O?Hara claims titles in clean sweep

Wairarapa rider Rochelle O'Hara claimed a clean sweep in winning the pairs Mounted Games title in Hamilton on the weekend.
O'Hara teamed up with Woodside teenager Nicky Barton for the event after taking victory in the individual and teams competitions two weeks prior at the Horse of the Year show in Hastings.
The pair qualified fourth for the final and sat two points adrift of the leaders heading into the last event but produced a stunning performance to take the trophy by a nose.
Mounted Games is a young sport in New Zealand but its popularity is steadily increasing among riders due to the exhilarating speed and skill involved throughout the necessary disciplines.
Though it seems incredibly difficult to explain to the uninitiated, the sport essentially comprises of a variety of events utilising hand-eye coordination and timing while travelling at speed on horseback.
One such discipline involves placing mugs on poles, another involves weaving between flags ? much like tux wonder dogs ? and a further event would see competitors popping balloons and tossing the tack-tipped rod to fellow team-mates in a frenzied relay race.
All in all there are up to 40 different events riders need to hone their skills on, most of which involve incredible flexibility and acrobatic nous.
It has been a swift rise to the top for O'Hara, 21, who only undertook the sport in 2003 after noticing an advertisement in a Horse and Pony magazine.
"When I got into it as a teenager I didn't really have a clue about what was involved and I'm pretty sure everyone looked at me like I was a munta," O'Hara said.
"But then I started to get a bit better and in 2004 I went to Australia as part of the development squad."
Since then she has competed at two world championships, in France in 2004 and Wales in 2005 and can now claim the crown of New Zealand champion having seen off the challenge of former champion and world ranked rider David Sherington of Northland.
"I've beaten him twice now, in the individuals and the pairs, so it's quite good fun really.
"It's pretty competitive and gets quite intense when it's close because just one mistake can end your chances."
She credits a lot of her success to Mango, the pony she borrowed off Burton to compete on.
"He's an absolute legend. He's been around for years, I remember seeing him when I was about 8-years-old and he was just a white blur flying past and he's still as fast."
The popularity of mounted games has seen talk of it being included in the Olympic Games in the very near future, something O'Hara says will keep her motivated in the sport if it eventuates.
"It's not a sport that's widely known in New Zealand but it's growing quite quickly now, there's a lot more people doing it in Wairarapa than there used to be," she said.
"There was talk of it being getting into the Beijing Olympics but it fell through with all the difficulties they were having.
"So now it's being pushed for London in 2012 and if it goes ahead I'll definitely be sticking with it to try and make that."
First up though, she hopes to make it to Australia for the world team championships next year.