Coolup Camp-draft Nov 28th & 29th

This weekend is generally the biggest event on the WA calendar and the amount of trucks and horses at the new home of the Murray Equestrian Centre was amazing.

Once again we kept our entries small competing in the Maiden Working Stock Horse, with Lady Jane also nominated for the Open Working Stock Horse and the Encouragement Draft.

There were 24 competitors in the Maiden WSH, judged by one of the best lady camp-drafters in Australia in Christine Hall, so we were really just hoping to do what we felt was a good job and have the horses go well. I felt Slips did a much better job with this pattern as it was a bit kinder on them so was happy especially seeing my warm up consisted of a lot of pig rooting and mischievousness! Adrian and I were both over the moon when she was announced the winner on Saturday night and presented with a beautiful blue sash. Still a long way to go before she will be competitive in an Open WSH but something for me to work on! Lady seemed to be a little distracted in her Maiden and it showed through with a couple of mistakes but luckily she redeemed herself and put in a very good pattern for the Open which was very competitive with many experienced horse and rider combinations.

Our draft on Sunday was an interesting one. There were roughly 50 odd competitors and Slips and I were once again having a few warm up issues! But she seemed to switch on the minute we walked in the camp and after a minor gate mishap with the 1st steer we scored a 21 and narrowly missed the 2nd peg due to a very homeward bound beast! But I felt she was a little better than the weekend before and got one more point in the camp. Adrian and Lady started fantastically scoring a 22 in the camp but the turnback riders had not quite cleared the previous steer and it ran straight into Lady’s path! Judge Christine Hall allowed them another run but got a bit of a sticky steer and came away with a 17 for the camp. She ran beautifully outside with the steer just stopping short of the gate as it ducked back to its mates!

This was our last competition for the 2009 year and we can’t wait for it to kick off again in 2010! We turned Lady and Slips out on Sunday and they celebrated by rolling in the creek!

Dardanup Camp-draft Nov 21st & 22nd

With polocrosse all wrapped up for us we ventured down south to the very impressive grounds of the Dardanup Camp-draft taking Barnetts Lady Jane and Stoneage Slips on their very first outing to compete in a Maiden Working Stock Horse Class and Rookie Draft. This would be the first time either of these mares had ever attempted this type of event hence we didn’t want to go overboard with nominating for everything and just let them, and us as riders!, get a ‘feel’ for how it all goes together.

The WSH Class was well supported with some very good, experienced riders entered and was judged by camp-draft stalwart Ann Potter. I was really impressed with Slips as the pattern was quite fast with hand gallops and haunch turns and she did a good job, better than expected for her first go. Lady Jane and Adrian really stepped up and put in a solid effort and were given 2nd place! Not bad for her first try at this!  

To say Adrian and I were a little nervous for our draft would be an understatement! Before this, we have had a total of 4 runs at drafting and for very little, not even making a peg!! This was why we just entered in the Rookie, that and our mares had never worked cattle before! But nerves went out the door pretty quickly as we stepped in the camp and did the best we could. Slips rode beautifully in both the camp scoring a 20 and 64 outside, giving me my very first gate! This run was enough to secure us 2nd place in our first attempt. Adrian and Lady started very well in the camp but the steer quickly tried to nip to the back which marked her down a little but still scored a respectable 18. She also ran a lovely course getting the gate and a 58 which placed them equal 4th! All in all a fantastic weekend and certainly something we are looking forward to building on next weekend at Coolup.

*2009 Australian Stock Horse Society International Quadrangular Series
April 16th – 19th Burradoo Polocrosse Club, Bong Bong Racecourse, Bowral NSW*

The top four ranked countries in the World: Australia, UK, South Africa and New Zealand were brought together in what was to be one of the most memorable and hard fought International Polocrosse Series held.

All the teams arrived at the picturesque Bong Bong Racecourse on Saturday 11th of April for the Official Horse Draw. Prior to this all the teams had been working hard with their training regimes, Australia were  in camp for 3 weeks in NSW, the UK preparing at Doug Webb’s place in NSW also and both the South African and NZ teams arriving only just days before the event with all the preparation and training schedules completed in their home countries.

With the draw complete and horse pools allocated, the teams and coaches had 6 days to assess and understand their new mounts strengths and weaknesses and decide which players were best suited to each horse’s particular standards. With only a one hour allotment each day to ride them it was a hard task but with the world’s best players and coaches things ran along quite smoothly. 

Finally, on Thursday the 16th of April, the games began enabling the teams to put all their hard training, fitness and preparation in to action!! Australia started the Series as hot favourites being ranked the No 1 country following the World Cup results in 2007. The first game of the Series started with a dominating performance by Australia with their home crowd supporting the win over New Zealand 25 to 11. The Aussie Women’s section got away to a flying start 5-0 and the Men continued from there. The UK v South Africa game was expected to be a hotly contested match, however a few nerves and the pressure nearly cost both teams the game. South Africa pulled in front in the last two chukkas defeating the UK narrowly 18-15.

Friday dawned bright, cool and clear with another action packed day ahead. South Africa and NZ kicked off the day’s play in what was believed to be the upset of the tournament as many had the South Africans tipped as the 2nd ranked team for the Series. However the Kiwi’s outplayed them with some very slick and skilful polocrosse 15-13. The 2nd game for the day saw a massive improvement from the UK Team but again the Australian attack was too strong and the Aussies had another good win 21-13.

Although Saturday morning started with a lot of fog and mist over the grounds, the sun had shone through and with the grand final place on the line for the 3 visiting teams and 3500 strong supporters and spectators the atmosphere was electric! The South Africa v Australia game had certainly built up a lot of hype with these 2 teams having a very close clash at the 2007 World Cup and quite a few thought the Aussies may have played their best polocrosse over the previous days. Evidently this was not the case as their best was yet to come! In the most dominating performance of the whole Series Australia smashed the South Africans in a wonderful display of horsemanship, game tactic and racquet skills. The Aussie Women’s section held the opponents to only 3 goals for the whole game and the men were lead by a superior performance from Australia’s No 3, Will Weston. The Aussies took out the game 31-10. For the 2nd game the UK Team lifted again with a gutsy effort from Jason Webb at the back of the line up however they only just fell short and NZ took the game 17-13 which put NZ through to the Grand Final against Australia.

Sunday started grey and drizzly and unfortunately the local Southern Highlands weather continued throughout the day. It didn’t deter the thousands of supporters however as the Final’s were the day for all to see in what order the four countries ranked the best in the World! The UK team had nothing to lose and they threw everything they had at the South Africans!! Sophie Lodder and Debbie Harris worked overtime in the girl’s chukka and Jason Webb’s performance in the Men’s was just brilliant. The South Africans started strongly and with some sharp racquet work and unique goal throwing skills they just kept edging ahead.  Everything came down to the 6th chukka and with one fatal error from the UK Men the final bell rang and it was evens! The women took to the field again and with a huge effort the South African girls came up with the ball and put it through the posts winning them the game 18-17.

At 2pm the big game was at hand! Would the Australian’s continue their dominance? Could the New Zealand team have saved something up their sleeve? All questions were answered from the first line out when the Aussies girls Jodi Tiver, Alison Mathie and Suzette Thomas stamped their authority on the game and finished the 1st chukka 7-0!! The NZ men put up a good fight in the 2nd but the home team never held back with the Aussie men piling on another 7 goal chukka in the 4th. The Aussies took the game 27-8, the Quadrangular Test Series Cup and retained their World No 1 status.

A massive thank you once again to all those that sponsored such a prestigious event and contributed in any way, shape or form especially those that volunteered their services and lent horses making this such a spectacular Quadrangular Test Series.

RESULTS

Thursday 16th April
Australia 25 d New Zealand 11
South Africa 18 d United Kingdom 15

Friday 17th April
New Zealand 15 d South Africa 13
Australia 21 d United Kingdom 13

Saturday 18th April
Australia 31 d South Africa 9
New Zealand 17 d United Kingdom 13

 FINALS
Sunday 19th April
Grand Final – Division 1
Australia 27 d New Zealand 8

Best Men’s Player: Will Weston (Aus)
Best Women’s Player: Suzette Thomas (Aus)
Best Men’s Horse: ‘Ray’ owned by Cameron Shepherd/ridden by Will Weston (Aus)
Best Women’s Horse: ‘Shareal Park Blue Ice’ owned by Craig and Sharon McCoy/ridden by Suzette Thomas (Aus)

3rd and 4th Final – Division 2
South Africa 18 d United Kingdom 17

Best Men’s Player: Jason Webb (UK)
Best Women’s Player: Sophie Lodder (UK)
Best Men’s Horse: ‘Oink’ owned by Scott Dunn/ridden by Jason Webb (UK)
Best Women’s Horse: ‘Silverbug’ owned by Jodi Tiver/ridden by Sophie Lodder (UK)

Best New Zealand Horse: ‘Twinkle’ owned by Adam Dickson
*This award was purchased and presented by the New Zealand Team

Overall Champion Player of the Quadrangular Test Series: Will Weston (Aus)
Overall Champion Horse of the Quadrangular Test Series: ‘Ray’ owned by Cameron Shepherd/ridden by Will Weston
Overall Champion Australian Stock Horse: ‘Elmwood Oregan’ owned by Neville Gilpin

Jodi has also secured some fantastic sponsorship:

*Horseland Perth* Phone 1800 656 534


*Wellard*


*Notable Horse Transport*

*Equestricare*

Stay tuned for updates, reports and photos!

Australian Open Mixed Team – Quadrangular Series

Suzette Thomas (WA) Captain                  Will Weston (NSW) Vice Captain
Jodi Tiver (WA)                                          Rob Sibley (WA)
Alison Mathie (NSW)                                  Todd Weston (NSW)
Jess Jolly (Vic)                                          Chris Anderson (NSW)

Reserves                                                   Reserves
Mandy Smith (NSW)                                    Ben Thomas (WA)
Leith Pryor (NSW)                                       Chris Robinson (WA)
Skye Bradford (NSW)                                 Cameron Sheppard (Qld)

*2008 AUSTRALIAN  POLOCROSSE CHAMPIONSHIPS, PERTH WA
OCT 13TH – 19TH*

Jodi and the WA Women’s Team got off to a great start with a win over the reigning champions NSW with a close game on Tuesday. Unfortunately Shimmer sustained a career ending injury during this and had to be vetted out. Luckily Jane Cooper’s talented little mare ‘Whisper’ was available for Jodi to play as her second horse, Barnetts Lady Jane, had also gone out with a stone bruise.

The girls had an easy win over the Northern Territory on Wednesday and enjoyed a nice day off Thursday. The action kicked back in to gear on Friday with a big game against the Victorian side and with WA getting off to a flying start they were never challenged from there. Saturday’s game against the extremely well horsed might of the Queensland side was hard fought out but the WA girls pulled through with a narrow one goal win which was enough to put them through to the Final on Sunday. NSW came back with vengeance during the week and also got through – another WA vs NSW Women’s final!!

It was extremely hot and steamy weather but with some big chukkas from Jane and Jodi in the middle of the game it put the WA girls ahead by ten goals before the final 2 chukkas which was enough to secure them a 4 goal victory and the cup!!! A massive effort from all the WA Women and what a week of polox!!

Adrian and the WA Open Mixed team enjoyed a few days of polox action before hitting the field themselves on the Thursday which they played against Queensland. The team started well but after a very dangerous and wildly reckless t-bone over the line on Adrian, it shook both horse and rider and he had to be taken to hospital.

The team pulled through with a good win and with no broken bones Adrian was set to head back out there against NSW the next day. Silverbug was understandably not 100% and after a defeat from NSW the team, the WA lot bounced back aided by some very skilful chukkas from the Men’s section, they got another strong win on the board against the Victorians on Saturday which put them through to the final.

Silverbug was unfortunately vetted out with a swollen and bruised tendon and back from the Qld game so Jason Stowe very kindly offered his fantastic gelding ‘Houdini’ to Adrian for the final against the NSW side.

A good start from Women’s section set the stage for the Men and with a big 6 goal chukka in the first it set the WA Team up for the win!!! They came through a couple of goals in front and WA had won its first ever Open Mixed trophy!!

The 2008 Perth Nationals were an absolute success!! Congratulations to all the people that made it possible for this to happen. Photos coming soon…

For full results on the Nationals see the dedicated website: www.wapolocrossenationals.com.au

*AUSTRALIA vs UK – International Test Series July 2008*

Jodi Tiver with the ball on the attack being chased by Sarah Simkin and Sophie Lodder and Suzette Thomas comes in to lend a hand

Australian Open Mixed Team
Women                              Men
Jodi Tiver                             Rob Sibley
Suzette Thomas                  Hayden Turnball
Kylie Dowling                      Troy Henry ©
Sandra Weston                    Will Weston

UK Open Mixed Team
Women                               Men
Sarah Simkin                       Guy Robertson
Debbie Harris                       Greg Sargeant
Sophie Lodder                      Hamish Micheal
Lucy Shell                            Martin Brookes

After defeating the United Kingdom in the final at the 2007 Polocrosse World Cup, the tour was recognised by most as a chance for the UK to try and prove their brilliance against the World leading champions, of which the 4 Test Matches certainly provided some seriously fast paced and highly skilled action for all spectators and players!

The Australian Open Mixed Team comprised of 4 Women and 4 Men (as above) along with Ross Sheppard- Coach (Qld), Sandy McTaggart- Manager (WA) and Colin Parkinson- National Umpire (NSW). The contingent left Perth International airport on Saturday 5th of July with a long journey ahead and a huge task to complete.

After arriving in Gatwick, and escorted to the venue, the Team were lucky enough to be housed by the hosting club, Kent Target, at Risebridge Farm which is where the first 2 Test Matches were to be played. Again many thanks go to the Hillier and Webb families for their massive efforts and contribution to the Australian Teams success.

The UK have never been beaten on their home grounds and having the advantage of being able to ride their own horses and have their home crowd supporting, the UK team was tipped as the favourite. However, the Australian team were ready to take on the challenge. Horses were allocated on the Tuesday and only accessible for a one hour time slot each day which only gave 4 days for Ross (the coach) to match horses to riders and sort sections and combinations.

Australia took a 2-0 test series lead against the UK over the first weekend. On Saturday Australia pinned the UK to the wall with a 29-15 final score. However, on Sunday the second test proved to be a much harder battle as the UK got to grips with the Australian’s game plan and matched them goal for goal throughout. The final result was 23-19 after a particularly fierce final chukka from the Australian Men’s sections.

The UK Women’s section had a fabulous weekend beating the Australian Women in both matches. The UK Men had a harder time against the much stronger and more skilful Australian play but they rearranged their section for the second test, transforming their game and holding Australia to a much tighter score on Sunday.

The Australian Team then moved camp on Thursday to Greater Dunmow where the third and fourth tests were being played down the road at the Ashfields Polo and Carriage Club hosted by the Western Phoenix Polocrosse Club.

The third test on Saturday again proved to be full of excitement and hard earned triumph with the Australian Women pulling the team back resulting in a close win with the same score of 23-19. Although this meant that Australia had won the series both teams certainly felt it wasn’t over! Some changes to players and horses were made and Australian Team really put their skills and knowledge to work putting a stamp on the game and with both sections really hitting the gas Australia ran out the deserving winners 37-16.

It was a fabulous tour and many people are to be thanked for contributing toward such a successful event.  The Australian Polocrosse reputation has been upheld and we go through undefeated toward a Quadrangular Series in the near future being held in NSW April 2009. The next pinnacle for Polocrosse, the Australian National Championships are being held in Western Australia for the first time in 14 years. Located in Brigadoon (Swan Valley) at the Perth Polocrosse Club Grounds on October 13th – 19th will see the best players in the country compete to become Australian Champions! The Nationals will see Suzette, Jodi and Kylie (WA) take on their Australian team mate Sandra (NSW) in the Women’s competition and Hayden and Will pair up again in the NSW Men’s Team. They would love to see you all down there supporting this fantastic Australian made sport!

Jodi taking the big hit from UK’s Sarah Simkin	Jodi with another shot at goals in the 4th Test which the Aussies won 37 to 16
Jodi on Jason Webb’s fantastic little mare ‘Honey’ heading to the Australian goal throwing area	Jodi on Lucy Shell’s ‘Maude’ throwing another goal for Australia in the 2nd Test
Jodi and Honey waiting for the ball to be thrown in

More photos from these tests can be found on the Horse Deals website or in the next Horse Deals magazine.