Tamahere pony club gears up for new season
Emma Turnbull, fresh off winning the dressage Fair play award, is planning for her second season with the Tamahere Pony Club.
Photo: Supplied
For Waikato University student Emma Turnbull, coaching the Tamahere Pony Club, competing in dressage competitions and completing her degree are all now part of her life.
After saddling up for the first time as a child, she went on to received her first horse at 12 and has never looked back.
Eight years on and the law and accounting student won the Fair Play award at the dressage conference in Blenheim last week, nominated by Dressage Waikato after giving up her stable for another horse.
Now Turnbull looks to the up-coming season as the Tamahere head coach.
“The biggest thing for me as a coach, is for them to just have to have fun and just learning to be safe with the ponies and be safe as riders,” Turnbull said.
Turnbull has been with the Tamahere club for just over a year, while also sacrificing her time to coach at two other local clubs.
The club runs events such as derby days which Turnbull designs to help develop the group of riders and allow the experienced riders the chance to work on leadership roles.
“I get some of the older riders to take the little kids around and walk the course with them, so I really try and encourage each other to become a real community team.”
The events also include musical choreograph tests and while a fan of Robbie Williams herself, Turnbull admits that her last horse did not dance to the tunes of Rock DJ.
“For my advance horse his musical is Queen, so Freddie Mercury”
Juggling her law degree while coaching the club and competing in dressage competitions around the country is no small feat, but Turnbull leads it all back to her dedication to horses and the support staff behind her that makes the club successful.
“I have a wonderful chairman and great secretary, the parent committee has been a big help.
“Pony Club is where I made so many good memories, so it’s all about giving back to the sport now and I love it.”
Riders will return to the paddock later this year while the team will also look to run fundraising events to help with the running of the club.
