09/05/2026
Have you read about the Hunter Valley Showjumping Club's amazing journey?
Re-posting since we've recently had to create a new page -
Hunter Valley Showjumping Club announces an exciting future at the Lovedale Venue, at the Rydges Resort.
By Sue Middleton
In 2004 I attended the State Showjumping Championships at Nowra and was having dinner with the Harker family at the local Ex Serviceman’s Club when I took a phone call that left me feeling flat and despondent. The caller advised that the Hunter Valley Showjumping Club could not continue as it was struggling to remain viable with small member numbers and the difficulties of finding suitable venues that would serve the membership well and attract new interest. The club began in the early 60’s and it was sad to hear of its pending demise.
While I was not on the Committee or officially involved at the time, I had previously served as the club’s Secretary and spent many happy hours with like-minded friends and jumping enthusiasts attending training days and competitions. I knew that the news would be a blow to many friends of jumping and leave a void in the offerings for Hunter Valley fans.
As a long-term showjumping competitor (and sometimes eventing and dressage), specialist trainer and coach I am acutely aware that a good riding surface is an absolute priority and so I found the decision to disband the HVSJC understandable, but not necessarily a fait accompli.
They say, “when the going gets tough … the tough get going” and this perfectly describes the fearless determination that was shared by a small team of enthusiastic “newbies” who shared my belief that the club could relocate and prosper. The rebirth of the club was a case of, big dreams and humble beginnings!
With the flatbed truck that was booked to transport the gear trailers, we set off to the Salt Ash Sports Ground and rebuilt the club to become the respected entity that has educated, entertained and mentored lovers of showjumping. With a welcoming, non-judgmental approach, the club sure did prosper and it wasn’t long before all the equipment was upgraded and the HVSJC was alive and well.
With success comes a requirement to constantly improve and meet the evolving standards of best practise in the sport. It is one thing to provide sandy areas for jumping events, but experts understand that a sand surface is constantly changing and influenced by the weather. Some areas have too much sand and in other places there is not enough.
In 2006 the Maitland Showgrounds became the club’s home and the footing was satisfactory if it was maintained and watered. At Maitland we could run events with two quality arenas and we added to our equipment so as to meet the increased demand for club activities. Our next challenge was to run the showjumping classes at the well-supported Maitland Show and we continued to do this for eight years. In six of these years, the Maitland Show incorporated the NSW Regional Showjumping Championships, a competition that became a must on the calendar for many – so, a real turnaround for an event that had been dormant for some years.
The management of multi-use facilities can be difficult to navigate, and a showground is not exclusively for equestrian sport and there was much campaigning from the committee members of other activities looking to prioritise their use of this venue.
The growth of the club and the restrictions that came about through compromise gave our Committee much to consider. The non-negotiable was to provide quality footing and safe spaces for horses and riders. This was always our absolute priority and in 2014 the club packed up our collection of equipment and moved to a private facility that allowed us to run events our way, The Ranch in Anambah became our temporary home. The Club still desired to conduct multi-ring, multi-day shows that offered full programs, and accordingly, we ran a few mobile shows at both Morisset and Bulahdelah Showgrounds. The footing at these venues was not ideal and it was a challenging exercise to move all of the equipment required to run a successful event! Many lessons were learned.
In order to meet the demands of a growing membership with diverse objectives and abilities, the club needed to maintain an open mind about change. I had attended many Pony Club events at Bradley Park located at Rutherford and became aware that the footing had been improved with sand in some areas. This venue ticked most of the boxes for us all, so off we went just down the road from The Ranch and settled in for a further six years. That “footing” word kept ringing in my ears and although we ran many successful events at this venue including 1.40m classes, there was no guarantee or control over the consistency of the surface and we had to accept the dryness or wetness of the grounds, leading into our major events. It was a bugbear for us all and particularly upset me, as I was the main driver of making sure that good footing was a hallmark of a HVSJC show or activity.
It takes a village to run a club and the HVSJC has been very fortunate to have the support and help of a variety of very keen and dedicated club members, committee members, sponsors and volunteers, who have contributed to the success of our many activities. These friends of HVSJC have willingly supported the club and my dreams, and for this I am forever grateful.
In April 2022 we entered an exciting phase for the club when Jerry Schwartz, the owner of Rydges Resort (known as Crowne Plaza at the time) saw the dream and shared my enthusiasm to make “big things” happen. At this time, I was also working on another project – HorseSport Australia – and I mentioned the concept of a broad based equestrian registry to Jerry while I was teaching his children to ride at my property in Eleebana. All three children were showing an interest in showjumping and were having their first jumps on one of my experienced school horses, Nick.
Jerry offered the use of some dormant land he had available behind the hotel, and off we went to do an inspection. It was so gratifying to find an enthusiastic visionary in Jerry, we had many animated and positive discussions about Australian equestrian sport and the equestrian development and how this facility would ‘dovetail” into the core business at Rydges Resort.
In November 2022 the first stage of arena preparation commenced and even at this early stage, plans to conduct the inaugural HorseSport Australia, Equestrian in the Vines event in April 2023, started to take shape. What a whirlwind that was!
The competition was a completely new concept and incorporated multiple disciplines held on areas that were mapped out specifically for this inaugural event. It was a huge undertaking and last minute things like the steps to the amenities being concreted as we were setting up the day before the event added to the challenges. I might add, just a little stressful as circumstances meant the sand arena had not had a horse ride a course prior to the commencement of competition. I was waking up in the middle of the night, night after night leading up to this milestone event, thinking about sand! And….will we have toilets, will we have showers, will there be power for campers and food services? There was potentially a lot of expense in bringing in temporary facilities. The list of “will we’s” was very long. Jerry, his family and staff were all heroes in their own individual way and as a team we were able to make it happen!
My many years in the sport have given me access to a variety of venues throughout Australia, venues that cater for both grass roots competitors and high-performance athletes in two different sports – horses and motor bikes. I’ve attended events in several European countries, again with horses and motor bikes and I have learned much about what makes a facility work well. Every venue has its individual character, some are temporary venues like French ski resorts that are repurposed during the summer months for motor bike sports and other facilities are long term venues like Aachen Showgrounds (noted as the home of the best horse show in the world) and the German DOKR where the Bundeschampionate (Young Horse Championships) are held annually.
I have given careful consideration to the design of a venue to suit Australian conditions and riders, without requiring a massive remake of the beautiful, natural landscape and features of the specific area. How to make it user friendly? How to avoid overcapitalising the venue and pricing it out of the market and how to maximise the potential, taking into account all of the above?
Good venues have a flow about them so that competitors and spectators have easy access to the arenas and other facilities. Effective communication systems are paramount. I have had my competition days spoilt if the venue is poorly designed with a layout and facilities that are not user friendly. I know that competitors will preference competitions and shows with workable venues, the word gets around when the offerings are sub-standard.
Fortunately, Jerry Schwartz is a great visionary and trusted my advice on many aspects of the venue development. As with myself, he likes to do little bits at a time, then wait and see if that works, then add another little bit. Bit by bit, the facility has developed into one that can now cater for multi disciplines and multi day shows that cater for grass roots enthusiasts right through to high performance athletes who are known to demand the best. The facility is fully functional as is, but shows great potential for ongoing expansion, it is a work in progress and always aiming to innovate and excel. Although the club had intended to remain based at Rutherford, circumstances changed and we moved in permanently.
Under the HorseSport Australia and HVSJC banner, we have proudly hosted competitions in jumping, dressage, show horse, fashions on the field and sporting. Here’s to more events at the Lovedale Venue.
There's a few memory pics included that show the jumping at Salt Ash, Maitland, The Ranch, and of course the state of the art arena used at the recent HVSJC Spring Championships.
If you’re not located in the Hunter, come visit us and see why we are leaping into the future with exciting times ahead.
