Nugget's Olympic gold for Kirsty

REBECCA HARPER
Kirsty Parsons and her horse Nugget enjoy attending pony club and competing in one-day events, just like any ordinary horse and rider. Except that Nugget, better known as Glengarrick, is not just any horse.
He was the oldest horse to compete in the three-day event at the Athens Olympics in 2004, finishing seventh.
In August last year at 20 years of age he was the oldest horse ever to compete in the World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany. And what's more, he came within a whisker of winning a bronze medal representing New Zealand with his then owner Heelan Tompkins, Kirsty's cousin.
One unlucky rail in the final showjumping phase relegated Tompkins and Glengarrick to seventh place overall, but they still finished the best of the Kiwis, silencing all the doubters who said Glengarrick was too old to foot it with the world's best.
Glengarrick returned from England in December and Tompkins made the decision to give him to Kirsty.
"Kirsty's pony I gave her went lame and I thought it was a bit selfish to carry on because I'd had a great run with him."
Tompkins says Kirsty visited for the weekend so she could make sure the two got on.
"Even though Kirsty's small she's a good rider and she really listens. Nugget just looks so happy," she says. Kirsty, 13, has just started at Iona College in Havelock North and attends Havelock North Pony Club. She got her first pony aged six and says she "wanted a pony ever since I could speak".
Now she has the horse of her dreams.
"He's nice and kind and doesn't push me around - he's got manners. He used to jump much bigger and go much faster, but with me he's learnt to slow down," she says.
Kirsty and Nugget are still getting to know each other, they have only been together for six weeks, but have already been to pony club a few times and competed in three one-day events.
At the moment they are just sticking to dressage and showjumping though - not surprisingly Nugget still gets a bit excited in the cross-country, even at the ripe age of 20.
Kirsty says all her instructors and fellow pony clubbers have been "excited and happy" to have an Olympic horse in their midst, all waiting to see him walk off the trailer for the first time.
Mum Janet says her first reaction when she found Tompkins was giving Nugget to her young cousin was "shock and disbelief".
"Yes he's an Olympic horse who's done amazing things and gone to amazing places, but you get over that because he's just great to have around. Nothing worries him, he's so laid-back. He's gentle and he'll teach Kirsty so much," she says.
Riding is also something that helps with Kirsty's cystic fibrosis, a condition she was born with.
Cystic fibrosis means that the mucous in Kirsty's body is thicker than normal and can block the small airways in the lungs, which can make her more susceptible to lung disease.
Kirsty has physiotherapy every morning and night to help move the mucous from her lungs. She also takes enzymes with every meal because her body cannot produce the digestive enzymes required.
The condition means she tires easily and needs to take large amounts of medication. She has occasional days off school and often has hospital appointments that take the whole afternoon. A couple of times a year she has to spend two weeks in hospital.
Janet says it's all about managing the condition to make life as normal as possible, and it is something Kirsty has learned to live with.