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Benalla Sportstar: O'Brien back on the horse

It's hard to get back on the horse sometimes.

In the case of Alice O’Brien, that was literally the case in 2019.

The 2019/20 Benalla Chiropractic Centre Female Young Sportstar nominee spent a lot of 2019 overcoming her own fears after an accident a year ago.

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“Getting back to competing was pretty special,” she said.

“I got over my fear of show jumping with Wiggles after falling off at the start of last year.

“I’ve been pretty nervy about it since, but I was able to overcome it this year and get back into competition.”

Not only was the young rider able to overcome her fear, but she was able to immediately find success on the same horse.

“I did a lot of competing throughout the year,” she said.

“Including dressage, show jumping and eventing. I placed really well in the dressage on Wiggles, and was able to with the overall.

“I also competed on my other horse Archie. He didn’t have as good of a year as Wiggles, but he gave a lot and I was really happy with him.

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“It was good to be able to get out there and compete, to have a really good season after what happened last year. I was really happy with the season.”

• Alice O’Brien is nominated for the 2019/20 Benalla Bus Lines Female Sportstar and the Benalla Chiropractic Centre Female Young Sportstar (under-18).