Team Nissan is show-jumping ready for the Nissan Easter Festival

The Nissan Easter Festival will be held at Kyalami Equestrian Park from 28 March to 6 April and residents are invited to attend this free event.

Team Nissan is a mixed team comprising of industry stalwarts Barry Taylor and wife Lorette Knowles-Taylor as well as four development riders namely Vincent Moemise, Oscar Ncube, Zoleka Mosiah and Lexi Stais.

“Show jumping is one of the more challenging sports as you need to communicate and have a relationship with the horse, working together to achieve maximum potential. Our team has been handpicked for the riders’ abilities, their sound understanding of their horses and their desire to win,” said South Africa’s most accomplished show jumper Barry Taylor.

Moving out of the training season and into the thick of shows, the team will compete in nearly 300 show-jumping classes between now and the end of the year, which is tough going on any athlete, according to Lorette Knowles-Taylor.

According to Knowles-Taylor most of the members ride about five hours a day, six days a week and all-year round.

“We are extremely fit – on par with the rest of the world and know what we need to do in order to top the country’s rankings. Several of our riders have represented South Africa and it is the dream of every member to achieve national colours in their career.

We’ve trained hard this year and I believe that we are all ready for one of the biggest shows of the year, however, competition is tough so there’s really no telling who will win come competition day.”