"Some days it's a really bad day but I make myself get up at 3 o'clock in the afternoon."
Touch wood that will not happen this week although the Haumoana equestrian belongs to a hardy species who bites her lower lip to go about her daily routine, especially at the height of competition.
Routinely going to bed early is on her agenda.
"I used to eat quite a lot of junk food so I've stopped that but now I have weekly vitamin B12 injections and other mineral supplements," she says, realising the benefits of the new regime for six months but week-long trips away on competitions often wears down her biological defensive mechanisms.
Towler, who lives with parents Treena and Bill, has the help of family friend Anya Peterson, 10, (who she coaches) to keep riding the horses when she is under the weather.
Her horses also are receptive in employing their sixth sense although Fatty, who she owns, can be temperamental.
"Fatty is grumpy at the best of times but he knows when I'm not riding 100 per cent.
"They are really great and adjust to how I'm doing," she says of the horse she bought in Australia five years ago.
Towler only got "lovely little mare" Pip in mid-January because Fatty wasn't feeling well leading up to the South Island Dressage Champs.
Fatty recovered but she took Pip along regardless.
The meticulous grooming required in the discipline also places demands such as ensuring the tail jackets are in alignment with the sides of the saddle to exude a degree of elegance to impress the judges.
"I'm pretty good at getting changed quickly now."
While the showjumping and eventing disciplines tend to hog the limelight at the HOY Show, Towler says dressage will have its share of pomp and glory.
The grand prix arenas will beckon elite riders such as former Olympian Vanessa Way, of Taranaki, Julie Brougham, of Palmerston North, and Penny Castle, of Ashurst.
Towler would love to be on the top level of the dais in her categories come weekend but she says Massey University student Catherine West, of Taranaki, is a good rider with equally adept mounts to set the tone. "This season she's been unbeatable, really."
Towler seems to have covered both avenues with her choice of horses.
Pip brings smaller, upbeat movements to the equation, something she will hope to display to the Muppets music for trotting.
Conversely, Fatty, a 12-year-old bay gelding, is a bigger and longer-moving beast who prefers more laidback music to complement his routine.
"Last year was Fatty's first Young Rider competition because in the previous year he ripped an eye open."
She is indebted to her sponsors for staying on track to pursue her dreams of representing New Zealand in the Olympic Games some day.
Equestrian Central Ltd, Equilibrium Australia, Numat Ltd, Leanne Horvath, Aerospread Ltd have been instrumental as well as Hawke's Bay business couple Kelly Shaw and Dean Diack.
"Without them none of this would be possible."
Towler started riding at HOY Shows when she was 4 and her father steered her towards showjumping.
"I just didn't enjoy it [showjumping] but I don't really know why," she explains.
She gravitated towards the "showing" discipline, primarily centred around grooming, but one day an instructor, Amanda Goldsbury, suggested she give dressage a go.
The then 13-year-old Towler did and never looked back.
She reckons in two years she should have a grand prix horse to compete at the level 8-9 stages.
