The next big jump

South Africa’s 1,35m junior showjumping champion rides horses just for the thrill of it and the new experiences each ride has to offer.

With more medals under his belt than he can count, Travis Dawson (17) has his eyes set on the Summer Youth Olympics in Argentina this year.

But you will not find him indoors, sitting anxiously waiting to hear when the team selection will be made. Instead, Dawson spends about three hours per day, six days per week riding five horses he is training at his mother’s Silver Tree Stables in Midrand.

“Each time you ride a horse, it is an individual experience. It is never the same,” he said.

“Something is always in store for you, whether it be the kinds of offences you make or the horse being naughty.”

Dawson’s horse, Last Born (a 15-year-old South African warmblood), has a mind of her own sometimes, but Dawson is understanding with her, and she is more obedient because of it.

Before he won last year’s 1,35m junior division at the South African Showjumping Championships riding her, Dawson won many shows, including the 1,30m SA Youth Festival in 2016, on another horse, La Audience.

The warmblood-thoroughbred-cross also came second with Dawson at the 1,30m Derby in 2016, and qualified for two Fédération Equestre Internationale events in Mexico and Brazil.

“Now I’m training two younger horses who will hopefully help me later on in my career and compete at many 1,50m Grands Prix. But this year I want to reach 1,40m jumps and move into the adult division.”

The start of Dawson’s riding career features a funny story.

“My mom threw me on the horse before the age of three and I never liked it.”

For reasons beyond him, Dawson continued to ride all the way until the age of 12.

“Then I fell off a horse one day and broke my femur [thighbone]. It was strange because from then on, I loved riding.”

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