Every three or four years the NZ National Dressage championships heads to the South Island to be hosted at the wonderful facility that is McLean's Island - I will let you in on a secret - It's not actually an Island (no passports required) but instead it's on a riverbed. Confusing!

Ever since I began competing in dressage I have supported the Nationals in Christchurch. I think it's been my 5th trip south so far. The hospitality of the Southerners is undisputable, and with my best mate Celine Filbee in charge as Event Manager I knew it would all run smoothly and be a lot of fun.

But every year it is held in the South the merest handful of North Island riders ever bother to make the trip. The excuses are endless - "It's too far", "It's too expensive", "It's too close to the Horse of the Year Show", "What about the Ferry?" and so on ad nauseam.

I look at it with a different mindset. As a rider lucky enough to have sponsors who support me in my equestrian endeavours, I want to give them maximum "Bang for their Buck" by attending as many big comps as possible. The same goes for Ali Baba's wonderful part owner Erin Mortimer - I was so excited she was able to fly down to see us go as handily Nationals was on the same weekend her lovely husband Warwick was motor racing just out of Christchurch. I also want to give my horse maximum exposure in terms of his day job as a breeding stallion. And as a trainer I think it is important that I can show my southern pupils my horses and support their local event. As far as the distance is concerned, if you are ever going to compete abroad, you and your steed need to be able to travel some massive distances in order to compete. Best you start out early on in your horse's career knowing your horse and how he copes. In my competitive career I've driven Melbourne to Sydney (10 hours); Sydney to Brisbane (12 hours); Barcelona to Toledo (12 hours), London to the South of France (17 hours) and LA up to San Francisco (9 hours). So the trip to Christchurch (7 hours to Wellington - a ferry crossing - then another 5 hours) is pretty standard in my mind and nothing to get excited or stressed about.

For the trip down to Christchurch I was lucky to be re-united with the Horse Van that I drove through Europe in last year. Erin leant it to me in co-operation with my fabulous sponsors Horse Vans and I must say it made the journey very easy indeed! These vans are so cheap to run its not even funny - $150 diesel each way and bugger all in road user charges. Did I mention cheap on the ferry (about $250 each way) ? Oh yeah, and nippy and fun to drive too! Once I arrived down there I put the van on a trade site and slept in a fantastic (so out that it was in) caravan that was the same 1975 vintage as yours truly.

Ali Baba travelled in style - and for company we bought Cola his miniature horse friend - which I am sure played a big part in keeping him settled on the journey - remembering he is still very new to travelling and going to shows. Cola got to hang out with the big horses at the show for the first few days before being shipped off to Michelle Zielazo's ranch for some R and R with her chickens.

I was so lucky that Michelle took time off work to groom (or strap as she calls it, she's still an Aussie at heart) for me. Some of you may recall Michelle was with me last year at Toledo CDI in Spain and she is a calming influence on me in desperate times! Not only did she organise the retro accommodation, she got my chaff sorted, organised more hay, and sorted all manner of other things I needed. One of the best things that sometimes goes along with having Michelle around is that her wonderful mother Mabel and Papa Gunther are on hand with delicious offerings such as Sangria and Paella. Yummo!

Lots of very special people came and visited me whilst I was down at the Nationals - but I know they were mostly there to see Ali Baba himself. There was Donna Farhi - a dear friend I have had great experiences around the world with (she also bought me great food!) . Lisa Hunt that runs my Christchurch clinics came to watch along with her daughter Alex. And Faye Rogers also came to see Ali Baba in the flesh. Faye is a very talented animal communicator that I have used on a few occasions and her readings are extraordinary and very healing. Michelle also bought a bevy of her mates along as well - was a super social time. Sarah blackburn and Gail Adams came to watch too - Sarah is a good freind of mine and a supporter of academic horse training and Gail is a big Ali Baba fan too.

I got to meet some interesting people including Amanda McLaren from the motor-racing dynasty, and I was stoked she came to watch me compete on the last day of the show. Micheal O'Dempsey whom I met at New Years is a very talented Christchurch based singer song-writer - he also made an appearance, guitar in hand, and he and Celine had a group of us singing away till the wee small hours!

Ali Baba performed with great credit - he got to go to his first mounted prizegiving! He thought that was pretty good I reckon. We ended up 3rd overall in the Intermediare I (level 7) Championships - not bad for an 8 year old at his fifth ever show.

I'm sure the experience of the travel, the ferry, the stabling away from home and the atmosphere will set him up well for a future career in the show ring.

So did I do it for my sponsors, my horse's experience, exposure or simply for fun? Maybe it was all of those things, but first and foremost I went to the Nationals to support the sport of dressage in New Zealand - it's a pity more riders from "Up North" didn't do the same.