GIVING BACK WITH JO MCKINNON

A driving force for equestrians in remote Australia

As Nicole Mutimer was growing up on a remote cattle station in the Northern Territory, horses were her access to sport, writes JO MCKINNON.

IIt was historian Geoffrey Blainey who coined the phrase ‘the tyranny of distance’, which, he believed, was a driving force in shaping Australia’s unique history and its identity. It also helped shape the identity of Nicole Mutimer, a remarkable young woman who grew up on a cattle station located somewhere in the middle of the Northern Territory.

With hundreds of kilometres of outback in every direction, the facilities that youngsters in regional centres take for granted were simply not available to Nicole.

“My parents weren’t horsey but riding was just one of those things you did because there was no access to other sports,” she explains. “There was no playing netball or anything like that. Horses were all that we had. You got on and rode, and learnt to stay on and made it up as you went!”

Fortunately for Nicole, the Tapp family, who owned Maryfield, the neighbouring station, were very definitely horsey, and they helped introduce the young girl to the finer aspects of riding.

“The Tapps were a pioneering cattle family in the Northern Territory,” Nicole recalls, “and I was influenced by them a lot in the early days. They lent us gear and gave us a few tips here and there. We would go to some of the local rodeos and campdrafts with them and that was my introduction to horse sports.”

That extensive exposure to horses during childhood ignited a passion for the equestrian life that has dominated Nicole’s life to this day.

Now a full-time riding coach, she owns and runs the Darwin Equestrian Academy. She is also a keen competitor across a range of disciplines and has won numerous champion show jumper and show horse titles including Supreme Champion Show Horse at the 2019 Royal Darwin Show. In 2012 Nicole was named Litchfield NT Sportsperson of the Year, in 2017 and 2019 she was awarded NT Coach of the Year, and over three consecutive years – 2015 to 2017 – she collected the prestigious NT Horse of the Year Title.

And whilst teaching is her profession, she also volunteers a considerable amount of her time and expertise to the Pony Club movement in the Northern Territory.

“Pony Club Chat was my introduction to formal training and I realise how crucial that phase was in my riding career. That’s where it all came from in terms of opening doors for competition and more training. I’ve stayed actively involved in it because there are lots of riders who might not be that wellresourced financially and so Pony Club is really important for a lot of kids that may not have other access to horses,” she explains.

It’s that passion and dedication that have been the driving force behind Nicole’s enormous contribution to the development of young Pony Club riders throughout the Northern Territory for more than 20 years.

“I’m fortunate that I get to travel around and go to different Pony Clubs like Alice Springs and Katherine, and various clubs around Darwin. It’s good to see Pony Clubs still thriving in those more regional areas and that they are doing great things for riders,” she says.

Deeply passionate about teaching, Nicole derives huge satisfaction from working with riders of all ages and stages.

“It’s incredibly rewarding to see riders just enjoying their horse. They love riding and coming to lessons and being able to kick goals and tick boxes they didn’t think they could,” says Nicole. “I see a lot of riders from young kids to adult and for them to have that growth is very important. Riders put their trust and faith in you to steer them in the right direction and keep them safe to share their dreams. The relationships that you build with riders is the real privilege that comes with coaching. I often remind myself of how privileged I am.”

Nicole’s unashamedly parochial when it comes to talking about equestrian in the Northern Territory and is proud of how far the sport has come in this isolated part of Australia.

In October she coached the Territory’s Australian Interschool Championships team which competed at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre. They fielded a tiny team of just four riders and had the experience of a lifetime.

“I think that’s really big because for some of the riders I took to the nationals it was a dream that they had had for a long time, and it took them a long time to work towards

Above: Helping kids learn to trust and play with their horses is a passion for Nicole Mutimer. Below: When she has time, Nicole likes to compete, particularly in jumping.

those goals. It was a privilege to be there,” says Nicole.

And keeping that tyranny of distance in mind, you won’t be surprised to learn that the logistics involved in getting the team there were enormous.

“It’s really big for riders from here to go interstate and compete. Four riders took their own horses and for those that drove, that’s a week of travelling there and giving a horse time to spell, and then a week of competition and a week travelling back again,” she explains.

Whilst there might not have been any blue ribbons to take home, the team were winners in many other ways.

“Part of my job as a coach is to help them and support them through a lot of nerves and excitement. It was an amazing opportunity for them. I think they will definitely go again because it was something they really enjoyed – and to me that is success,” she says.

Nicole’s heart is certainly in the right place when it comes to giving back to equestrian. Coaching and keeping riders involved in the sport are her key priorities.

“I’m about creating happy, comfortable horses because that improves safety for riders. Horse welfare is a really big one for me, as well as horsemanship and seeing riders learn more about training their horses. Everybody is training behaviour all the time whether they intend to or not,” she muses.

“We will lose fewer riders if they do not get frustrated and scared, or think it’s getting too difficult. If they’re not having fun then that’s where we lose them,” she adds.

And for Nicole Mutimer, every rider lost to the sport is one rider too many.

Riders put their trust and faith in you to steer them in the right direction and keep them safe to share their dreams.