Many people make worthy contributions to the local equine industry and each year the Scone and Upper Hunter Horse Festival recognises one of the tireless contributors to the region as the festival’s Very Important Person (VIP).
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The 2015 VIP was formally announced at last Thursday’s official festival opening and the face of this year’s event is Susan Bettington.
A very worthy recipient, Ms Bettington has shown great passion and dedication to horses and the equine industry in the Upper Hunter throughout many decades.
The hard working woman has given many hours to promoting the industry and contributing to ensure its growth and sustainability into the future.
The festival committee also re-introduced the Young Achiever award, which was presented to 19-year-old Jarrod Boyle who is an extremely talented equestrian vaulter.
Scone and Upper Hunter Horse Festival president Lee Watts announced the winners at the event, saying it is important to recognise local people for their contribution to the continued development of this area as the horse capital.
Ms Bettington’s love for horses has been a life long passion as she inherited her love of horses from her father and spent many hours on her pony as a child with her brother and twin sister mustering, playing cowboys and Indians, chasing foxes and rabbits.
The annual pony camp was then the highlight of the pony club year and Ms Bettington attended until she was deemed too old, which was when she started teaching for the club.
Her interest in showjumping is believed to have first started when the late Bud Hyem (Macintyre) taught her at a Walcha camp.
She moved to the Merriwa district and became actively involved in the Merriwa Pony Club, organising with help, an annual camp, extra instruction days, dressage and showjumping.
Ms Bettington is now a life member of the club.
She was active on the Scone Horse Trials committee for 20 years organising the dressage phase, later followed by the showjumping phase at their competitions and designing the showjumping courses.
Throughout the years, Ms Bettington has been involved with the Upper Hunter Dressage Club and when fire destroyed the Zone 7 Pony Club cross country course at Denman she designed the new course, organised the working bees, flagged the course at their competitions and ran the cross country phase for approximately 15 years.
She was a volunteer at the King of The Ranges Stockman’s Challenge and designed the original cross country course for the event.
In 1990 she became a professional riding instructor and NSW Pony Club invited her to join their Paid Instructors Panel.
Ms Bettington also assisted in the beginnings of the Scone Showjumping Club and remains on the committee today, and is currently an Equestrian Australia National Showjumping Course Designer and EA Level 2 Showjumping judge.
A few of Ms Bettington’s many personal highlights include volunteering at the Sydney Olympics helping in the main arena and training arenas at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre, and designing a showjumping course for the American Olympic 3 Day Event Equestrian Team, as a lead up to the 2000 Olympics.
Ms Bettington said she felt very humbled and honoured to accept the role of VIP.
“I look at other VIPs before me and I think have I done enough?, but I am still pleased to accept,” she said.
“I intend to go to as many events throughout the festival as I can.”
Young Jarrod has many great achievements under his hat including winning the Individual 1 Star and 2 Star events at the Adelaide Competition Vaulting International on his family’s horse ‘Hunterview Sinatra’.
In the past 12 months, he has won events in the Advanced class at the Queensland State Championships, Canberra and the National Championships at Adelaide.
At the Equestrian NSW Awards for Excellence night he won the Senior Male Athlete award in the vaulting category and ‘Sinatra’ was named the NSW 2014 Vaulting Horse of the Year, as well as recently been named as a final five finalist in the Domestic Horse of the Year at the Equestrian Australia awards night to be held in Melbourne this June.
When he is not travelling 8500 kilometres around Australia to compete, Jarrod volunteers his time to coach the junior members of the Scone Vaulting Team.
Jarrod is currently also putting his energy into his passion for music and song writing having recorded three singles to date at the Starlight Studios in Newcastle.
