Goldfields Cavalcade Timaru rider's yearly fix

Cavalcade participants Toni Arden (left), on Puddles, and Megan Kelly, on Tui, both of Timaru, at the Vulcan Hotel, in St Bathans, on the way to Omakau. Photos supplied.
Cavalcade participants Toni Arden (left), on Puddles, and Megan Kelly, on Tui, both of Timaru, at the Vulcan Hotel, in St Bathans, on the way to Omakau. Photos supplied.
Riders get going for the 25th Goldfields Cavalcade in Otago, which started on February 26 and...
Riders get going for the 25th Goldfields Cavalcade in Otago, which started on February 26 and finished on March 4.

The Goldfields Cavalcade is an event Timaru woman Toni Arden does not like to miss and this year was no exception.

She saddled up for her 12th event late last month, winding her way over the hills from Five Forks, near Oamaru, to Omakau, in Central Otago - a journey that took six days.

''My first one was in 2003 and I think I've missed about three.''

She joked she was ''not very pleasant to be around'' when she misses out on the event.

''It's a bit of a bug.''

Ms Arden first joined the cavalcade after one of her friends encouraged her to take part.

''It's not just the riding, it's the social side, seeing friends you only see once a year,'' she said.

Ms Arden is a member of the High Country Pleasure Riders, a group which enables her to get her 18-year-old horse Puddles prepped for the cavalcade each year.

Puddles has joined her on the trek for the past 10 years, while another of her horses, Monnie, joined her on two of her earlier cavalcade expeditions.

This time round Ms Arden joined about 57 riders and more than 10 support crew members who trekked over the hills, following one of the many routes used in the event.

And, thanks to ''brilliant'' weather, this year's event was one of the best ones Ms Arden could recall.

''[It was] lovely, one of our best years,'' she said.

Ms Arden also recalled the year the weather gods were not so favourable.

''[One year] it rained every day,'' she said.

''Everything got soaked, but we've kept going back so it couldn't [have been] too bad.''

She said it was the camaraderie that she enjoyed most about the event and struggled to define one aspect she did not enjoy.

''I don't think there are any aspects I don't enjoy, because I keep going back. It's my yearly fix.''

All going to plan, Ms Arden will be back on the cavalcade trail next year, when participants travel to Owaka.

-By Alexia Johnstone

Add a Comment