The 16-year-old Willawarrin Pony Club member has had a stellar year.

On two occasions she has excelled at an elite level and been an integral member of the NSW team.

Earlier this year she won first prize at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney as part of the Area 3 Pony Club showjumping team.

Her performance was instrumental in guiding her Area 3 Pony Club team to the win.

Cassie’s most recent triumph was at the Pony Club Australia National Championships.

The 2009 National Championships, hosted by Pony Club NSW, on behalf of Pony Club Australia, was staged at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre in July.

Competing against the top riders from each State in her age group, she came third in the junior showjumping, only one point behind the second placed rider.

Her performance also helped steer the NSW team to victory and be named the national champions.

The ironic thing about both events is the fact Cassie was named as a reserve for both NSW teams.

On both occasions, Cassie received a phone call the day before the event, from officials telling her to get to Sydney as soon as she could.

At the national championships, Cassie and her mother Janelle drive through the night to make the competition.

“We were not there for the warm up so we were the talk of the village,” Cassie said.

Allan has also grown a reputation for sticking his tongue out during competition.

Cassie has nothing but praise for Allan.

“He is such a lovely horse and so honest,” she said.

“His rug slipped and rubbed on him during competition but he still kept going.

“I had only one preparation with Allan, but we learnt so much from the first time, and it let both us have more confidence and we came out flying.”

Cassie has her sights set on a career in the showjumping world as a competitor or trainer and already prepares horses for other riders and for sale.

She has a strong work ethic and spends most of her free time working with her horses. She rides nearly every day and combines different work outs for her and her horses, from sprinting, bush walks, to jumping and even going to the beach.

Cassie’s family has a strong background with horses, but none of them have ever achieved her great results.

Her future aspiration is to move to Europe and further her career over there.

But in the mean time, she will continue to work hard and build on her natural talent.

She will compete at the Equestrian Federation of Australia National Championship this month.