YO U N G R I D E R
Working her way to the top There’s no doubt about it, Working Equitation is on the up and up in Australia, and at the forefront is this month’s Young Rider Poppy Douglas, who spoke to AMANDA MAC about her love of the sport.
W
orking Equitation, which originated in Europe, has been growing in popularity
in Australia over the past decade or so. Designed around the riding skills used during fieldwork, the competition
MAIN: Poppy and Get Rhythm during the Phase 4 Cattle Test at the 2019 Mudgee and Districts Working Equitation Championships.
includes four phases: working dressage; an ease of handling trial in which horse and rider negotiate everyday obstacles such as bridges and gates; a speed trial using similar obstacles; and cattle handling.
INSET: Riding in the Dressage Phase of the 2019 Consagrados One Handed Nationals (Images by Renee Muller).
And in the thick of it all? That’s where you’ll find Poppy Douglas! Fifteen-year-old Poppy, from Gulgong in New South Wales, is a dedicated and very determined young rider. Perched on a horse’s back from before she could even walk, Poppy comes from a horse-
a lot of fun. I love all aspects of working
loving family.
very sensitive and nervy. So I started
cattle and became intrigued by high
him from scratch. We took him on plenty
“My step-dad has a Quarter Horse
level dressage, which I love training and
of trail rides and desensitised him to
and occasionally comes along to
performing in,” she said.
his surroundings. I did a lot of fitness
Working Equitation, Mum has a Master’s
And then there’s Clancy of the Overflow,
work with him and fed him up and just
horse and a Consagrados horse both
the 13-year-old buck skin Quarter Horse
competing, and my 11-year-old sister
cross Stock Horse who’s a competition-
fitness levels,” she says.
recently moved her pony up a level,” she
winning testament to Poppy’s skill as a
explains.
rider.
It took Poppy a good year to get Clancy
Poppy, who loves the variety that’s
“I’ve had Clancy for five years now. He’d
to be time well invested. In 2018, the
integral to Working Equitation, was
been broken in very late and when we
pair qualified for the victorious NSW
introduced to the sport when her mum
got him he’d been doing a bit of cattle
State Team (Poppy was the only young
became involved in 2013: “What drew
mustering but was very green – he really
rider in an all adult team), and in 2019
me in was the huge versatility, plus it’s
didn’t know much at all. He was also
won 1st place in the Open Maneability
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gradually brought him up through his
competition ready, but that turned out
