Ronnie ‘showjumped’ for the win

The Kyalami Equestrian Club is thrilled with the successful hosting of the epic Toyota Easter Festival at the Kyalami Equestrian Park. The multi-disciplined equestrian extravaganza saw a total of 4 850 entries across the four disciplines of dressage, equitation, showing and showjumping.

The event took place at the Toyota 1.50m SA Outdoor Grand Prix and Ronnie Healy was announced as the champion.

Healy was the winner of the festival in 2022. However, in 2023, he experienced time faults and could not win the competition. He used that as his motivation and headed strongly into this year’s Toyota Easter Festival.

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“I was not fast enough but I have been practising and doing well. I am hopeful that this year I will get the same results, if not better,” he said.

He is now glowing with pride for being a champion. Healy said that he stumbled upon his winning horse, Cornets Mandarino, when he was abroad looking for horses for his clients;

“I saw Cornets working as a four-year-old. I rode him once and bought him. He loves to win as much as I do, and our journey together has been a remarkable one, making today extra special. In today’s championship, I thought the first round wasn’t too big, but it was tricky and testing. The second round was then obviously bigger, and it was a case of ‘he who dares, wins’ – and thankfully today was our today. My gratitude to Toyota, KPC, my team, my family and my friends for this magnificent show.”

Heather Mpofu, the club’s event director, said her heart is content seeing crowds that came through to support the show.

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“It was simply outstanding and quite overwhelming. I am so grateful to the Kyalami Park Club team as well as to the SA National Equestrian Centre; then there were the officials, the paramedics and security teams and the catering team who worked tirelessly with us and made this Toyota Easter Festival bigger, better – the best. I do not know how to express my gratitude. You have provided a host of exceptional experiences to our competitors and spectators.”

The Toyota Easter Festival forms part of the 2024 Toyota Triple Crown Series. The second leg of the series is the Toyota SA Adult Showjumping Championships from August 28 to September 1, with the third and final leg being the Toyota SA Derby from October 3 to 6. Both shows are open to the public and guarantee entertainment for the whole family.

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