EQUESTRIAN - Sophie saddles up for world showjumping domination

Although Sophie Burling has just turned 14, she has high hopes hopes of conquering the world of showjumping but is aware of just how hard a challenge she has set herself.
Burling lives and trains on Purerua Peninsula, in Kerikeri, and her relative isolation in the far north of the country doesn't make her task any easier.
The constant travelling to events all over the country keeps her and her family busy but the young rider knows it's what she must do if she wants to realistically forge a career in the sport - one way or another.
"I'm pretty confused about what I want to do exactly, I know it's definitely something to do with horses and showjumping but if it's not riding you can always breed them or manage horses," she said.
But she knows what her preference is.
"I want to be a full-time rider and continue my academic progress, which is hard to do while riding at the same time but it's a good thing to leave my options open," she said.
The young showjumper has just enrolled by correspondence to join Whangarei's SET Academy, to try to free up her schedule to allow her more time for her sport and her horses.
Burling and her mum set off on another tour of the country last week with several showson their itinerary.
At the moment she is fifth on the National Junior Rider points table, riding Manuka Scrub.
"You can move up from junior rider to young rider when you are 14 years old, so next year, if I can find the right horse, I'll move up to jump young riders and hopefully compete in some horse grand-prix."
But in this sport you can be the best rider in the business and still get nowhere quick.
"At the moment all the horses I've got are young and really inexperienced - apart from Manuka Scrub, who's really small and is about at the top of his limit jumping 1.30m - so I can't move up without the right horse but they're expensive and if I want to move up I'll have to train one and that takes time."
There is another possibility - someone will lend her a mount to compete on.
"I've got one sponsor, Sue Fowler, from Astek Stud in Christchurch, and she's hoping to send up horses for me to ride," she said.
The plan is to join the Astek team on the national circuit that already includes well known international Teagan Fitzsimon.
First stop on the current tour this weekend saw Burling in action in Foxton.
Among other events, she rode for the New Zealand team for the FEI (International Equestrian Federation) International Children's' Challenge and finished second, behind Meg Lambert, in the event.
Burling rode clear in the first two rounds on Saturday. She went clear again on Sunday but took two rails in her final round to finish second in the New Zealand team and third overall.
"They have the same course all around the world and after the local riders complete it, they send all the times and results to the FEI and they decide the individual world rankings and how the New Zealand team has done," Burling said.
"If you do well as an individual in the competition, you are invited to attend the Individual World Final, which is usually held in South America."
Burling attended the individual final in Bogota, Colombia in 2007, and would like to return.
"I'm not sure why they hold it in South America every year but in Colombia, they just have really neat venues and good horses and the people are really friendly," she said.
It is her third consecutive year of gaining selection into the New Zealand team, an achievement that shows she definitely has a big future in the sport.