Elise wins at Mudgee

Fourteen year old Elise Smith of Bourke will be competing at the Royal Easter Show this year. Elise is pictured here competing at the 2021 Mudgee Show on Tommy. PHOTO SLIDIN’ STUDIO

Young Bourke horse rider, Elise Smith, will be heading to the Royal Easter Show in just a few weeks to compete against some of the state’s top competitors.

At just 14, Elise is showing them she is a real contender after she won all her events at the Mudgee Show last weekend.

Elise has spent most of her life in the saddle, which is not surprising as the granddaughter of one of the legends of the Bourke equestrian community, Alan Morrall.

In Mudgee, Elise carried on the tradition by winning the open show jumping event on Alvin, an off-the-track thoroughbred ridden by her mum Ainslie before she was born.

“He’s 14 now, the same age as me and he was handed down to my brother Sam and then when Sam stopped riding, he was handed down to me,” she said.

“We jumped 1.20m at Mudgee, which is a height I haven’t done very often, and it was in the open class, which meant I was riding against all ages.”

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