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‘ was 10 years old , had just started riding Quarter Horses , and was as keen as . That horse honestly taught me the ropes and left me with wonderful memories that I ’ ll never forget . I rode him in the Beginner classes at my first competition , at a show run by the Sydney Quarter Horse Association .’
Michelle , who lives on the Central Coast of NSW , is now riding her Amateur class horse , Sure A Temptation Q-80887 , a mare sired by Surely I ’ m Good Q-67190 , and out of Tempted To Concent Q-46123 .
‘ I ’ m so proud and honoured to be showing my current Quarter Horse , the very pretty bay mare , Sure A Temptation , or Diva , as I call her . At the time my Mum purchased her , she ‘ d been told that Diva had been green-broke as a 2yo , and then put back in the paddock for the next two years . So Diva basically needed to brought back in and re-started under saddle . But I found that she was a very fast learner , was easy to bring back into work and had lovely movement ! I also discovered that we had a great bond .’
Michelle began to work Diva more , and soon decided it was time to take her to a few small shows . She really enjoyed riding and showing her and discovered that Diva was a fun and versatile all-rounder . Michelle has accomplished many things , some of those being end of year High Point Awards for her local clubs , and end of year AQHA High Point Awards for NSW . She ’ s also had her share of runner-up High Point Awards , and for Michelle , they are all exciting moments !
‘ I feel quite proud to say that all of the horses I ’ ve had the pleasure of owning , I ’ ve personally trained and educated . Doing all of their training myself has been very satisfying , and it ’ s taught me that hard work and lots of patience can take you to the moon and back — I ’ ve had some exciting wins — and to be awarded the High Point Amateur for the state of NSW for 2022 makes me feel very honoured and I ’ m extremely proud to have achieved that .’
Four years ago , Michelle rode her liver chestnut Junior Horse , LPH Heez It And A Bit , aka Ash , to take out the NPHA 2018 High Point Amateur Junior Horse . Three years later , she again had success at that
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Michelle Southgate & ‘ Sure A Temptation ’ in Amateur Hunter Under Saddle ’
AQHA JANUARY / FEBRUARY ISSUE 2023