The art of eventing is apparently the act of hurling yourself and your horse at stationary objects with grace and poise, at full speed, and trying to stay alive.

A total of 30 excited child riders from across the country were recently given the opportunity to learn more about the sport of three-phase eventing when they were chosen to participate in the Complete Eventing Camp, hosted by Kaapsehoop Horse Trails.
Each province chose a handful of riders between the ages of eight and 14 years who showed promise in this daredevil discipline, with the idea of building the sport from the ground up.

One of the organisers, Leon Smith, said the main idea of this camp was to develop the sport for the future in a safe environment. “Top instructors, coaches and international level riders sponsored their time to share their expertise with these children.”

Patrick Brown, one of South Africa’s top eventing riders, said he was overwhelmed by how much the children took in over the course of the camp. “It was amazing to see how their confidence had grown from day one to the last day. These kids and their ponies were simply flying over scary-looking jumps by the end of the clinic.”

Mungrals on the loose in Mpumalanga

Kaapsehoop Horse Trails graciously lent their trail horses to those children who could not take their own horses from their faraway home provinces.

National coaches in dressage, showjumping and cross-country were joined by riders from the Lippizaner centre in Kyalami, who gave the children lunge lessons to improve correct seat and core stability.

The Mpumalanga team consisted of Shaunice Eggersglusz, Ayla Willemse, Chloe Turner, Thomas Brown, Alicia Jordaan and Ellen Holland.