Ballito’s Tana Zoghby emerges victorious at national Western Mounted Games

Ballito’s Tana Zoghby and her horse Imma Ya Imma are national mounted games champions!

Zoghby (14) is a pupil at the Educational Studio and has been training former racehorse Imma Ya Imma (‘mother’ in Lebanese) at her family’s farm inland of Ballito for the past two-and-a-half years.

Together they claimed three individual victories at the annual Western Mounted Games nationals in Parys earlier this month, as well as the overall division title.

Hosted at the Parys Afridome, the games brought 645 participants from across the country to compete across a number of different disciplines and division levels.

The mounted games are made up of 12 events which test a range of difficult agility and endurance skills for both rider and horse.

Zoghby and Imma Ya Imma claimed the Poles 2, Quadrangle and Speed Barrels events, adding second placed finishes in the Figure 8 Stake and Big T.

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“I was really worried going into the event because my horse is still green. She was a racehorse and is still adapting to the mounted games format,” said Zoghby.

“I was stressed because she struggled in the training for a few events, but she nailed it on the day!”

Riders are ranked by both the South African National Equestrian Schools Association (Sanesa) and South African Western Mounted Games Association (Sawmga).

Zoghby entered the games as a Sanesa level 4 and Sawmga level 2, winning the high school age divisions for both.

Given her strong performances, Zoghby was promoted to Sawmga level 3 ahead of next year’s nationals.

She also achieved KwaZulu-Natal colours for her achievements.

Zoghby thanked her family for their ongoing support over years of training and said she hopes to one day become a vet.

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