Awesome effort for DHS at Mounted Games

On Friday 22 September four riders from Darfield High School braved the 'low snow' weather forecast and rode in the 2023 South Island Secondary Schools Mounted Games Championship at Canterbury Park. The weather was thankfully not as bad as forecast, and Dustin Rowlands and Sam Partington alongside Isla Swords and Bridget Moir rode as pairs. Bridget and Isla finished up first in the B final, an amazing effort considering Isla was on a borrowed pony that she rode for the first time on competition day! Mackenzie Rowlands was a fantastic coach for these two. 

Dustin and Sam came first in the A final, marking a hattrick in this competition for these two. Dustin and Sam have ridden as a pair in mounted games competitions for many years now, they are just lucky that they both attend the same School, so can compete in this competition as a pair also. Mounted games is opening up many opportunities for this pair, with Dustin currently in Australia riding in the New Zealand team competing in the Under 18 World Mounted Games Teams competition. Sam heads to Australia in November as a member of the New Zealand Pony Club Mounted Games team attending the International Mounted Games Exchange.