Ambition on horseback
CHARTWELL - Zoleka Mosiah is a lifelong equestrian athlete with heaps of ambition and a clear view of her future on horseback.
From watching horse-racing with her father as a child, Mosiah (18) who lives in Illovo, graduated to the saddle to begin her own successful equestrian career, choosing show jumping as the most exciting of multiple disciplines in which she competed.
Now in matric at St Mary’s School, Waverley, Mosiah skilfully juggles a demanding schedule. Despite organising her riding around school activities, she often works late into the night after an afternoon’s training, but this dynamic sportswoman takes everything in her confident stride.
“Being in matric, I don’t have the luxury of training as often as I would like, but I organise for my horses to be ridden and kept jumping fit so that there is little to catch up when I have the opportunity to ride,” she said. “Luckily, I am surrounded by my close friends either when I am at school or when I ride. It makes it easy to keep strong relationships.”
Between riding and school work, meanwhile, Mosiah immerses herself in another passion – music. The multi-talented teen enjoys listening to and creating music of all genres, and even creates piano covers of her favourite songs.
Discipline and hard work are paying off, and in a still-young career, Mosiah has competed for the South African Young Rider Equitation team at the Inter-Africa Cup, and been invited onto Team Nissan, an initiative to nurture grass-roots equestrian sport.
Of the drive behind her show jumpin success, Mosiah said, “I like the idea of doing something that I was once scared of. For me, the biggest challenge of show jumping in particular is the need for quick thinking on an unpredictable animal.”
The future, meanwhile, is clearly mapped out in Mosiah’s mind, and her greatest aspiration is to compete in the World Equestrian Games.
“I would like to return to show jumping after a break to pursue a degree in engineering. Then, I would like to establish myself as a competent and competitive adult rider and compete in the most prestigious South African events,” Mosiah declared, demonstrating that she is a young athlete going places in South African sport.
