After impressing at an international tentpegging competition at South Africa in September, three North East tentpeggers and their fellow Australian teammates competed at a World Cup Qualifier in Egypt last month.

Riders Steven Craig (Wangaratta), Donna Davidson (Cornishtown), and team manager Jo Watson (Cornishtown) formed the national team alongside Christine Staats (Indigo Valley), Aedan Staats (Wodonga), Michael Craig (Gunnadah), and coach Renee Craig (Gunnadah), taking to the track from 7-13 December.

Aedan's individual placing of third on the second day of competition and third overall was the standout performance for the Aussies on the world stage.

Team manager and head of the Australian delegation, Ms Watson, said "seeing the Australian flag on the podium was great".

And even though they won’t be moving to the next qualifying event, Jo said the team gave their absolute best with the horses drawn.

“We got an interesting bunch of horses; two stallions, a mare and two gelding,” she said.

“We had one of the fastest and definitely the slowest horses and one of the stallions couldn’t go near another horse.

“The fact that the horses we drew didn’t work well together made it impossible to run in a team formation like they normally do.”

Regardless, Jo said it was an exciting experience to be part of; a ‘world-class’ facility, event live-streaming, and a crowd of military cadets cheering the teams on.

“The team enjoyed being part of the opening ceremony, with the Egyptian military band in full traditional uniform, and a history of the venue shown on the big screen,” she said.

“Language was quite a barrier, but the teams got on well, with some friendly banter.

“The Egyptian team were most helpful giving us the run-down on the horses we had drawn.”

Jo thanked the hosts, the International Tent Pegging Federation and the Egyptian Equestrian Federation, especially the officials who dedicated three days to the competition.

She also wished the qualifying teams – Egypt and Yemen – all the best going forward.

For now, our North East tentpeggers are taking a break until several of them compete at the Sydney Royal Easter Show this year.

“We learned some valuable lessons to bring home and carry forward into the future of Tent Pegging in Australia and on the world circuit,” Jo said.