It's spectacular and even a touch glamorous but showjumping is not a sport for the fainthearted or those who can't take a bruising fall.
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Even the greats such as Australian Olympian Vicky Roycroft take their turn as she was reminded when she fell from one of her horses Converse during a round of jumping at the Hunter Valley Showjumping Club’s annual spring championships on the weekend.
Neither was hurt and a true champion that she is Roycroft returned to the ring with her new horse in training Licaviv to win the Grand Prix event in which horses jump fences 1.3 to 1.4 metres high.
Roycroft has been a huge supporter of the event which attracts some of the state’s best riders and their horses through to novices making their way up the ranks.
Club president Sue Middleton said it took years of hard work with each horse to reach the ring for competition.
“There are plenty of falls along the way, but we’re a tough bunch and you brush yourself and get back on the horse,” she said.
Middleton and a team of three other volunteers put on the event, which attracted 111 riders who competed with their horses in 428 rounds of jumping, and still found time to compete
“You’re exhausted but the event is growing in popularity each year,” she said.