Lake Domain, at the western end of Lake Wairarapa, looks to be a challenging enough venue for the three-stage competition, which includes horses, canoes and quad bikes. One of the organisers, Mark Lovett from Lake Reserve, Featherston, explains the course. The first stage involves horse and rider. You have to trot a couple of loops around the foreshore of the lake, canter back to the start line, dismount, sprint to the canoe, negotiate a safe seat, paddle across the edge of the lake and then race for the nearest quad, start that up, complete another loop, and get back to your canoe as fast as you can. A return trip across the lake is the last item on the race programme.
Timing is the essence.
It's going to be a testing time for competitors, but there's enthusiasm there. Not so many riders turn up today, but then it's the end of the riding club season, can't be any other reason. But there are a few horses tied up to horse floats, the odd farmer's dog prowling around and plenty of helpers who are setting up the course. They're wading around out there planting markers in the mud. The water's not that deep, they say.