Wilberforce rider Christine Bates will be hoping to catch the eye of selectors for the 2018 World Equestrian Games (WEG) when she and talented gelding Adelaide Hill compete at Sydney International Horse Trials this weekend.
The combination will line up in the competitive CCI3* (international long format) event, having already won two of their three CCI3* career starts as well as their last three CIC3* (international short format) events.
Bates said the April 28 and 29 event, to be held at Sydney International Equestrian Centre (SIEC), was a big return to the sport for 15-year-old Adelaide Hill following his injury in the lead-up to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
“As a combination we were considered a big contender for Rio, and I planned a trip to the UK [but] about two weeks prior to leaving he picked up a minor injury, which ruled us out,” she said.
“He seems to know when it’s a championship year and has timed his little injuries very badly.
“Most of last year he just did dressage and straight showjumping, and he felt really sound.
“He’s only just turned 15, really he’s only just coming into his prime as an event horse, [so I thought] we’ll give it another crack.
“He’s not a thoroughbred so he’s not built as a classic event horse.
“I have to look after him a little bit more and I made the conscious decision I would only do Sydney three-day on him and if all goes well, we’ve got our qualifier.
“I’ve been riding him now for nearly 10 years.
“We have a great partnership and I think that just shows with time, perseverance and developing that partnership, you can achieve quite amazing results with a horse that naturally you wouldn’t go selecting to be an event horse.”
Adelaide Hill will be the second horse Bates will saddle up in the CCI3* at SIEC, also riding the super jumping thoroughbred, Ned O’Reilly. Ned ran sixth at Wallaby Hill CIC3* last year and third at SIEC CIC3* earlier this year, and Bates described him as a “powerhouse”.
“He is a typical thoroughbred, a plain bay gelding and very unassuming. But when you sit on him you are sitting on this powerhouse,” she said.
“He’s got this amazing engine and he’s always been renown for being an amazing jumper.
“I really think very highly of the horse and would like to think he will be very competitive this weekend as well.”
Bates herself took a break from the sport after missing out on Rio with Adelaide Hill, and said she had changed her attitude upon her return and in the lead-up to WEG.
“I am getting a little bit older and I appreciate I am lucky enough to have theses horses and enjoy what I’m doing,” she said. “[I am] setting goals I can achieve.
“If that’s enough to get back into contention then great, and if not I am comfortable with the fact that my horses are going well and I’m riding well and what will be, will be.”
A total of 17 combinations will line up for the CIC3* event this weekend, including fellow Hawkesbury rider Stuart Tinney of Maralya on War Hawk.
The World Equestrian Games is set to take place from September 11 to 23 of this year in North Carolina, USA.