESA schools division. In the SAWMGA open division, he claimed second place in the barrel race. In the SANESA schools’ division, he claimed first place in the barrel race, second place in the figure eight stake, third place in the poles, and second place in the speedball event.
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Danica Coetzee, a level 1 rider, took first place in the bi-rangle and the quadrangle in the SAWMGA open division on the first day of the event. She placed fourth in the single stake and fifth in the hurry-scurry and took third place overall in the open division. In the SANESA schools division, Coetzee claimed first place overall, placing seventh in the figure eight flags, first in the bi-rangle, fourth in the hurry-scurry, first in the quadrangle, and third in single stake.
On the second day of the competition, Coetzee competed as a level 2 rider and took second place in the barrel race, fourth place in the figure eight stake, third in the keyhole, fourth in piles, and third in speedball. She claimed third place overall in the SAWMGA open division. In the SANESA schools division, she took first place in the figure eight stake and placed second in the remaining four events (barrel race, keyhole, poles, speedball). She claimed second place overall in the SANESA schools’ division.
