Ana Whitehead … No 3 in the world. PHOTO/FILE
EQUESTRIAN
CHRIS COGDALE
[email protected]
Two Wairarapa endurance riders – Ana Whitehead and Jane Ferguson — have finished the New Zealand season ranked inside the world’s top 10 combinations.
Tinui teenager Whitehead and her gelding, Dundevale Nazecca, have been at the top of their game, finishing the season as the top ranked Kiwi junior duo, and third in the world as a combination.
Dundevale Nazecca was the No 4 junior horse internationally.
The combination won the national championships junior class over the ultimate distance of 160km in April.
That came after a victory in the North Island championships junior class held in Wairarapa in February.
Carterton’s Ferguson, with Daagir, a 16-year-old Arabian, have also had a very consistent season, placing fourth in the 160km senior championship class at the nationals in Taupo.
This was the pair’s first attempt at the ultimate distance.
That came after a fourth placing in the 120km event in the North Island championships.
Ferguson and Daagir topped the senior grade in New Zealand and are ranked seventh in the world as a pair. Daagir is ranked ninth in the world, out of almost 2500 horses.
Whitehead, 17, and Ferguson, 46, are members of the Wairarapa Endurance and CTR Club.
The club run a full calendar of competitions – from introductory 15km rides through to the elite 160km class – from September-March.
