Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Trans Tasman Endurance Challenge hosts more than 50 horse riders near Waiouru

Whanganui Chronicle
3 Dec, 2019 04:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Giles Gilling opens a gate for Rowena Black while competing in a 40km event. Photo / John Archer

Giles Gilling opens a gate for Rowena Black while competing in a 40km event. Photo / John Archer

Top equestrian endurance riders had a long day in the saddle at the Trans Tasman Endurance Challenge in the central North Island.

Australian Equestrian Endurance team members on borrowed horses joined New Zealand riders at Waiouru on Sunday for a 3am start to the Trans Tasman event, riding into the darkness across hilly farmland. They competed in 80km and 120km rides over five farms between Tangiwai and Hihitahi.

The Trans Tasman Endurance Challenge is a biennial event, last held at Stirling's Crossing in Queensland.

The horses are checked by a team of vets before and after each 40km lap to ensure they still have a normal pulse and are not lame or dehydrated, so riders had to keep at a steady pace and stop at water troughs. They also had to stop for gates which gave the horses a rest.

"There's dozens of them," an Aussie rider, who was used to riding in more open country, said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The visiting riders were also used to drier, flatter land and enjoyed the soft green turf and the diversity of scenery on the volcanic plateau.

Sonya Ryan, Australian chef d'equipe, said her team greatly appreciated the high quality of the horses they were given to ride, and the generosity of their owners.

"They really love their horses and wanted to see how well they could do with our top riders guiding them," Ryan said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Pip Mutch (left) and Sian Reid completed the first 40km of the 120km Trans Tasman Endurance Challenge before sunrise after a 3am start. Photo / John Archer
Pip Mutch (left) and Sian Reid completed the first 40km of the 120km Trans Tasman Endurance Challenge before sunrise after a 3am start. Photo / John Archer

Makahiwi Stables' Phoenix carried Australia's Talia Franke to a win in the junior 120km competition in 8 hours 46 minutes, while New Zealand team member Pip Mutch on Mauku Bella won the senior 120km, also in 8:46, with Sian Reid second in 8:48 and Australia's Jessie Herman third in 9:01.

Jenny Champion won the 80km ride in 6:08, followed by Deidre Bartlett (NZ, 6:25) and Jane Ferguson (NZ, 6:46), then Sorsha Stuart-Rokvic (Australia, 7:15).

Last weekend more than 50 riders competed in 10 different rides of 24km or more.

They included Mutch's 10-year-old sister Isla who made her firsr 80km ride in 7:54, and 78-year-old Mike Bragg who rode the full 120km in a respectable 9:49.

Discover more

Ardern on regional development, refugees and her election promises

01 Dec 04:01 PM

Schools welcome much-needed cash injections

02 Dec 09:45 PM

Wider access to vaccine will benefit young people

02 Dec 04:00 PM

Arrival date for refugees yet to be confirmed

02 Dec 04:00 PM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Seabed mining project sparks alarm over impact on South Taranaki fisheries

07 Jul 03:57 AM
Whanganui Chronicle

Multiple purchase offers for pilot academy

07 Jul 03:39 AM
Whanganui Chronicle

Police seek sightings of car linked to missing person

06 Jul 11:50 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Seabed mining project sparks alarm over impact on South Taranaki fisheries

Seabed mining project sparks alarm over impact on South Taranaki fisheries

07 Jul 03:57 AM

Jamie Newell fears silt pollution will damage precious reef ecosystems.

Multiple purchase offers for pilot academy

Multiple purchase offers for pilot academy

07 Jul 03:39 AM
Police seek sightings of car linked to missing person

Police seek sightings of car linked to missing person

06 Jul 11:50 PM
How a spray painter is mastering conflict resolution with NZ Army

How a spray painter is mastering conflict resolution with NZ Army

06 Jul 05:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP