This is Dom's second year competing at the competition. Read all about his experience below.

Thank you to everyone who helped to get me to Australia for the Australian Arabian Youth National Championships!

It was a really busy week, right from the start!  After arriving in Sydney, we got our rental car (Aunty says it was a bus!) and made our way to Rachel's place!

The GPS lady wasn't very good at her job and tried to get Kim to turn left when we were in tunnels! But Mum's GPS was a bit more on to it!  Made it to Kurrajong and found our AirBnB place, which was nice, and they had dogs!
Off to Rachel's to ride!

Rachel had found the gorgeous Teddy for me to ride, and I really liked him, however, he was a bit sore, and Rachel had another horse lined up for me to try. I also got a ride on Kenny, who had been picked for Kendra and is about 13.3 hands.

The next morning, I had another ride on Kenny, and then it was off to Thirlmere to check out Luciano! He was lovely and so nice to ride, but when I was asked which horse I'd prefer to ride, I picked Kenny, so Baily took the ride on Luci, and Kendra took the ride on Riley.

Now we were off to find our cabin at Poplar Park and K Ranch! We found out how to get to K Ranch from Poplar Park and caught up with my teammates, Amy and Bella Vujcich, who had been in Australia for over a week with their Mum, and their pony Ivy.

Thursday saw us back at K Ranch, getting our NZ stables decorated and waiting for our mounts to arrive. Once the horses arrived, we were all able to hop on and have some time riding in the arena to get familiarised. The rest of Thursday was spent washing horses, plaiting, and cleaning gear. Once the horses were all settled, it was back to the cabin for food and sleep!

Friday was the first day of competition, with the Handler class. My run was a bit big for Kenny, and he broke into a canter a couple of times. He did stand up so well, and there are great pics of him with his ears forward! A quick lesson from Rachel before the Arabian Pony class saw us do a much better run out, and when the scores and placings were read out, Kenny had won the class by half a point! A blue-ribbon!!! I was incredibly happy, and I think I saw Mum having a wee cry!

Our points in the class also saw us finish as Bronze Champion Arabian Pony, so now I had a wide ribbon and a trophy to take home!  The ridden classes on Friday were the Rider 16-17 years, Child’s Pony and Arabian Costume. I think Kenny and I did a good job but didn’t get any placings. We did do the Costume class in an incredible costume made by Baily’s aunts. It was strange riding with all that gear on, but I’m glad we got to show off the workmanship in the costume!

Saturday was going to be another busy day. I was asked if I would ride Riley for a couple of classes, so there was a bit of leaping on and off between classes! Kenny and I placed in the Arabian Pony class, and Riley and I placed in the Child’s Galloway class. We also did Show Hunter and Bridle Path, classes. There was a bit of a break before it was time to get ready for the Musical Freestyle. Kenny and I did The Git Up Challenge, and I was dressed as a cowboy. It was lots of fun, and I think everyone watching enjoyed it!

The last class on Saturday was the Fancy Dress. This meant dressing up myself and Kenny. While Mum got me ready, Aunty Kim got Kenny ready, and off we went as the Maori Warrior and his mount. It was a very big class, and we got 2nd!! It was Team NZ 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th!
I was so happy to get dressed after, and get Kenny washed and unplaited!

Sunday was our last day of competition, and I did the working hunter classes on Kenny and Riley, before having a great time doing the games on Kenny.

It was an incredible experience, with amazing teammates, and supporters. I couldn’t do this without all the support from my family, and of course Rachel, who finds us such talented mounts. I’m already thinking about next year if I make the team, and what to do for Musical Freestyle/Fancy Dress and fundraising!

Enjoy some of the cool photos taken by Dana Russo Photography, Aunty Kim and Mum!

Dominic Kupa.