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Young Rider: Jorja Milverton

This article is from the January 2020 Horse Deals magazine.

Roosters Lil Trona and Jorja at the 2019 Blue Sky Extreme Cowboys Youth and intermediate Championship Show.

Roosters Lil Trona and Jorja at the 2019 Blue Sky Extreme Cowboys Youth and intermediate Championship Show.

Age: 16

Lives: Jancourt East, Victoria.

Education/occupation: Currently studying year 10 at Trinity College Colac and Cert II in Animal Studies.

Family history with horses? My mum has grown up with horses and had them all of her life. Still riding and competing today, she has passed her passion and love for horses onto me. Dad has only ridden a horse a couple of times
and still can’t catch a horse, but he loves watching us compete and cheers us on from the sidelines.

What age did you start riding? I have been riding ever since I could remember. Starting on Mum’s old pony named Star.

Tell us about your first pony. Sugar, being my first pony that belonged to me, is a beautiful little chestnut Welsh Mountain. She is such a fun, little, versatile pony. As I got older and more confident with riding, I would love chasing cows on her, jumping her and take her camping up at the Murray River. I still pull her out of the paddock today to ride around on her.

What was your first competition? When I was eight years old I was entered in our local Heytesbury Agricultural Show at Simpson
on Sugar.

What disciplines do you compete in and why? I compete on my ripping little cutting trained Quarter Horse Rooster. We have been competing in cutting for four years and extreme cowboy racing for three years now. I really enjoy the challenges of both disciplines.

What are some of the highlights of your success? In cutting I have been lucky enough to have won two Bob Wheatley Buckles in 2017 and 2019. In 2017, Junior Youth Ariat Area 7 high points and 2018, Senior Youth Ariat Area 7 high points and the 2018 Garfield Youth Championship show.

In extreme cowboy racing, some of the highlights have been winning the 2019 Blue Sky Extreme Cowboys Youth and Intermediate Championship Show. Winning both 2018 and 2019 Australian National Youth Championships, and now travelling to America and winning the 2019 World Extreme Cowboy Racing Youth Championship.

You have just come back from competing in America for the Extreme Cowboy Racing World Championships, what was the experience like and what did you learn? The experience was like no other and I loved every moment of it. For two weeks before the show I trained with Lee Hart at Legends Horse Ranch (Kaufman, TX) where I learnt so much which helped me improve as a rider. I learnt various techniques and exercises to perform when riding which helped me to prepare both myself and my borrowed horse (Mia) for the EXCA World Championship Show. It was definitely a life experience that I can’t wait to do again.

Roosters Lil Trona and Jorja. <br>
Photo: Sandra Morgan

Roosters Lil Trona and Jorja.
Photo: Sandra Morgan

What challenges did you face riding a borrowed horse? Order Mia Whiskey aka Mia is a beautiful little buckskin Quarter Horse mare owned by Ruthie and John Renton of Texas. I was very lucky to be able to compete on Mia, she is a ripping horse to ride. She is well educated and fast.

The challenges I faced I only had two weeks to get to know Mia and to train with her. I had never raced on her before and I had never competed in a EXCA World Championship Show before. But I felt we connected straight away and I trusted her as she knew what to do.

What went through your mind when you realised you won the World Title? I wasn’t sure if I had won the World Title at first. It was not until they started going through the top 10 riders, starting from 10th place, that I then realised my name had not been called out yet. When I realised I had won I was very excited and it took a while to sink in.

What is your favourite aspect of extreme cowboy racing? There are a lot of things. The family atmosphere of the sport is really nice to be a part of. I also like how you can be any level of rider, with any breed and level of horse and still give it a crack. EXCA is a fast sport being scored on time, but I also like the technical side of the sport and the challenges of competing on different obstacles. Your horsemanship skills also come into play, showing the trust and connection you have with your horse in order to get them through each obstacle.

What is the secret to your success? I think that hard work and dedication is what has gotten me here today. I just love horses, it is my biggest passion. I also think spending many hours riding and caring for my horses and always trying to learn as much as I can is what makes me a better rider. Getting to know my horses and building a connection and trust is something that I also find very important, too.

How many horses do you have in work at the moment? Mum and I have two horses in work. Nate and Rooster, both Quarter Horse geldings. I also ride Sugar every now and then for fun.

How do you juggle study and horses? Horses will always come first for me. I work very hard to keep up in class and to get good grades in school, hopefully allowing me to one day have a successful career. I always tend to go horse riding or outside, rather than do homework.

Jorja and Order Mia Whiskey at the <br>
2019 EXCA World Championships

Jorja and Order Mia Whiskey at the
2019 EXCA World Championships

Share a typical day in your life. A typical weekday is: I go to school on the bus, traveling an hour each way. Get home from school and eat food, then ride and exercise my horses. Then at night I do my homework, fall asleep. Then repeat it all again the next day.

Who’s your idol? I don’t really have one idol, but I admire lots of different horse men and women from different disciplines. I like watching and learning from people that have a real connection with their horses. It is amazing what some people can teach a horse to do.

Who is your coach and what are their best words of advice for you? Living in our rural area we don’t have a lot of trainers near us, so I call Mum my coach. She teaches me how to improve my connection with my horse. She always tells me to trust my horse, feel his rhythm under me as I ride and to take care of him, while having fun and to enjoy what I’m doing and do it the best I can.

Training in American with Lee Hart was an awesome experience. One piece of good advice he had was “don’t turn a correction into a punishment for the horse but instead help your horse along the way and redirect his energy.”
I go to a Victorian Youth Cutting Clinic each year and get the chance to learn from different cutting trainers which is also a great experience.

How do you manage the highs and lows of the sport? I try not to focus too much on the highs or lows. Instead I try and focus on how I can improve my horse’s and my relationship and teamwork, hoping that success shows through with all the time and effort put into this.

What are your future plans? I will keep riding and training on my horses. Competing in both cutting and extreme cowboy racing. I hope to return back over to America to compete on Mia again. I also hope to get some more horses into training and see what happens.

What do you like to do outside of horses? When I’m not riding horses, I play netball for our local Simpson Tigers Netball and Football Club.

Can’t live without? Horses, chocolate and family.

3 things we don’t know about Jorja Milverton?
1. I love country music.
2. I don’t eat ice-cream.
3. My favourite car is the old muscle Mustang.

Jorja and Order Mia Whiskey at the 2019 EXCA World Championships

Jorja and Order Mia Whiskey at the 2019 EXCA World Championships


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