East Otago High School student Nicole Crawford takes out National Titles.

Year 13 student Nicole Crawford, competed in the National Endurance and Competitive Trail Ride Championships held in the Nenthorn Valley over Easter 2021.

On Friday 2nd April Nicole and her horse Quairo started at 5am in the morning, the event was 102km over farmland in the Nenthorn Valley, it was a cold day for the event and Nicole said the ride was a lot of fun and starting the in the dark with only a head torch was a challenge but still really enjoyable.  The ride took 9 hours 40 minutes.  Nicole was thrilled to come away with CN Junior National 100km Champion title.

Sunday 4th April saw Nicole riding again, this time on her horse Rita in the 62km ride.  The day was challenging with wind gusts over 100 km/hr but Nicole said Rita took it all in her stride and they went on to win the CN Intermediate Junior 62km National Championship title, they also won the Best Conditioned Horse. 

Nicole trained everyday for months leading up to the event and spent time training on the beach and in the Hampden forestry to make sure both herself and her horses were at their peak fitness.