Sport
11 July, 2025
Local Pony club earns two state titles
The Maryborough & District Horse and Pony Club (MDHPC) is galloping for joy after winning two championships at the Pony Club Victoria State Games Championships.
Held at the Bacchus Marsh Pony Club on June 21 and 22, the team of Makayla Cocking, Brianna Ballesty, Matilda Burke and Renae Neilsen finished first overall in the Musical Ride and Team of Four events.
After the team finished second in both categories last year, Neilsen said it was exhilarating to go one step further.
“We have worked really hard at this for nearly three months now so it’s a lot of hard work and it all paid off in the end,” she said.
“Overall it’s a really enjoyable community-based experience, everyone gets involved and everyone supports one another.
“It’s a lot of fun, most of the time we are just giggling at each other.”
Twelve riders from the MDHPC participated in the games, with Beccy Neilsen, Ella Parker, Nikita Dalton and Nevaeh Gues finishing sixth in the musical event and Beccy Nelisen, Dalton, Geus, Ava Lowman, Grace Nottingham, Charlotte and Ayla Hutcheson participating in the Games event.
The competition was also the first state-level event for Charlotte and Ayla Hutcheson.
Burke said it’s exciting for the club’s youngest riders to compete at such a high level.
“With Musical Ride, you don’t have to be graded, you don’t have to be at a certain level, anyone can do it, there were a ton of young girls doing it and it was really cool to see them remembering their whole ride,” she said.
“It’s definitely inspired some of the younger girls to keep doing it.”
The two state championships are another remarkable milestone for Ballesty, who was recently selected to ride for the Pony Club Australia.
As part of her selection, Ballesty, riding horse A Tuscan Sunrise, represented the Prix Caprilli Australian team that finished fourth at the recent Pony Club International Virtual Dressage competition.
“Overall it’s a very humbling situation for me, I’m really grateful just being able to apply let alone ride for it,” Ballesty said.
“It’s all online, you don’t need to travel anywhere so I think it’s a simple way to gain international experience and represent your country in a simple, comfortable environment.
“It’s a great privilege and honour to be able to do that and coming from a club with such great support always helps.
“Maryborough has been such a great experience, I came around two years ago roughly and the level of community is so much higher than a lot of other clubs.
“There’s so much support, everyone gets involved, we all help each other out, I think it’s a really great way of including and inspiring kids.”
MDHPC district commissioner Linda Gerring hopes Ballesty’s international selection encourages her fellow riders to take advantage of the opportunities the pony club provides.
“The big thing for our club is to encourage all our riders to get the most out of their pony club experience,” she said.
“Pony club offers so much to horse riders, it’s not just competitions, it’s the friendships and the training.
“Brianna is one of our role models and leading riders so the younger riders are looking up to what she’s doing, that’s what we want, we want the riders to encourage the younger ones to step up and have a go at things.”
The Bealiba Pony Club also competed at the state games as a Bealiba/Charlton team to some great results.
The team of Nicole and Charli Catto, Maddi and Alyssa Corcoran, Violet Stephenson and Charlotte Stewart finished third overall in the Games event.
Nicole and Charli Catto also placed fifth in the Pairs event and joined Victoria Heywood and Auroa Noonan to finish fifth in the Musical event.