The year 12 Roxburgh Area School pupil has been selected for the under-17 New Zealand mounted games team to attend the world championships in Auckland in November.
That came after competing in the individual, pair and team events at the national championships.
The individual and pair events both brought her success too. She finished sixth and fifth in each respectively.
In just her second year of competing at national level, she was excited about her first taste of international competition.
She had five ponies of her own, but would ride her favoured mounted games pony Nikita, at the championships.
It was a big commitment, with training held in the North Island, making for regular travel closer to the time of the competition.
The 16-year-old began mounted games riding about five years ago. She has ridden since the age of 7 and joined pony club at about 12.
''Pretty much just at pony club. Usually I competed in showjumping and stuff,'' she said.
''Then five girls decided we wanted to give games a go because it seemed like a lot of fun.
''The instructor, Wayne Harrex, was also quite into games back in his day, when he did it as well.
''So we decided to give it a go and it turned out to be real fun.
''It was a good bond between you and your horse and it was really good for your skills on the horse as well.''
The sport was not for the faint-hearted.
It involves riding at a gallop, doing things such as leaping on and off the pony, picking up and putting down objects and weaving through poles.
''When it gets faster, it's quite an adrenaline type sport. It gets your heart rate going.
''But it's usually quite nerve-racking at the start before each race. You get quite nervous, but it's good fun.''
She still competed in showjumping and had been successful in that in the past, as well as playing for the Central Otago under-17 netball team.
She was unsure if she would pursue mounted games at a higher level.
