Taroom in Queensland’s southern central highlands and the 2016 Rio Olympics may be worlds apart but for the chair of showjumping selectors the gap is closer than you think.
Graeme Watts, Dalby, was on a tight schedule at the 2016 Taroom Show, busying himself in his role as showjumping course designer while preparing to fly to Linz, Austria, tomorrow.
Mr Watts will attend the first of three nations cup shows in Europe to observe teams of five riders battle for Olympic selection.
From Linz, Mr Watts will travel to Odense in Denmark, and Sopot in Poland, watching different teams in each of the three selection shows.
Mr Watts said he would join a fellow Australian selector and a German selector with the aim of choosing two riders to make up a team of four for Rio.
“Two riders have been pre-selected so we need to decide on two more from the three nations cup shows- not an easy task,” he said.
“We’ll see Australian based riders, European based riders and one American based rider compete at the shows.
“The job is never easy and picking the last two is the most difficult part as there’s not a lot of difference between riders and they’re all very competitive.”
Mr Watts said he had travelled extensively throughout Australia in his role on the selection committee and the Taroom showgrounds were of the highest calibre.
“This is one of the best showjumping surfaces in Queensland- it’s soft, it has good grip and it’s an absolute credit to the Taroom Show Society,” Mr Watts said.
Mr Watts’ praise of the Taroom showjumping arena was echoed in the presence of some of the most high profile competitors from across Australia who trekked to Taroom for the Queensland state showjumping titles held over the course of the show.
Mr Watts is currently in his sixth term of four years as chair of showjumping selectors and said it was hard to fill roles and avoid conflicts of interest.
“Often those most suitable for the job are closely connected to the sport and have families and friends competing,” he said.
“I was going in for one term and I’m still here, but I love it. It’s a great sport and seeing horses and riders jump well and improve is very rewarding.”
Changing tides for Australian showjumping
Chairman of the national showjumping committee Gavin Chester travelled with his showjumping family and friends in a convoy of 20 horses from Victoria to compete in the state showjumping titles at the Taroom Show.
His daughter, Teagan, was taking her last opportunity to compete in the young rider section at Taroom before turning 21 in August.
Currently the Victorian young rider of the year, Miss Chester was planing on “having a crack” at the Queensland title on her 19-year-old world cup winning mare.
Despite her optimism and positive attitude, Miss Chester said the number of imported horses was growing and it was often difficult to compete.
“People are spending up to $300,000 buying the top European bred horses from some of the top riders in the world,” she said.
“It can be disheartening, especially for local riders trying to make their way up but you’ve just got to try and compete.”
Mr Chester said showjumping had been an elitist sport in other areas of the world for years and Australia was gradually becoming more that way.
“Kids’ parents are throwing hundreds of thousands of dollars into these top horses and people with their Stock Horse crosses can’t be competitive,” Mr Chester said.
“Once upon a time a talented rider could make up for a less talented horse but these days just being a talented rider isn’t good enough.”
Mr Chester said the new level of competition in Australian showjumping was good on a world level but was “a bit of a shame” for country shows.
“People want to be competitive with the rest of the world and that ambition is great, but it will start affecting these little shows soon,” he said.
“Here at Taroom I can guarantee there’d be at least 50 imported horses.
“We love these shows for their family atmosphere, it would be a shame to lose that.”
