By Callum Ludwig
A talented young member of the Seville Pony Club is set to compete at the Pony Club Australia National Championships next month.
Emily Hudak has been selected for the second year running to compete with Team Victoria, who are aiming for back-to-back titles at the event in Perth on
Emily said it is an exciting experience and she is very happy to have the chance to represent Victoria.
“I competed in the Nationals two years ago, and it was online because of Covid but it was lots of fun, I am a bit more excited this time because I know how it runs now,” she said.
“I’m very excited to get to do it in person this time and make the trip there.”
The Pony Club Australia National Championships are held every two years, with the event moving from state to state each event. Prior to the online 2021 event, the last in-person event was held in 2019 at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre.
Emily said she has been riding horses for 12 to 13 years of her life, and a member of the pony club for 11 of those.
“I’ve always wanted to represent Victoria but I didn’t know it was going to be so soon. There’s three sections of the championships, the written phase is a test on paper, then you go over and in person and answer some more questions, and finally, there’s a team games area where you work with your team,” she said.
“I feel like I’ll be pretty good at the games, but I’m not sure how I’ll go in the written section.”
The Pony Club Australia National Championships consists of teams made up of sub-junior, junior and senior riders both male and female from each state competing in dressage, show jumping, combined training, mounted games, tetrathlon and a quiz with the points totalled at the end to decide the winning state.
Seville Pony Club’s District Commissioner Lori Hill said Emily is a great role model and horsewoman.
“We are very proud of her, she looks after her horses exceptionally, is a dedicated rider and has got great community spirit,” she said.
“She even recently organised an event at our Pony Club and then donated some of the funds to another Pony Club that had burnt down, all of her own back so for a 15-year-old, that’s a massive achievement.”
