EQUESTRIANS will be competing on the weekend of June 24 and 25, at the returned One Day Event (ODE) at Nana Glen Equestrian Grounds.

Run by the North Coast Equestrian Club (NCEC), bringing back the ODE is the achievement of a project that grew out of the club’s determination to overcome set-backs experienced over the last few years that forced the abandonment of the club’s riding events.

“The club has been very quiet the last few years as it has been challenged with adversity,” Lucy-Jane Pearce, Vice President of NCEC, told News Of The Area.

“There have been fires, floods, Covid and floods again.

“This has taken a huge toll on the organising committee and the established cross country course that became unrideable,” she said.

Emerging from the setbacks, the 2023 organising committee embarked on the huge undertaking to fundraise and orchestrate the rebuild of the Nana Glen cross country course.

“Not only have we achieved this goal, but we have also managed to do it in such a timeframe, to run our ODE as it has been historically run in June of every year.”

This event will be running Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 June.

The Club has been actively raising its profile through advertising and activities, the most recent being a clinic with Olympic Eventer Rebel Morrow, which has resulted in the competition filling to capacity.

“This is a total of 100 competitors and their horses who will come from all over NSW and interstate to camp and spend the weekend and experience the three phases of competition,” said Lucy-Jane.

The three phases include a dressage test, a show jumping round and the adrenaline-filled Cross Country event.

“This event entails riders and their horses undertaking a course of jumps across a multi-kilometre venue with different challenges and jump types, all to a strict time.”

The three phases are graded and there’s “fantastic prizes” to be won, including prize money in the higher grades.

“We are so excited to bring the joy of equestrian eventing back to the local community and invite our local community to come and join as spectators and learn more about the exciting sport,” she said.

The North Coast Equestrian Club is a small club run out of Nana Glen Equestrian Grounds on Morrows Road, catering to a variety of equestrian disciplines including eventing, show jumping, western riding, hacking and dressage.

For more information contact Lucy-Jane Pearce on 0410 482583.

By Andrea FERRARI