Millie Bond has been chosen by Harness Racing New Zealand to travel overseas to compete as part of the Interdominion Mini Trots.
Millie said she hoped to follow the path of her grandfather Jimmy, who was a harness racing trainer, and her father Lyndon, who still is.
"I just hope to go forward and carry on the family reputation," she said.
She races her pony with Kidz Kartz Southland, an educational group that promotes harness racing among young people, which put her name forward for the opportunity.
"I was pretty shocked when I found out that I’d been selected," she said.
It will be Millie’s first time on a plane and she said she was pretty excited.
There will be a meet-and-greet in Brisbane on Friday with the other young hopefuls at the Redcliffe race course, and the next night they will compete.
She had been in the driver’s cart for three seasons racing her miniature pony before moving on to George.
Through Kidz Kartz she learns from the other young people who are also in the industry, as well as from the instructors Jess and Michelle Horton.
Millie has been around horses since she was little and she loves it.
She is doing a Gateway course at Telford Woolshed and Stables, as well as Tony Shepherd’s in Gore.
"It’s a different environment but you get used to doing different things because all types of stables do different things," she said.
With this school-to-industry pathway she is hoping to leave school soon and pursue her love of horses fulltime.
