It is only a year since Brightwater teenager Hollie Southward broke her neck in a moped accident, but determination and a love of horse riding had her back jumping her beloved pony, Sailor, within a few months and this week the duo head north to the Horse of the Year (HOY) show.
The plucky 17-year-old’s life was turned upside down last March when she was riding her new moped to visit her grandparents and lost control, hit the curb and went flying head-first into a fence. Her injuries were extensive, and she now has two pins holding two vertebrae in place in her neck, while her lower spine was fractured and five ribs were broken.
While her body has made big steps in recovery, concussion from the accident is taking longer and still has a long way to go. It meant part days at school last year because she could not concentrate for long – though it didn’t stop the Waimea College student gaining NCEA level 2 and passing her restricted driver’s licence.
Likewise, none of her injuries are going to stop her from getting Sailor (Sailorboy) to HOY in Hawke’s Bay for a week of competition with the best riders from around the country. She joins several teenage riders from the Top of the South to head to the prestigious event where the duo will jump at heights around one metre as well as competition on the flat. It’s a goal she has earned by winning champion titles in the Top of the South this season, while still recovering from massive injuries.
Both Hollie and her mother, Nicola Knapp, concede they wouldn’t be contemplating HOY without Sailor, the 11-year-old, full-sized pony that has gained their trust in the four years they have owned him.
“I can do anything with him and I know it will work out somehow,” Hollie says. “We get into predicaments, and I know Sailor will get us out of it.”
For Nicola, Sailor is the reason she has been okay with Hollie riding again so soon.
“With him, I have 100 per cent trust. I don’t know how to explain him – he’s not dirty and doesn’t look for trouble. If anything happened, it would be a freak accident – she’s more likely to hurt herself falling over.”
So, when they were told Hollie could “do some quiet walking on her horse” under her mum’s guidance three months after her accident, Nicola was okay with it.
Instead of quiet walking though, she turned around on Hollie’s first day back riding to see her taking Sailor over a few jumps in the paddock.
Five months after her accident, Hollie and Sailor were competing over jumps up to a metre and the teenager set her sights on HOY. It’s her last opportunity to compete with Sailor at the event before turning 18 and leaving the pony ring behind as she moves into the hack (larger horse) ring. Saying goodbye to Sailor when Hollie steps up to a hack is a day neither of them want to think about, but in the meantime, there is a national horse show to concentrate on.
