My name is Jorja Dann and I have been part of the Equestrian team during my time at Burnside High School.

Due to 2020 being an interesting year, we weren’t sure how many inter-schools events would be held. We were fortunate enough that all four events were held despite the worldly shenanigans.

Mounted Games

Mounted Games is where riders ride very fast games whilst completing obstacles and vaulting on and off. It is a huge adrenaline rush and great fun for any rider. This year Burnside had one pair competing, consisting of myself and Luci Shanks. As a pair, we had great fun and were lucky enough to win the  South Island Mounted Games Inter-schools Championships, bringing home a title and a trophy to the school for the second year running!

Showjumping

Showjumping is where we ride horses over obstacles (jumps consisting of poles and scary fillers) inside an arena. Burnside entered a team of four with myself, Stella Archer, Luci Shanks, and Robbie Cochrane. The show jumping event is massive and has a lot of teams entered so unfortunately we didn’t place as a team, but we all had a lot of fun and were happy with our horses.

Inter-schools Eventing

Burnside was not able to put up a team for this, due to injuries and such, but Robbie Cochrane competed as an individual for Burnside.

Inter-schools Dressage

This year the team consisting of myself, Stella, Luci, and Robbie, competed in the Dressage event. As a team, we placed 11th out of a huge pool of very competitive teams.

Overall the Equestrian team has had a fun and successful year! We only hope that more people come and join the fun in 2021!