Australia’s best cross-country horse riders will take on the most promising rising talents in Werribee this weekend as they vie for a piece of a $50,000 prize pool.
The Melbourne International Horse Trials will be held at the International Equestrian Centre in Werribee during the Queen’s Birthday long weekend.
More than 160 riders, including Australia’s highest-ranked competitor, Olympian Shane Rose, will attempt to conquer jumps up to
1.2 metres tall in the shadows of the Werribee Mansion.
The man behind the jumps, course designer Ewan Kellett, says it has taken 10 people about three weeks to get all the obstacles in place.
The largest and most daunting jump is known as the “ha-ha wall”, which includes a deep trench as an added intimidation factor.
“It’s a very visual fence,” Mr Kellett said. “It’s about making the most of the ground and the conditions that you’ve got to work with and using them to your advantage.”
He said that while the jumps may look scary to humans, the horses taking part in the competition see something quite different.
“The horses that do this are trained to do it and they love it,” he said.
“There’s no way you could make a horse do it if they didn’t love it; the weight and physics are just too much in the horses’ favour.”
For more details, visit www.miht.com.au
