Since Verona Begadon adopted Super Falcon, AKA Mango, through the SAQ Horse Placement Programme, they have worked hard to achieve their riding and competition goals. We asked Verona to tell us about her most successful year of competition to-date; 2024.
“Baby I need the poncho!”
The rain, which we hoped would stay away from the Ekka, was coming at us if some cruel weather god was throwing rocks at us from the grandstands.
I went to the car quickly, trying to ensure Verona, becoming increasingly soaked as she put on her dress, would not be drenched for the first showing of our second time competing at Queensland’s largest show.
It didn’t matter.
Not only could I not get the poncho in time, but we had left the windows of the car down and inside had got soaked.
Combined with skidding the float on the muddy track when we drove in, and my partner James remembering halfway from Logan to Brisbane that he’d forgotten the entry pass – and it was safe to say nothing was going to plan.
A bit like my old life but with one difference.
A great team can overcome anything.
And Mango and I are a bloody great team.
That day, we won the Supreme Champion award, overcoming every little challenge to be the best we can be.
This led to a beautiful reconnection with Mango’s original Mum, Diane Reilly, which came from the Ekka judge Brittany Graham letting her know.
The power of community strengthening connections.
That was after he had a hoof abscess earlier in the year so we started the season rough.
But we’re a great team – after all, Mango, aka Super Falcon, survived a snake bite.
This, the greatest achievement of our busiest ever year, saw us travel from Caboolture and Park Ridge to Gatton and the Gold Coast.
With those highs, also came the lows.
My first Pan Pacific comp saw me eliminated without completing a single test.
It’s those moments where you really see how far you come – not just to get back onto the proverbial horse, but see the power of the community work the way it should work.
I’ve been blessed to have so many organisations and people to support us.
It was also the year of dreams being achieved.
I’d always wanted to attend an Equestrian Queensland (EQ) awards night and last year won the 2024 EQ ‘Off The Track’ Standardbred Dressage Champion.
I was also part of the Equestrian Queensland Leaderboard members that help Park Ridge Active Riding Group (PRARG) win the Champion interclub Challenge.
I never knew if I could achieve a childhood dream of having a beautiful horse, a loving community, a horse hubby – but more importantly belief and the desire to always show up.
If I can do that as a full-time nurse with a 19-year-old former pacer, all of us can achieve anything we want to. xxoo
Trainer: Kristy Battista
Vet: Tim Hawthorne
Farrier: Tim Sloan
Physiotherapist: Narelle Stubbs
Clara Park team: Lara Northey and Erika and David Henzell
Float support: Fiona and Malcolm Strachan
IMAGE CREDIT: Ekka photo: Lisa Gordon
Image caption: Mango (Super Falcon) at the 2024 Brisbane EKKA with Verona Begadon (right) and judge.
