Amanda Ross Sweeps Equestrian Victoria Awards

The annual Equestrian Victoria Awards recognise outstanding contributions and achievements. While 2020 has reduced our opportunities to get together to celebrate in our usual fashion, this year Equestrian Victoria took the opportunity to bring members together with a virtual celebration over several days to honour award winners, along with sponsors Racing Victoria and Barastoc.

As events have been few and far between, the award criteria was based on the following aspects:

• Contribution to the sport;
• Unique strengths that have had a positive impact on our sport and equestrian community;
• How they have shown resilience, adjusting to challenges to do their best.

The rise in awareness and popularity for off-the-track horses continues to grow in Australia, with Racing Victoria’s rehoming and retraining programme leading the way.

During her career, KER-sponsored eventer Amanda Ross has enjoyed competition success with a series of off-the-track Thoroughbreds. With her current horse, Koko Popping Candy, Amanda is a strong contender for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Amanda and Koko Popping Candy were nominated for four Equestrian Victoria Awards and came away with a clean sweep. She was the Martin Collins Eventing Rider of the Year, with Koko Popping Candy named the Barastoc Eventing Horse of the Year, as well as the Off-The-Track Dressage and Eventing Horse of the Year.

“There are some challenges with off-the-trackers; they have been taught to run and you have to take away that mentality,” she said. “You need them to wait for you and to relax and show their technique. If a horse is tight then its technique over a fence can be compromised. With Koko Popping Candy, I found that it took time to get her to jump in a more relaxed way but when she realised what she could do, she put all her energy into doing it.”

Alex McCall, marketing manager at Ridley, presented Amanda with her award.

“Working with our nutrition partner Kentucky Equine Research and riders like Amanda Ross inspires me,” Alex said. “We are very lucky at Barastoc to have our own qualified nutritionists in-house and to also have the support of a global research company like Kentucky Equine Research. Riders like Amanda are then fully supported with their horses’ diet, which goes a long way to helping them achieve success. The driving force behind Amanda’s success is, of course, Amanda herself. A wonderful horsewoman with drive and commitment, and the secret ingredient that we think is the most important—passion.”