Teen shines in national spotlight

Taking the reins for the first time at just three years old, horse rider Emilia Forrest is always leaping to new heights.

The Busselton Freight Services rising sport star for March recently travelled to Sydney to represent WA at the Showhorse Council Australasia Grand Nationals.

The 16-year-old was selected as one of four qualifiers in WA and picked in the top 10 out of about 40 riders in each class.

While Emilia began competing at a young age — entering her first Perth Royal Show at three and first National championships at 10 — she said the grand nationals had been her most successful trip over east.

“I achieved my goal at show- horse grand nationals,” she said.

“But there are lots of disciplines with horses, so I’d like to get to that level with other disciplines too.” The Year 12 student said she loved horseriding because it helped her to relax, but time management was often her main hurdle.

“It’s a bit different with horse-riding,” she said. “It’s not like netball or hockey where you can just get in the car and go. You’ve got to get up and feed it breakfast as well as yourself. But the fact that you can connect with something that doesn’t even speak a language is the coolest thing.”