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Two of New Zealand’s top showjumpers are heading to the US in a bid to make a New Zealand Nations’ Cup team.
They are preparing their horses to fly out of Auckland on February 12 for a one-week journey that includes three days of quarantine.
Beatson’s horse Central Park and LT Holst Andrea, Edgecombe’s horse, would take the long route to Chicago, going via Sydney in Australia and Anchorage, Alaska, before three days in quarantine and an 18-hour truck ride to Ocala in Florida.
Edgecombe said there are around $40,000 worth of costs involved to get a horse overseas so she opted to compete in Florida rather than Saudia Arabia, which proved to be a logistical nightmare.
“She would have to fly to Europe first and then go to Saudi Arabia, and travel back to Europe to come home, for one show.”
Despite the trip, she was not worried about her 14-year-old horse as she had travelled and competed in Australia before with no issues.
The horses are given first-class treatment, with professional grooms who work to make the trip as smooth as possible with access to feed and water.
“Apart from the change of location, nothing changes. I’ve got the same feed for her in America and it would be like, ‘Oh we are at a different stable and it’s a different show’ but she doesn’t know any different.”
Edgecombe and 14-year-old Andrea would miss the Land Rover Horse of the Year Show in March in Hastings, where they would have defended their Olympic Cup crown as Showjumper of the Year.
“It is a shame but Andrea has limited time and she has won that, so onwards to new horizons.”
1988 Olympian Maurice Beatson on his horse Central Park.
Beatson is no stranger to competing in the United States and it had been 14 years since he last competed there.
The experienced rider will take his horse Central Park to Florida to sell and he and his partner Sally Clark will stay with fellow Kiwi Olympian Sharn Wordley.
“It’s good having that experience in the States, so it is not so much unknown for us,” Beatson said.
He said they were excited to finally have a date for the competition as they had waited in anticipation to secure flights.
“It will be tough up there. There are a lot of top competitors including some from Australia and Europe as well as the Americans but it will be good to see how Central Park stacks up.”
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and has a love for sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
