Wagga teenager Ryleigh O'Hare will head to Sydney's Royal Easter Show this week with a spring in her step and, more importantly - her head full of confidence in the hooves below.
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O'Hare, 16, and her 11-year-old showjumper, Navahome Bono, are coming off one of their biggest thrills - winning a Young Riders title at the Victorian Country Showjumping Championships just over a week ago.
Against competitors up to five years her senior at the Albury Wodonga Equestrian Centre, and taking on the 1.30m jumps for just the second time, the pair blitzed it.
"There were quite a few experienced people in it. Going into it I would've just been happy to get around. Like, it's my second time doing it . And we went clear," a thrilled O'Hare said.
"I was really shocked. Kind of confused. And then it turns out we were the only ones that ended up going clear, so we won it! We got a garland and a rug... it just felt weird."
That sense of strangeness was at least partly attributable to pressure.
"I felt sick at one point. I felt so sick and I was going for a jump and I thought, 'I really need to remember to breathe.' It's just the pressure. It's scary."
But it's sinking in for the two of them.
"He was good, weren't you buddy?," she says, giving Bono a pat.
"He's been jumping really well lately. We've been so surprised. We always thought 1.20 would be his limit and he's going clear around 1.30."
Now that hurdle is cleared, the challenge is to keep doing it consistently, beginning with the Easter Show's Junior Showjumping which runs from this Friday through to Monday.
O'Hare has previously only competed in Pony Club category but is getting ready to take on the best young riders from around Australia.
"I'm really excited. When I found out I made it, I was really excited. It's kind of nerve-wracking. It's a big competition, the atmosphere is really big. But it should be good," she said.
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