Dustin Rowlands - Mounted Games U18 World Teams Champs - Reserve Champions

“In early October Dustin travelled over to Australia to compete in the Mounted Games World Teams Championships. He was selected to join the National Under 18 Team, after a grueling selection competition earlier in the year. Like most of the other visiting countries, Dustin was using a loan pony for the competition so he went over a week early to get familiar with the pony and practice as much as possible. As the youngest in the National Team, at only 14 years old, this trip to Australia was not only his first International competition, but also the first time Dustin had been out of New Zealand.

To gain more practice Dustin had entered in the Australian National Pairs Competition at the last minute with a fellow NZ U18 team mate, held in Ballarat, the day after the arrived in Australia. The pair entered in the U18 class, had never ridden their ponies before that first session, but held their own, improving with each race. They finished the weekend with an impressive 4th placing, given they were competing against the top U18 riders in Australia, and Dustin still qualifies in the U15 age class.

The International Mounted Games Association (IMGA) World Teams Championships was a week long competition held in Werribee, near Melbourne. The competition comprised of the Under 18 Teams (8 teams in total) and Open Teams (12 teams in total) categories. Riders came from afar and included Germany, France, Sweden, USA, England, Scotland, New Zealand, and Australia, and in addition the Open category also had, Belgium, Switzerland, Ireland and Wales.

The NZ Team, like all other visiting teams, were on borrowed ponies, with only the Australians having the advantage of riding their ponies. The relatively inexperienced NZ U18 Team got better with each session and over the four competition days were soon challenging the other countries on points. The NZ team got extremely close to the winning Australian team, finishing up in 2nd place as Reserve Champions, an incredible feat for these riders!

Dustin found the other competitors were extremely friendly, despite any language differences. The skill standard was high among all the teams, but the NZ team held their own confidently. This competition was Dustin's first international competition, and it gave him him the confidence to use all the skills he has learnt over the past few years. Dustin is determined to work even harder, to continue to improve his games skills, so he can hopefully represent his country again in the future.

He would like to thank the many people that have helped him along this journey; Hazlett Ltd, Bangor Pony Club, Canterbury Mounted Games Association, Team Coaches Sue Zydenbos and Paul Johnston, fellow team members, and lastly his very supportive family.”