That is why the Taieri College 17-year-old has just been selected to represent New Zealand in the 2026 Pony Club International Alliance Tetrathlon in Australia.
If you have never heard of a tetrathlon, it has all the elements you might need to escape a sheriff in the Wild West after a bank robbery — showjumping, running, swimming and of course shooting.
‘‘To be honest, I hadn’t really heard of it before I put my name down for it either,’’ she said.
It originated as a variant of the modern pentathlon and focuses on endurance, skill and versatility.
Michaela is a member of the Dunedin Pony Club branch and is the youngest to be selected for the five-person team.
Those selected will be competing against tetrathletes from Australia, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States, in Queensland over several weekends, from June 30 to July 20, finishing with the finals on the last weekend.
‘‘So training’s pretty hectic at the moment,’’ she said.
‘‘I’m up about 5.15am each morning before school and then training until dark after school.’’
Most of her training time was spent in the swimming pool, but she also did a lot of running and recently completed her first half-marathon.
‘‘I’ve got a pretty straight eye.
‘‘I’ve done heaps of recreational shooting ... but not much with pistols.’’
She said the most difficult part of the competition would be the showjumping, because she was not allowed to use her own horse.
‘‘We borrow one.
‘‘So, the day before, we get given about 10 minutes to try heaps of different horses and we choose the one we want for the next day.
‘‘When you’re doing showjumping, that’s quite a challenge, because you really need to know your horse.
‘‘We’re expected to be quite good at riding a whole range of different horses.’’
She said her after-school job at Maungatua Equestrian allowed her to ride a variety of horses with different temperaments and it was giving her a lot of valuable experience.
Michaela said many of her friends were amazed by her versatility when she told them about the competition — particularly the shooting.
‘‘They’re kind of quite surprised.
‘‘Some people are like, ‘oh my gosh, why are you shooting?’’’
She said she was ‘‘super excited and super grateful’’ for the opportunity to compete.
‘‘It feels great.
‘‘It’s definitely a competition that I’ve always wanted to do.
‘‘I would quite like to see where this will lead to and what I could do after this.
‘‘It’s a bit of a mystery at the moment.’’
