KEY POINTS:
Following in the footsteps of champion New Zealand horsemen, Matamata teenager Jake Lambert will tomorrow head to Mexico to represent New Zealand at the 2007 Children's International Jumping Final.
The 14-year-old, from St Peter's School near Cambridge, is ranked 7th in the world, and he has waited all year to secure his place in the final.
"We got the invitation through just two or three weeks ago," said Jake's mother, Raewyn Lambert. "The international competition has run all over the world throughout this year, and Mexico just represents the finals.
"The specs for the course are the same everywhere, such as the height of the jumps, measurements, size of the arena. Over two days there are four rounds of showjumping."
Jake won the New Zealand leg of the competition in February, cleaning up in all four rounds.
His score was fed in to an international database and compared to other children around the world, and for a large part of the year he held third spot.
With some countries only recently holding their local rounds of competition, Jake's final ranking heading to Mexico now sits at 7.
There he will ride against 16 of the host nation's top jumpers, plus the rest of the world's top 16 riders.
Mrs Lambert said her son was keen to carry on the proud tradition of top equestrians such as Mark Todd, Blyth Tait and Andrew Nicholson.
"He talks about riding overseas in the future, and I guess this is the start of it. It'll be a great test of what it's all about," she said.
Jake has ridden since he sat on his first pony at 9 months. He and sister Meg share six ponies between them.
The love of horses is in the blood. Father Allan travelled as a farrier with the Olympic teams to Atlanta and Sydney in 1996 and 2000.
Recently Jake won the Matamata-Piako junior sportsman of the year title, having also represented his province in age group hockey.
