SISTERS Gracie and Lucy Goodyer of Wagga have blitzed the competition at the Equestrian Australia Interschools event.
The event, in Sydney, attracted the finest riders from throughout NSW. It was also a chance for competitors to ride on the same facility that was used for the Olympics in 2000.
Lucy, 8, and Gracie, 11, Goodyer, both of St Joseph’s Primary School, Wagga were successful enough to win champion primary school in the show horse section.
Individually they placed third and fourth overall against some tough competition. After the Sydney success the pair have earned a spot to represent NSW at a national competition in September.
“Bringing home the champion primary school award was very exciting,” said the girl’s mum Lesley Goodyer.
She said some of the schools had much larger numbers represented and it was nice and encouraging to see the sisters do so well.
“It was quite an experience and it was the first time the sisters had represented their school and an interschools competition,” she said.
Lucy is studying in year 3 and sister Gracie is in year 5. The pair enjoy competing at shows throughout Australia with their riding ponies. During the interschools championships Lucy rode Ripple Brook Antique and Gracie showed Ashtan Park Royal Vision.
Mrs Goodyer said more than 600 competitors participated in the event from primary and secondary schools throughout NSW. “The competition this year is the largest held to date in NSW,” she said.
“From this event a team was selected to represent NSW at the National Interschool Championships in September and both girls were lucky enough to secure a spot on this team,” Mrs Goodyer said. The sisters competed in three phases of the show horse section, a led class, a ridden class and a rider class where they were judged on their riding position, ring craft ,rider effectiveness and overall presentation of horse and rider.
“The girl’s combined scores saw them ride to a podium finish on Friday night bringing home the champion primary school for St Joseph’s,” Mrs Goodyer said. She said Gracie and Lucy had put a lot of work and effort into their sport and were thrilled and excited to win for their school.
