Blyth Tait competing at the NZ Horse of the Year in Hastings in March. PHOTO/GETTY IMAGES
EQUESTRIAN
CHRIS COGDALE
[email protected]
New Zealand Olympics great Blyth Tait will add a golden touch to this year’s Wairarapa eventing championships.
Eventing Wairarapa are bringing the 1996 Olympic gold medallist, and two-time world champion to Clareville to design the upper-level cross-country tracks for the November championships.
Tait will also pass on some of his immense knowledge with professional training sessions for local riders.
Eventing Wairarapa president Sarah Dalziell-Clout expected Tait to add a different dimension to the course design.
“Our Wairarapa annual horse trials are always well attended,” she said.
“We continually look to offer something special and, this year, we are looking forward to the added extras someone as talented and experienced as Blyth will bring to the grounds.”
Local course builder Chris Lever is also returning from building courses in Australia.
Dalziell-Clout said: “His beautiful work and attention to detail, and his carved wooden animals, fish, and ornamentals that decorate the course are a great feature that riders throughout the country enjoy.”
With Lever’s partner, Donna Harley, designing the lower-level tracks, Dalziell-Clout said the opportunity to learn from Tait would benefit Wairarapa.
“The effort, energy, and the costs involved in eventing are significant,” she said.
“Our riders invest a lot in getting here, and it is important to us that we can put on an event that meets all their expectations, and more.”
Tait will take training clinics for all riding levels over the weekend of September 19-20 and again on Monday, November 23, immediately after the weekend’s eventing championships at the Clareville Showgrounds.
“The opportunity to learn from the best is something riders in New Zealand appreciate, and I expect many of our local equestrians will be chomping at the bit to get on the list,” Dalziell-Clout said.
- Information about Tait’s riding clinics can be found on Eventing Wairarapa’s Facebook page.
