The 10th edition of EQUITANA proved a huge success with visitors and exhibitors this year and feedback from horse fans has been extremely positive. Tourism Victoria’s Brendan Downey affirmed “EQUITANA is a major hallmark event for Victoria and we are proud to acknowledge that it sits on par with the Australian Open, AFL Grand Final and the Melbourne Cup,” said Mr Downey.
EQUITANA Melbourne showcased a remarkable array of events from elite competitions, international presenters and world renowned equine educators, to fabulous equine entertainment with the Sunday Showcase and the southern hemisphere’s largest equine shopping precinct with over 300 exhibitors.
The prestigious The Way of the Horse, 3 day Australian horsemanship challenge proved once again to be a crowd pleaser, with Ken Faulkner of Queensland taking the honours.
Britain’s Olympic Silver medallist and Eventing legend Mary King; Josh Lyons and Richard Winters who are two of the USA’s top horse trainers; Ali Al Ameri and the renowned Dressage Educator, Kyra Kyrklund, delivered a world-class experience to the thousands of fans throughout the four days.
In conjunction with Equestrian Australia, EQUITANA Melbourne hosted the Equestrian Grand Final series that brought together Australia’s leading athletes to compete in the Olympic disciplines of dressage, jumping and eventing to packed houses. The amazing “War Horse” puppet character, band “Who Said What” and joint performance of Spanish riding by Manolo Mendez, accompanied by Flamenco Guitarist, Richard Tedesco, added wonderful entertainment to the competitions.
The new EQUITANA Australian Open Finals were a huge hit and featured the sports of Reining, Cutting and Barrel Racing to enthusiastic crowds in the indoor purpose-built arena. The Barrel Racing competitors were excited to be part of this major series for the first time and are looking forward to Sydney next year.
RESULTS OF MAJOR COMPETITION SERIES:
Equestrian Grand Final
- Jumping CSI-W 1st Place – Rider: Alison Rowland, Horse: Bickley Brook Bella.
- Exhibition Eventing 1st Place – Rider: Shane Rose, Horse: Virgil
- Dressage Freestyle 1st Place – Rider: Heath Ryan, Horse: Regardez Moi.
EQUITANA Australian Open
- Cutting Open Championship 1st Place – Rider: Scott Campbell, Horse: Highbrows Scarlet
- Cutting Non-Pro Championship 1st Place – Rider: Amelia Tomkin, Horse: Tramps Destiny
- Reining Championship DUEL 1st Place – Rider: Warren Backhouse, Horses: Ruff Lil Renee and Docs Fancy Roy.
- Barrel Racing Championship 1st Place – Rider: Adele Edwards, Horse: Moon Roc.
Full results for all competitions can be found at www.equitana.com.au
The inaugural “Sunday Entertainment Showcase” was another big winner with the audience, as some of our International presenters joined top Aussie riders in a fun-filled ride off. The beauty of the liberty horse sequence had to be seen to be believed and, combined with some great comedy and amazing riding displays from other performers, ensured that the audience enjoyed every minute of the 2 hour show.
EQUITANA Australia would like to thank everyone who participated to make the event the success that it was and give a special thank you to our wonderful volunteers, who tirelessly work to help the event run smoothly.
But most of all, we would like to thank you, our EQUITANA visitors, who supported the event, competitors, educators and Australia’s businesses. Without you, there wouldn’t be an EQUITANA!
The EQUITANA team is already working on some amazing new events for Sydney 2013 (7-10 Nov), so make sure you stay tuned to our website www.equitana.com.au for all the Sydney news.
