"I just do,'' the 9-year-old says.
Emma, a pupil at Glenavy School, recently won the Equestrian Sports New Zealand (ESNZ) show hunter category A high points series for 2015-16, riding Benrose Comet.
Winning points in that national series entailed travelling to competitions as far afield as Hawkes Bay, where she competed in the prestigious Horse of the Year show, and Gore, between September and April.
Emma also gained a sixth placing in the category C series, riding Sneak, who retired on a high note.
She was presented with a rug and sash at a function in Masterton.
Aptly named Comet was "fast'', according to Emma.
Competitions could sometimes be very challenging and she sometimes got nervous, but she enjoyed the competitive aspect, she said.
When it came to her goals, her ambition was simple, to beat her sister.
As well as competing in show hunter and showjumping events, Emma also enjoys netball, hockey, touch and Rippa rugby.
There are plenty of ponies at the Gillies farm at Waitaki Bridge, north of Oamaru. Siblings Samantha (10) and Ben (7) are also keen riders.
But there was a rule in the Gillies household: if they did not ride their ponies, then they did not go to a show.
"They do the work, so they get to go to shows. That's what we did,'' their mother, Phillipa Gillies, said.
Mrs Gillies (nee Pile) and her sisters Melanie and Angela all competed in the New Zealand Pony Club eventing championships and Mrs Gillies gained a second placing one year.
History was now repeating itself in a busy lifestyle for the family.
Members were recently away for 12 consecutive weekends competing.
Fortunately, their horse truck can carry seven ponies.
Show hunter was judged on the likes of style, straightness and rider position.
It was quite technical but it meant the children learned good riding skills, Mrs Gillies said.
Over the winter months, it was a little quieter as they went hunting with the Waimate Hunt Club and played winter sport.
Come spring, it would be back into the competition circuit and Emma would have a new team of ponies for the new season.
Emma was "seriously competitive''.
It was an expensive sport and "a bit of grit'' was needed, Mrs Gillies said.
But riding needed to be fun and that was why they went hunting and why there were the likes of bending poles in the paddock to race their ponies against the motorbike.
"They need to be able to jump thistles and gorse.''
It was also a good family activity that they could all enjoy.
David Gillies does not ride but he is an excellent groom, often holding on to a pony or two when they had multiple entries in a class.
