Performance Ponies | Bridie

Jack Dever rides Bridie in the FMG Grand Prix Open Pony at the Central Hawke’s Bay A&P Show in 2009

SCHOOL LIFE During the week Milly boards at Iona College in Havelock North, where she is heavily involved in the equestrian team and enjoys competing at the Interschool competitions.

“I am very lucky that my parents keep my ponies fit while I am away at school. My dad drives all the way from Waikaremoana to come and pick me up and then we go off to competitions,” Milly says. “I get really excited knowing that Dad is on the way with my pony and we are going to have some fun together.”

While she is boarding, Milly is lucky enough to be able to go and ride her friend Anna’s ponies after school. “I am also on the school polo team and I really love it! It has been really fun riding a different horse each week and learning something new.”

Not one to sit around doing nothing, Milly kampic.com

likes to stay super busy, which includes getting out of school in the weekends. When she isn’t competing, she goes hunting with her 74-yearold grandfather with the Hawke’s Bay Hunt Club. “Some weekends I also come back to Wairoa and hunt with the Mahia Hunt Club too with Dad,” she says. “My parents Russell and Margot are my biggest supporters. They come from horsey backgrounds, and Dad shoes and clips my ponies as well as riding them while I am at school! I really couldn’t be without the support of my parents and grandparents!” THE MAIN CHARACTER - BRIDIE Milly’s main pony she competes on is Bridie, or Pinky as she is known at home. Pinky is a 15-year-old part Arab mare.

“Having Arab in her can make her a little fiery,” Milly laughs. “She is very bossy and is the matriarch at home here with the other horses. She is highly intelligent and as soon as I go into the ring and go up to the judge’s box to give my name she starts to dance, and then as soon as she hears that bell she means business. Mum always reckons she can tell how Pinky is going to be on the day when she is plaiting her before the class. If Pinky is fidgety and cheeky, Mum then warns me to hold on because she is going to be full of herself!”

The family got Pinky when she was seven and Milly recalls the days when Jack was competing

her. “Dad would have to ride her all morning on our steep hills and then bring her home, wash her and put her straight on the horse float otherwise she wouldn’t load and would hassle us for ages!”

Pinky is full of character and quirks - she hates water and will jump creeks with almighty leaps, which has meant Milly has got really good at holding on, especially in winter time when there is a lot of water around! “I have made her swim in the river to overcome her problem with water and that has slightly helped,” Milly explains. “As she has got older, she has learnt how to sleep at a show and we can have her tied up at the side of the truck and she will be settled. In her early days she would have taken the truck or float for a walk if we had left her there tied up!”

The pair have had many ups and downs in their time together. “One of my career highlights was when I got Reserve Champion Working Hunter Pony at Central Hawke’s Bay Show in 2015. One of my most memorable moments, however, was when I was at the same show when I was 11 years old. It was my first season on Pinky and she knew a lot more than me. I was doing the Pony Working Hunter and it all went horribly wrong. Pinky took off on me and I couldn’t stop her. The only way to stop her was all the parents running out in the arena forming a line and waving their arms in the air. Pinky came to a sudden stop and I went flying,” she exclaims.

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BRIDIE’S LITTLE BROTHER BRUNO Aside from her adventures with Bridie, Milly also has her younger brother Bruno, who is six years old now. “He can be very fit and dance around a lot as he is only young, but with all this farm riding he is settling down a lot and can handle a lot more now,” she explains. “He is very free moving and can really march along in a good walk, and he’s learning to be a good jumper. Bruno is really friendly and will follow you around the paddock when you are walking past, he is very nosey and will try and walk into the shipping container where we store all the horse feed. He will happily stand in there and get the feed out of any container that he can get the lid off!”

Milly has big hopes for Bruno in the future and is looking forward to getting him out and about to the shows when he is ready. She gives both the ponies plenty of variety in their work, including working them on the steep hills for fitness work.

“We are very lucky that we have a nice flat paddock to put up our course of show jumps. I also like doing flatwork once I get back from a ride around the farm. After flatwork I usually do a course of jumps which I change around a lot.”

The future is looking great for Milly and her ponies, and we wish them all the best for the season ahead. C kampic.com

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