Jenni-Lee Redman first in Mpumalanga

SECUNDA – Jenni-Lee Redman first rode a horse nearly 15 years ago and began competing in the South African Western Mounted Games four years ago.

These games are hosted by The South African Western Mounted Games Association (SAWMGA) and Jenni-Lee recently participated in the Nationals 2016 competition where she did well.

She trained three days a week, focusing on each of the 12 games in turn, for more than two months before the nationals.

She ended under the top 50 participants in level 1 in South Africa in 2015, but thanks to her hard work and dedication this year, she not only finished in sixth place overall, but also came first in level 1 in Mpumalanga.

According to her trainer, Ms Rhode van Staden, this kind of improvement is nearly unheard of.

Ms Van Staden is one of the founding members of The Western Mounted Games in South Africa and decided to dedicate her time and expertise to Jenni-Lee this year.

“I felt like this should be Jenni’s year.

“We trained long hours, going back to the basics and working on each of the events separately to determine her strengths and build on them.”

This training regime turned out to be successful, with Jenni-Lee performing consistently well in each event.

The Western Mounted Games is a fast-paced precision equestrian sport and includes events like barrel racing, keyhole race, hurry scurry race pole bending – poles 1 and 2, quadrangle stake race, bi-rangle stake race, single stake race, figure 8 flag race, figure 8 stake race, speed ball, big T and speed barrels.

Jenni-Lee particularly enjoys the hurry scurry event, a speed dash across two low poles, a sharp turn and a dash back across a third low pole.

“Some of the events require speed and others focus on precision, so each horse and rider partnership needs to achieve a fine balance between these two.”

Jenni-Lee and her horse, Diamond, a 12-year-old South African boerperd (quater horse cross mare) have been working together for nearly four years.

A good Western Mounted Games horse needs a mixture of characteristics, including the speed of a thoroughbred, the agility of a cutting horse and the responsiveness of a stock horse.

Diamond seems to exhibit all these characteristics and the partnership between horse and rider has never been stronger.

According to Ms Jenni Redman, Jenni-Lee’s mother, she can instantly see when her daughter is distracted or pre-occupied as Diamond begins acting up.

“Their bond is unbelievably strong.”

Jenni-Lee’s strong performance this year will in all likelihood mean she will move on to compete in level 2 next year, which excites her.

The moment she heard the results of the nationals and realised how well she had done, she began dreaming about and planning for bigger and more advanced competitions.

The Western Mounted Games season has now come to a close, but Jenni-Lee is still committed to her training and working hard for next year.

These games are the fastest growing equestrian sport in South Africa and is at present the fourth most popular mounted sport behind show jumping, endurance and dressage, and offer a family-friendly environment and scaled participation.

According to Ms Van Staden, The Western Mounted Games are one of the few equestrain sports that draws riders from all walks of life.

“It is an affordable sport and any rider, regardless of experience level, will be able to participate and enjoy the healthy competition.”

Anyone interested in finding out more about these games, can contact her at 082 460 3825 or visit www.sawmga.com.