World Championship Horse - Hoping, Wis...

Kudu is horse with springs under her hooves. Alycia Targa, a young rider with the polish and panache of a champion.

But without the Equine Flu vaccination their hopes of representing Australia at the World Championships are dashed.“Kudu must have the vaccination if she is to compete in Germany at the World Champs,” Alycia, 21, said. “The people of Berry have helped me raise money so that I can afford to go - surely someone can help. We need to leave by December 1 at the latest. I urge the Government to consider Kudu as a horse eligible and worthy of vaccination,” she added.The Young Riders World Dressage Championship is being held in Frankfurt, Germany, between December 13 and 16 and Alycia and Kudu are the first to be selected to represent Australia at this unique event.Neversfelde Kudu was bred by Jane and Maurice Bruce at Berry in NSW. She is from an ex-racing thoroughbred mare and was trained by Maurice, then ridden by Jane right up to the dizzy heights of Grand Prix, the Olympic level for dressage.

After taking over the reins of Kudu, Alycia went on to compete very successfully in Australia, winning our National Young Rider title and was subsequently selected to ride for Australia at the Worlds. But her dream of wearing the Australian flag on her saddle cloth may now be over if she cannot access vital vaccination for her horse.

Berry is a red zone area because horses infected with EI were taken to Broughton Valley some 8km from Berry at the beginning of the epidemic. The virus spread to all other horses on that property but there have been no further outbreaks since.