The event this year kicked off in spectacular style on Thursday 17 October with one of the world’s best dressage experts and Olympic Gold Medallist, Carl Hester MBE, offering his invaluable advice and various techniques during his ‘Through the Levels’ masterclass which over 1,000 people attended.
The gates officially opened on Friday morning with visitors from all disciplines attending the event. Over 190 of the country’s best equestrian businesses exhibited at Equidays introducing new products and services to the market and allowing visitors to stock up on supplies.
Seven international and eight of the country’s best equine educators shared their knowledge with visitors during clinics on horsemanship, showjumping, liberty, dressage, working equitation, physiotherapy, foal education and positive reinforcement training. Educational seminars were also on offer on topics including nutrition, hoof care, balance and stability, sports psychology, saddle fitting, equine biomechanics and homeopathy.
The various competitions on offer also showcased the diverseness of our equestrian industry with retired racing thoroughbreds showing their versatility in the Beyond the Barriers competitions, wild horses competing in the Kaimanawa Heritage Horses competitions, a trans-Tasman reining competition, horses and ponies groomed to perfection in the showing arena, and the fast-paced skills of Mounted Games.
This year we had 543 riders competing, taking part in various clinics or participating in the Fiber Fresh Youth camp and over 680 horses of all disciplines and ages onsite.
Equidays raised over $13,500 for the Breast Cancer Foundation NZ during the Jump for Cancer slalom brought to you by CryNZ which featured in the Friday Showjumping Spectacular Nightshow. 16 well known New Zealand equestrians from various disciplines paired off and raced against each other and the clock over a set of jumps. The riders were auctioned off online leading up to the event and with the live crowd before the race began.
The Saturday Equitainment Extravaganza Nightshow sold out with around 2,200 people in the crowd and featured the Equidays Top Talent finalists, a performance from New Zealand’s junior vaulting team, a riveting game of polo played indoors for the first time in NZ and performances from other well-known equine entertainers
Equidays Event Manager Ammie Hardie spoke of this year’s successful event, “We’re really happy with how the event went this year. Competitor numbers were up, we’ve heard from exhibitors that they experienced some great sales, we had a fantastic group of clinicians and presenters sharing their knowledge, the Saturday Nightshow sold out and it was really rewarding to raise a substantial amount of money for the Breast Cancer Foundation,” says Hardie.