Twining and her top horse Jetsetter finished 11th of 50 riders in the grand prix event in 37C heat, narrowly missing 10th and a $1500 voucher.
Olympians Megan Jones, Stuart Tinney and Sonja Johnson were among the riders headlining the day, which combined showjumping and cross-country phases and offered $85,000 in prizes.
The grand prix, for horses with experience in one-star eventing and higher and officially graded showjumpers, featured 27 jumps set at 1.15m. The diamond class had 24 jumps at 1.05m.
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READ NOWBoth courses ended with a huge optional jump, called The Joker, which could boost the horse’s ranking if the rider was prepared to risk it.
WA rider Tegan Cook, riding Better On Sunday, won the grand prix, taking home a new Holden Trax.
Twining said she was pleased with the result, despite missing the prize money.
‘I was stoked that Jett got around. He was really keen and enthusiastic,’ she said.
She rode Ash Ember Breeze in the diamond class for one of her clients.
‘They were by far the biggest jumps he’d ever seen, but he got around well,’ she said, adding that both horses recovered beautifully from their exertions.
Twining got ex-racehorse Jett two years ago. She schooled him herself and said he had a wonderful steady temperament and a sweet personality.
She said the 10-year-old would one day be a top junior’s horse. But next year, she wanted to take him to three-star level, the final grade before four-star or Olympic level.
Twining said horse ownership and competition was expensive and she was grateful to have gained sponsors.
She also hoped to expand her business, educating and competing horses for clients and teaching dressage and jumping.