WHILE other girls her age are out on a Friday night or preparing for a lazy weekend off school, Edwina Hutton-Potts is busily horsing around.
But she’s definitely not running carefree.
Instead she’s spending hours, if not days or even months, preparing for her next horse riding competition and perhaps her next victory: one that she can add to her currently overflowing list.
At the age of 14, Edwina has already notched up an impressive number of wins at various shows around Australia.
She has won her age division at smaller events such as the Kangaroo Valley, Dapto and Moss Vale shows and represented NSW at the Grand National, finishing in the top ten. She is Reserve Champion Under 17 at the Bowral, Castle Hill and Camden shows.
Her biggest prize so far is the title of Reserve Champion Girl Rider Under 17 at this year’s Sydney Royal Easter Show, which she said was completely unexpected.
“I had never done something that big before,” she said.
“It was a shock and it was amazing, just hearing people say you deserved it.”
Edwina, an Oxley student from Robertson, has been riding since the age of eight, when she received her first horse.
It was a move to the Southern Highlands from the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney in 2002 that facilitated Edwina’s attraction to horse riding.
Her family wanted a change of lifestyle; one where the space needed to keep a horse was available.
Edwina’s mother, Jane, was a rider when she was younger but stopped at 15.
It wasn’t until Edwina took a strong interest six years ago that the two started riding seriously and entering competitions.
These competitions now take up most of Edwina and her mother’s time.
Jane does the 6am run to the horses every morning, cleaning the stables and giving them feed.
The two spend their afternoons with them as well, riding and keeping the horses fit.
School holidays are no time for rest, with Edwina spending weeks with her coach in Nowra learning new skills.
All this, they said, to prepare for competition.
“Our whole life is about getting back to the Royals, to win the Royals,” said Jane.
“Sydney is the most hotly contested show in Australia.”
At these shows Edwina specialises in hacking, a form of competitive horse riding that involves showing off the horse to the best of its ability and impressing judges with its appearance.
But this is no easy, or quick, feat.
Edwina likens a typical competition to a fashion show.
The horse needs to be in peak physical condition through a careful diet, which can take months.
Its mane is plaited, which can take up to an hour and a half to do, and make-up is also applied to its face and hooves.
And like the constantly changing trends in fashion, there are even trends in the horse’s appearance.
Edwina and her mother keep up-to-date with the latest styles through horse magazines, which Edwina needs to follow in order to grab the judges’ attention.
“They’re liking a thoroughbred at the moment,” Edwina said.
“Fine, leggy, like a supermodel.”
But unlike the infamous cattiness of the fashion industry, Edwina and her mother said the horse riding community was entirely different.
Older riders are always willing to help younger ones and both Edwina and her mother have made lasting friendships within the industry.
“It’s not superficial,” Edwina said.
“People just love you for who you are.”
Edwina is already set to represent NSW in next year’s Grand National but the question remains as to whether she will move on to even bigger competitions and whether there’s an Olympic star in the making.
For the moment, Edwina is unsure as to what the future holds.
“I’d love to keep doing it,” she said.
“But I’ll probably have to stop when I finish school... I don’t know what I want to do yet.”
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