The Puhinui Carry A Wife competition

      And they're off!

 

An Eventful Life filmed all competitors on the cross country at Puhinui – click here to find out more

 

You can always guarantee that some bizarre competition will be held at Puhinui as part of the end of year fun. In the past there has been the Tip, Strip and Out jumping competition but this year the horses were discarded and those normally sitting on top found themselves carrying their ‘wives’ around a mini cross country course on the Honda Dream Arena

Shane Rose and Stuart Tinney were attending the FEI Course Designers training and found themselves part of the fun. Shane tried to get a sneaky head start but was unsuccessful and it was the gold medallist Stuart Tinney who won, showing that it pays to keep going until the very end (and take a little rest in the water when you ‘wife’ has a little run!).

Kiwi riders Andy Daines and Nick Brooks put up a very good effort with Andy very nearly taking the win before a last minute tumble and Shane’s exertions required some yoga to recover the following day