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THE PAT SLATER CUP
By Sue Crockett
Pat Slater was passionate about Arabian horses, and in particular the endurance horse. She was forever in awe of their beauty and athleticism.
Australian Endurance owes a huge debt of thanks to Pat for her promotion of the endurance horse. She was instrumental in bringing Australian Endurance Riding to the attention of the uninitiated whilst she was the editor of the Australian Arabian Horse News. Pat was made a life member of AERA, before she died in March 2003.
When Pat became editor of the AHN in 1984 the magazine mainly focused on Arabians for show. Not much was said about the endurance horse. It was a comparatively new sport and rather a motley bunch of Arabian types took part. Although there were some great horses most were either show rejects or an assortment of unlikely looking part-breeds. Pat gradually introduced stories about Endurance horses and bit by bit they were accepted and deemed fit for publication!
Today endurance horses are written about constantly in the magazine and the AHSA recognise their major achievements. Each year the Society donates kersey rugs to the winners of each division of the Tom Quilty National Championship Ride.
Superior performances by an endurance horse are also recognised by the Society. Photographs of endurance horses have even appeared on the cover of the AHN!
But the biggest breakthrough came about in 2007 when the AHSA declared multi medal winning endurance horse Bremervale Justice the Ambassador for the breed. Pat would be thrilled to know that the endurance horse is now completely accepted within the Society.
Pat was the editor of the AHN for eight years and in that time she also edited two volumes of The Arabian Horse in Australia (and New Zealand). In 1992 Pat was awarded an Honorary Life Membership of the AHSA Ltd for her outstanding promotional contribution to the Arabian breed.
In her own right Pat was an outstanding horse photographer. She had a great eye for a horse and belonged to the pre-digital age when skill with a camera was more important than technology. Many of Pats' photographs are still used in today's publications, and will be for many years to come.
Pat photographed at her first Quilty in 1988. In 1994 she attended her first World Equestrian Games at The Hague in Holland. She was also in attendance at two other WEGS: Dubai in 1988 and Spain in 2002. She came with us to Spain in spite of being really unwell and took some wonderful photographs. Her stoicism and unfailing sense of humour will be remembered by all who were there with her. She would have made one hell of an endurance rider!
The Pat Slater Trophy was born to commemorate this great lady of Endurance.
The sterling silver perpetual cup was originally donated by Peter Slater and Family; Penny, Alexandra and Peter Toft; Sue and Toby Crockett; Meg Wade and Chris Gates. The Pat Slater Trophy is now sponsored by the state divisions of the A.E.R.A.
It is awarded each year (since 2004) at the Tom Quilty 160 kilometre National Championship ride and each year the winner is given a replica of the Pat Slater Cup.
The winner of the Pat Slater Cup will be selected from the first ten horses to successfully complete the course, regardless of their riding Division. Eligible horses must not receive any invasive treatment from the commencement of the Quilty until the completion of the judging of the Pat Slater Cup.
The winner of the Pat Slater Cup is to be decided by a panel of five persons; the Head veterinarian at that Quilty plus four persons, appointed by AERA Inc., who are multiple Quilty buckle holders. The chair of the panel will be a current or past member of AERA Inc. A member of the panel may have been a current participant, provided the horse is not eligible for consideration for this award.
The panel, in judging this event, will take into consideration ride performance, conformation and overall presentation. The ten horses will parade as a group to trot and canter a large circle together. They will then be required to individually trot up in hand, unsaddled. Emphasis will be placed on impulsion and the attitude of the horse. Little or no consideration will be taken for overall weight carried and time taken in comparison with the winner's time.
Previous winners of the Pat Slater Cup:
2004, South Australia, Ningadoo Taban (ridden by Claudia Reid, New South Wales)
2005, Tasmania, not awarded (event stopped due to rain)
2006, Queensland, Tora Blar-Zay, (ridden by Abdullah Khamis Ali Saeed, United Arab Emirates)
2007, Ruby Park Eastwick (ridden by Ady McIntosh, Western Australia)
2008, China Doll (ridden by Meg Wade, Victoria)
2009, Kurrajong Concorde (ridden by Kristie Taprell [nee McGaffin], Victoria)
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