After the first horses arrived in Australia, it didn’t take long for its Indigenous people to befriend them – and to take their place among the country’s most skilled horsemen. Australia’s pastoral industries were built on the skills of these gifted men and women. And yet – unlike others – Australia’s traditional equestrian sports have not included Indigenous riders.

Enter Lalwa May.

At 16, she has already represented Australia in international show jumping competition, an accomplishment that earned her the honour of Junior Indigenous Sportswoman of the Year for the Northern Territory this year. And she’s ambitious.

Lalwa found out that she had won the award while she was competing at the World Clubs Tournament in France in July. “We still don’t know who nominated me,” she recalls. “I didn’t think I was going to win – the other nominees were at the top of their sports. One had represented Australia in judo. When I ended up winning, I was shaking, I couldn’t believe it. And the guest speakers were so inspirational. Listening to [former boxer] Anthony Mundine speak, I said to Mum, ‘I want to get to the top level of riding’.”

It all started for Lalwa when she was 9. “I had a friend at school who was taking lessons at a local riding school in Darwin. Mum booked me a lesson and I just fell in love with it.” Both her mother and her grandmother had been involved with horses and were happy to support her, finding mounts for her as she made her way up the levels in Pony Club. Her mum trained her little mare Charlotte, a Connemara-Thoroughbred cross.

“I got up to Elementary dressage on her, and we won one of the sponsored series in show jumping. Jumping was what I really wanted to do, and it became clear she wasn’t going to make it to the bigger heights.” Then they found Target, a talented Stock Horse.

“This was his second season show jumping,” Lalwa explains. “He’s had a pretty good season this year, he’s just gotten better and better. We won the Gold Series at the Darwin Show Jumping Club this year. We’re jumping 1.10m now.” But to compete internationally, Lalwa had to leave Target behind in Australia.

“It all started when Pony Club Australia put out the expression of interest to go to France,” Lalwa remembers. “We put in an application, but I didn’t really think much about it because I’m very young and haven’t fully completed my [Pony Club] B certification yet. When my mum told me I’d been selected, I couldn’t believe it.”

A lot of intensive training followed. “I was so lucky I had people here – the community here was so good and so helpful.” In France the Australians would have to ride pool horses – mounts supplied by their hosts – so Lalwa needed to get used to riding a lot of different horses.

“The training leading
up to the competition
was pretty nerve-racking.”

But nothing could prepare her for the journey to France. “I had never travelled by myself before. It was pretty nerve-racking, but once I met up with the other girls in Melbourne, we all clicked. I felt so normal and comfortable around them.” The other team members were Catelin Crawford and Abby Raymond of NSW and Amy Cunzolo from Queensland. Lalwa was also by far the youngest on the team. “One had just turned 19, one turned 20 on the trip. They were all between 18 and 20.”

On arriving at the Federal Equestrian Park at Lamotte-Beuvron, south of Paris, Lalwa was in awe of the scale of activity at the famous equestrian centre. “The training leading up to the competition was pretty nerve-racking. I’d never seen anything like it, [the venue was] so huge, with so many other disciplines and other competitions going on at the same time.”

Lalwa’s horse was a 15.3-hand, 12-year-old Selle Francais. “He was so cool, so much fun. He’d been competing at 1.20m and we kind of just clicked.” When he got to the competition, though, he was a bit of a handful. “Whenever he heard the bell, he got very excited. I got nervous because he was rearing, but once he got going, he was good.

“We did one course on the first day. We all went clear and were sitting in second place – everyone was a bit surprised. On the second day we got to do two courses; the second round was a speed round, and after the second day we were in fourth place, beating the French team on their own horses.” Out of eight teams, the Aussies came in fourth, and were the highest-placed team riding pool horses. “It was the coolest experience,” Lalwa enthuses. “I would love to do it again. It was lovely.”

“The Aussies were the
highest-placed team
riding pool horses.”

Once she arrived back in Australia, there was the awards ceremony, and then, in Werribee last month, the Australian Interschools Championships. Once again, Lalwa would be riding a pool horse, and this time she had a run of bad luck when her horse suffered a tendon injury. She found another mount, but he developed an abscess, and by the time he recovered she had no time to prepare with him.

“The first time I jumped him was in the warm-up,” she remembers. They went clear in their first round, but he was a fairly green horse, and she was still getting to know him and figuring out how to ride him, so their subsequent rounds were not as successful and they didn’t end up placing.

Lalwa is philosophical about it – she knows that with horses there are always ups and downs. “That’s just how it goes,” she reflects. “I was not upset with the horse – it wasn’t his fault. We had a rail down in the metre class, and another rail in pretty much every other round. But on the positive side, he’s a very talented horse, and his owner only bought him six months ago.”

Now back in Darwin, Lalwa is aiming to finish her Pony Club B certification and eventually complete the A. She’s also looking to a future representing and encouraging Indigenous equestrians. “Indigenous people have always been there as stockmen; they were the backbone of the industry. There’s so much talent there in terms of horsemanship – I would love to see more Indigenous kids in the sport. I’ve had opportunities that a lot of other kids wouldn’t have – I’d like to give back, get Indigenous kids into riding, maybe pay for membership in Pony Club and give them a pony to ride.”

Further down the road, she’s trying to be realistic. It’s an expensive sport, and she’s already thinking about how to support her passion. “I will definitely be having to work, do another job to afford the lifestyle.” It’s a common conundrum for young equestrians. “I would love to just do horses. That’d be the dream.” EQ

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