my parents, Dugald and Jeanine, agreed that I could learn through the Charters Towers School of Distance Education.”
YO U N G R I D E R
Getting an early start Often seen passaging around the feedlot, or piaffing amid a mob of cattle, Amber Hamilton likes to train while she works, as SUZY JARRATT discovered.
A
mber Hamilton spends hours
having dressage lessons when she was
each day mustering on her
pregnant with me.”
parents’ 13.5 thousand acre
property in Eidsvold, two hours west
This is one dedicated rider who was just a kid when she decided what she
of Bundaberg, “and a long way from
wanted to do for a living. After attending
civilisation,” adds the 22-year-old
Mundubbera State School she wasn’t
horsewoman, who began riding before
keen on the idea of boarding school:
she could walk. “In fact, even before I
“I didn’t want to leave my horses as I
was born I was on a horse as Mum was
wanted to make a career out of them so
76 | E Q U E S T R I A N H U B I S S U E 6 • 2 0 2 2
Amber, who is also interested in the cattle side of the business, added some agricultural courses to her studies and continued to regularly compete at various equestrian events. “I was lucky when I left school. We had land and we had stock so I had a kick start. I began training outside horses and breaking in,” she says. Some of her breaking skills originated with one of the locals. “I did some work experience with Leah Read, it was only for a fortnight but I learnt a lot which I now combine with the methods I’ve figured out for myself.” Along with her mum Jeanine and sister Brandy, Amber has also created and developed Woodlands Karouselle Performance Horses, which she began with one nine-month-old Welsh D foal, Anakie Saint Nick. She now has an assortment of breeds and types at various stages of training, some of which are for sale.
