Zetland member selected to ride for Great Britain at the 2024 International Mounted Games Exchange

Here is Phoebe’s amazing and inspirational story in her own words…

Hi, my name is Phoebe Ward, I’ve been a mounted games rider my whole life and in 2024 I was selected to ride for Great Britain at the International Mounted Games Exchange.

I first competed at the Pony Club National Championships at 6 years old. Since then, I’ve competed there a further 5 times. I was part of the first Zetland team to qualify and compete at the PC Championships and Bramham International Horse Trials, we replicated this the year after in my last year of seniors. The following year I competed in the pairs section where my pair and I won areas and went on to qualify for the PC Championships, another first for Zetland Pony Club.

In 2023 I trialled for the England Windsor team, whilst I knew selection would be a tall order for myself and my pony Fanta, the trial went extremely well, and I was very pleased with our performance and the feedback I received.

This spurred me on to train harder and faster in mounted games, and after the England trials my focus shifted onto the GB selection and my novice pony that I had been training since we bought her just backed in 2022.

The GB selection is incredibly different to the England trials, it’s a product of years of hard work, not just your performance on your own pony on one day. Without knowing, selection began when we were very little.

Upon being put forward by your DC, you must have attained your C+ test, participants need to be able to ride different ponies and be versatile and adapt quickly to each pony. Applications require an extensive branch record including training and rallies and must include other disciplines, not just games. I feel the most important part of the application is the DC’s letter of recommendation which is required for your general character.

Unlike England trials, this selection happens behind closed doors, so you don’t really know who you’re up against and how you fair against them. Obviously, I hoped I’d done enough.

I cannot tell you what a proud moment it was seeing the words congratulations Phoebe, you’ve been selected to ride for Great Britain, it was immense. The excitement soon started to build, and preparations were being made but the biggest challenge was keeping myself sound for the whole 138 days between selection and the flight in late August.

It was a humbling experience putting on the GB kit for the first time and walking into the airport as team GB. We sparked a lot of interest among the public at Heathrow and even had people asking to take pictures with us!

I loved my 1st ever flight and couldn’t wait for the adventures of a lifetime to begin.

Its started when we arrived at Halifax airport where we met the combined US/NZ team and the Australian team. We headed to Hobby Horse Farm and sat down for a traditional thanksgiving meal as our welcome dinner.

On day 2 we enjoyed our hike through Blomidon Provincial Park, eating our dinner on the hillside overlooking the sea. Afterwards, we went down to the beach to swim in the sea and showcase our lack of ability to play American football.

Our alarms were set early on day 3 as we were off to Blue Rocks Sea Kayaking where we were surrounded by gorgeous islands and hundreds of seals. We kayaked to an island where we stopped for snacks and a polar plunge into the Atlantic Ocean. The afternoon saw us having some retail therapy around Lunenburg. After tea we had our first training session to practice some of the new Canadien games ready for the competition a week later.

Day 4 kicked off our Ontree adventure which was a high ropes and ziplines course. I was shattered! Afterwards we visited the blue beach on the coast of Lockhartville where we looked for fossils.

On day 5 we welcomed 28 horses to Hobby Horse Farm for our scenic trail ride around Coldbrook, we stopped off at the cross country field to have a little pop round the jumps to end the session. On the afternoon members of Nova Scotia Pony Club were invited for a demonstration competition. The countries were merged to create 4 mixed teams and raced against each other to showcase our skills to PC members. We then let the members jump on our ponies and even taught them how to vault!

Day 6 had another day of retail therapy instore for us in Halifax which was honestly one of my favourite days. Before we went home, we stopped at the Halifax Lancers to watch an amazing musical ride and had a McDonalds to end the day right!

Day 7 was whale watching, a very difficult day for me because I really wanted to see the whales, but I was so sea sick, I ended up sleeping on the floor. Before we went back to Hobby Horse Farm, I had my first experience of a Walmart which was honestly life changing!

Tidal bore rafting on day 8 was my favourite activity we did. I would actually go back to Nova Scotia just for this it was amazing and it’s the only place in the world where you can do it. Basically, you’re in a river and when the tide comes in from the sea the waves get about 6ft tall, and you can ride the waves in a zodiac boat. We were out in the sun getting absolutely soaked for 4 hours. In between chasing the waves, we stopped to mud slide in the thickest mud I had ever seen.

On day 9 we said goodbye to Hobby Horse Farm and Nova Scotia because we were flying to Toronto where the competition was to be held. Before the flight we consumed an ungodly amount of Tim Hortons to keep us going and eventually landed in Toronto and travelled to Cendar Glen YMCA. The team at Cedar Glen had some games organised for us which we may or may not have cheated on, but we figured them out in the end.

On day 10 we visited Toronto Zoo, we took plenty of pictures with the animals, and I had my first sight of the racoons! I felt this visit, and time for us all to relax and socialise was just what the teams needed ahead of the main competition the following day.

The competition at the end of the exchange was like no competition I have ever ridden in. It was 4 sessions throughout the day and each team rode each set of pool ponies. This, in itself was challenging with only a few minutes to match riders to ponies and decide team orders. Over 4 sessions I think I rode 7 or 8 horses each with their own personalities and quirks.

Historically GB and Australia were always battling for top spot, and this year was no different with it coming down to the last race – but we were victorious standing there as International Champions.

After being rivals all day, as is customary among the games community, we reunited as a group of 20 friends at the gala dinner. The following day It was incredibly hard to say goodbye to everyone, but I was so ready to come home.

I came back to my house all dressed up in GB colours by some Zetland members at our yard accompanied by some beautiful flowers and a bottle of fizz to celebrate with.

It was such a surreal experience knowing that I will never be 16 and representing my country alongside some of my favourite people ever again. You can only be selected the year you turn 16 so I still can’t quite believe I’ve done it.

Every horse I’ve ridden and every rider I’ve competed with has shaped my career and helped me achieve this dream of riding for Great Britain so thank you! I’m now looking forward to helping our younger members in their games careers and achieving their dreams.

A special thank you to Becky and Linda my Mum and Grandma for towing me up and down the country week in week out and continuously supporting me through my riding career.

And lastly the biggest thank you to Andrea, our DC, I couldn’t have done it without you, your continued support throughout my Zetland years has been immeasurable.

As a club we are so lucky to have you!