It never ceases to amaze me the hidden gem of sports that take place in the Western Bay of Plenty. On Sunday morning, with a couple of hours to spare, I decided to go and pay a visit the show jumping at the Tauranga racecourse.
While the showcase event at the Tauranga Show Jumping Championships was the third round of the World Cup, which attracted the best riders in the country, we arrived mid morning when the youngsters with their pony's were going through their final jump-offs.

While tucked away on the extremities of Tauranga at the racecourse – the three-day extravaganza of show jumping is where country comes to town. While the fashions of the supporters are more outback Australia than seen on The Strand in town, the uniforms of the competitors gave the event a very professional look.
Hidden behind the hedge of the racecourse were three competition arenas, which had attracted hundreds of thousands of dollars, of floats and horseflesh. While there were a number of single and double horse trailers, there was a myriad of horse transporters that doubled as accommodation and living quarters during the weekend.
Like any large sporting event the organisation seemed to go like clockwork with the many volunteers from the welcoming gate staff to the stewards, announcers and people who instantly reinstated any fences that had been knocked down.
Because we could get our vehicle right up to the pony arena, we chose to watch the stars of the future in action for a couple of hours. The ponies and their young riders were a joy to behold as they attempted get around the course without knocking any poles down.
The final stages of the pony championship were not only a race to get around the course without dislodging any poles, but also a contest against the clock. Some 30 odd ponies lined up to find the championship winner over a jumps course that required skill and timing by both horse and rider to complete.
As in any sport, a full range of emotions were on show during the jump-offs; from the joy of a round without any faults to the frustration and despair when a pony refused the request to jump a fence.
While we only saw a two-hour snapshot of the three days of show jumping, I was impressed and would certainly return for a day out in the future.
On the international sports stage – a few short days can quickly change the responses and enthusiasm for a game. Just over a week ago the Black Caps were heroes and could do no wrong with the media and cricket followers, heaping praise on Daniel Vettori and his troops.
Fast-forward a week and all the talk is about axing the top five New Zealand batting line-up. For my sixpence worth, chopping and changing players from game to game achieves little. The approach should always be to select players for a series, giving them expectations by the selectors with a comprehensive review at the completion of the series – then make changes.

Go the Black Caps in Napier.