Felton’s leap towards Olympic dream
Samantha Felton’s sporting partner doesn’t speak a word of English, but that isn’t stopping the duo from pursuing an Olympic dream.
The Hamilton equestrian and her horse Bekham have a ten-year partnership, and Felton is wanting that to continue at an eventing championship in Adelaide next month.
Held annually in November, the Australian International 3-Day Event is Australia’s premier equestrian competition.
Felton, 25, has recently received an AMP $5000 scholarship to help get her there.
Eventing is an equestrian event where a single horse and rider compete across the three disciplines of dressage, crosscountry, and show jumping.
Felton said dressage demonstrated harmony; crosscountry, bravery; and show jumping, accuracy.
‘‘It’s a combination of a few key traits you need to fit into one horse. That’s why the sport is so different.
‘‘There’s no other Olympic sport that involves another animal. There’s a whole lot of different things to overcome because you’ve got a partner that doesn’t speak your own language.
‘‘There’s a huge amount of trust involved,’’ she said.
She’s had Bekham (racing name Ricker Ridge Pico Boo), her top horse, since he was threeyears-old.
He is one of ten horses Felton is training.
‘‘You need horses at a variety of levels to be competitive longterm in the sport,’’ she said.
‘‘While you’ve got one top horse now, you need younger horses coming through that will then replace that top horse.’’
The Adelaide competition is one of six equestrian Four Star events in the world. It is the only one in the Southern Hemisphere.
‘‘Three Star is the top level in New Zealand, and we’ve been competing at that level for the last three years. Now it’s time to push up to Four Star.’’
But Felton said it was a struggle financially to compete at events. A return flight for Bekham alone is more than $11,000.
‘‘It is really tricky, which is why the support of these AMP scholarships are so helpful for us. I wouldn’t be going to Adelaide without it.
‘‘The goal is to be performing well enough to make it onto the 2020 Olympic team.’’
Felton is currently sitting in second position for the AMP People’s Choice Award.
Once the regional winners were selected, they were automatically entered into the People’s Choice category where the public will vote for one to receive an additional $5,000.
People’s Choice voting closes on October 22 and the winner will be announced on October 26. To vote for Samantha in the People’s Choice awards text AMP005 to 8126.