EQUESTRIAN - New to Northland, pair arrive in style with win

"HE'S my baby," grins Alisha Kerr, referring to her horse Perfect Exchange, after they completed the points win in the open horse class in the Northland Showjumping points prize on Saturday.
Perfect Exchange is aptly named because Kerr reckons she gets as much out of showjumping as the horse does.
"I enjoy the thrill of it, you feel like you're flying, I love it," she said.
While she had a few problems during the speed round of jumping at Barge Park on Saturday - with a refusal at one jump - the pair have been a model of consistency throughout the event and were the clear winners of the overall points prize for the 10-round event.
"We just got the striding wrong but you get that - he's been a great performer all this year," she said.
Kerr is relatively new to showjumping in Northland but the title she won on Saturday has gone some way to announcing her arrival.
"I've been showjumping since I was 5 years old. I'm originally from Taranaki but my parents moved up here a few years ago, so I came up with them but I haven't done much showjumping up here until this year," she said.
Work has prevented her from being able to compete regularly in the sport until this season.
"I was dairy farming last year so I didn't get to many shows and this season I've been working at a horse stud and now I'm working at a restaurant, so I've been moving around a bit, but at least I've had more time to compete."
"That's been good for me and Teddy [Perfect Exchange's nickname] because he's got so much potential, so it's not worth leaving him in the paddock to do nothing.
"I've had him for six years and I've taken him from 90cm to 1.25m and I won the open amateur rider of the year award with him in 2000," she said.
The horse turned 16 this month but according to Kerr still acts like a 3-year-old.
"That's getting old for a showjumper but he wasn't broken in until he was 9 years old so I think that's why he loves it so much."
But she won't be thinking about trading Perfect Exchange in any time soon. "I wouldn't sell him for the world, he's just been awesome this year - I love him to bits," she said.
There were three other Northland Circuit points titles awarded on Saturday.
Kaeo's Paige Corbett won the Northland Pony Showjumping circuit, while Kerikeri's Abby Robinson and Tangiteroria's Vicki Berger won the Dunstan Horse Circuit and Dunstan Pony Circuit respectively.