But she did not crumble.
The 17-year-old delivered an immaculate performance and put that pressure back on the rest of the field.
It paved the way for her to claim the junior rider title, for riders between 12 and 18, at the national showjumping championships in Christchurch.
Collins, who lives at Palmerston, rode first and had a clear first round.
She was one of four to advance to the second round.
Just before that second round she had a run on her second horse, Double J Barman.
She then had to dismount, jump back on First Lady and ride for the title.
Again she went first.
This time not only going clear mattered, so did her time.
Not knowing how fast she would have to ride, she went out and gave it her best shot.
That meant riding faster at the risk of knocking off more poles.
But again she went clear, in a time of 39sec.
It put the pressure on the riders to follow and none were able to match her clear performance.
"I was definitely feeling the pressure," Collins said.
"In the middle of December I’d won the South Island junior rider title on the same horse.
"So I was putting a bit of pressure on myself to take out both.
"I knew me and the horse could do it, because he’s quite quick and I can ride against the clock.
"It was definitely a bit more pressure to not only put up a fast time but to jump clear as well, which won it for me."
It was the Columba College pupil’s first national showjumping title.
She had previously won several national titles in show hunter.
She also represented New Zealand in a team’s event in Australia in 2019, something she said she would love to do again.
Following Collins at the weekend’s event was a fellow Otago rider.
Beaumont rider Jessica Haugh (13) impressed on home-bred horse Beaumont’s Birdie and finished in third place.
Otago also had success in the teams events.
The Otago Rebels team of Olivia Robertson, Grace Perry, Talia Allison and Jess Hore won the showjumping teams event.
The Otago-Southland team of Kylie Lyders, Lucy Swain, Katie Meredith, Summer Roy, Harriette Baker and Eilish Greene won the show hunter title.
