For some of the participants from the group, the trip down to Sydney in August for the Riding for the Disabled NSW dressage championships marked their first competition out of their local area. 

Local riders competing in the Riding for the Disabled NSW dressage champs which started on August 22 were Tara Copp, Ryan McNeil, Esther Vincent, Vicki Ann Harris, Chelsea Murray, Amber Hunt and Mikaela Worth. 

They were accompanied by their coaches Maureen Turner and Margie Lewis, volunteers Julie Abrahams, Jasmine and Suzanne Sheehan, the riders’ families and of course horses Turbo, Glimmer, Banjo and Lightning Star. 

The competition was held in the Sydney International Equestrian Centre (SIEC). For Manning Great Lakes, this is the first time a team has entered the RDANSW Dressage Championships. 

Over the four days at SIEC the riders learnt a lot from competition, including caring for their horse, meeting new people and performing the tests the team had been training for over the weeks leading up to the event. 

Based on their results from the competition, five of the riders have since found out they are eligible to attend the Riding for the Disabled Australia Association National Championships on November 12, 13 and 14 in Werribee, Victoria where they will compete in dressage, prix caprilli (Dressage over jumps), show jumping and le trek (an obstacle course). 

The riders are Ryan McNeil (who is looking forward to defending his title of 2012 national walk champion), Mikaela Worth, Vicki Ann Harris and Chelsea Murray. 

None of the results and experiences had in Sydney would have been possible without the support and assistance of Maureen and Margie and the volunteers who spent countless hours training, the support crews made up of numerous people, the horses, the Manning Great Lakes communities who bought raffle tickets to help get the team there, Holcom and Jandra Quarries who covered the costs of getting the horses there and John Lyna’s East Coast Horse Transport who transported the horses in style and comfort.