Far North Qld Regional Championships

The FNQ Regional Championships weekend went incredibly well -  everyone enjoyed the friendly and encouraging atmosphere and feedback from the riders, parents, officials, volunteers and organisers has been very positive.

This year, between the Club Championships, and the IQ Regional Championships, we have had many new schools join IQ for the first time.

A total of 12 riders from Townsville to Cairns and the Atherton Tablelands region competed in Dressage, Showjumping and Combined Training with competition starting at 7am each day to take advantage of the cooler part of the day.

The level of sportsmanship among the riders was really heart warming to see.  Especially in the jumping events,  the riders gave the impression of all riding on the same team instead of competing against one another. It was great to see some riders stepping up and moving outside of their comfort zone to try something new.

Throughout the weekend, competitors were also treated to an educational session with Angela Sausman on effective techniques on nutrition and worming, whilst also focusing on climate and level of exercise, which was well received by everyone present.

The level of sponsorship was phenomenal and included local as well as multinational companies.  The strong level of sponsorship allowed us to hand out a welcome bag to each rider and have a "Lucky Rider Draw" of which every single competitor won a gift of value to help their riding, training, and horsemanship. Prizes included a brand new set of Venice Security Tech Stirrups from Ocean Easy Stables and a trip to Brisbane to train at Fairview Performance Horses. It is great to see so many businesses rally together to support school-aged riders.

Thank-you also to the officials Darren Weston (Course Builder), Jamie Ford (Dressage Judge) and Trevor Hyatt (Jump Judge) for your assistance at the event, your level of professionalism, encouragement and genuine care for the riders made the weekend a great success.

Looking forward to 2017:  North Queensland Showjumping Club now has a new committee and it looks very promising that the Interschool Queensland events will continue to be run. A new committee position was created at the AGM for Interschool Convenor which Rebecca Henry has taken on board.  

Earlville Pony Club is very keen to be the host venue for the FNQ Regional Championships once again in 2017 and are hoping to run more IQ competitions and clinics under the EQ banner earlier in the year, with an emphasis on running events that are encouraging to all levels.

Earlville Pony Club are hoping to be able to upgrade their riding surface and purchase a portable Dressage Arena early next year which will make the running of events easier to organise.