General News
28 September, 2023
Cheryl Miller reflects on 55 years
WITH the 151st Camperdown Show approaching, one horse enthusiast reflected on her 55 years of showing at the event.
WITH the 151st Camperdown Show approaching, one horse enthusiast reflected on her 55 years of showing at the event.
Cheryl Miller placed third in 1968 at the Camperdown Show with black Timor pony Sambo at age 10 and has not looked back since.
Ms Miller said her third-place ribbon from, 1968 was equal to all the other ribbons she has won, including ribbons from national-level competitions.
“The Camperdown Show third place was what started it, so I treasure that one,” she said.
“After Sambo came a few others; I’ve tried to compete at the Camperdown Show as often as I can over the years.
“From showing, I went into showjumping and racing; I was in the first intake of female jockeys back in 1974, but I always had a show horse as well as race riding.
“I’ve just always loved showing and dressage; was lucky enough to get into dressage and have a really great coach in Cheree Edmonds, who steered me in the right direction with learning to train and school horses for that, and just over the years kept on going.”
Ms Miller has ridden at the Australian level twice, competing in the Australian Masters Games and the Australian Carbide Arabian Championships.
She said she was fortunate to be grow up around horses, with horses kept on her family’s farm.
“Dad had a lovely old Clydesdale cross, so we were sat on that from when I was born,” Ms Miller said.
“I just got the bug right there and then. Mum and Dad, thank goodness, bought me Sambo, and I just pestered them and pestered them to go to the show.
“We went to the drive-in pictures and saw a movie on the white stallions of Vienna; I think it was called ‘Flight of the White Stallions’.
“I saw dressage when I was about five, and I was hell-bent then; nothing was stopping me. I was going to show horses and learn dressage one day.”
Ms Miller said she’s “just a horse-mad kid” at heart.
“While I have been very lucky that I’ve got all these lovely sashes and medals and trophies, at the end of the day I just want to produce a horse that is the best to the best of my ability, that the horse
is going really well or the best as they can,” she said.
“I’m so lucky because my husband’s a great support, and my children and grandkids are very supportive too.
“Mum and Dad started it all off, and it just kept on going and I never grew out of it.
“I can remember Mum saying when I started high school that ‘oh, Cheryl’ll grow out of horses now’, but I didn’t; it’s just grown progressively worse and stronger over the years.”
Ms Miller’s passion for horses runs in the family, with her daughter and granddaughter also riding at the Camperdown Show.
She said her granddaughter will be riding in the dressage at the Camperdown Show, and is happy her family has contact with horses.
“Luckily my daughter rode in her first show when she was two at the Camperdown Show, and then my granddaughter was only two when she got to ride in her first Camperdown Show,” Ms Miller said.
“The grandchildren all hop on and have a ride too. It’s generational.
“It’s just really lovely to have the connection of the same hobby all through the generations.
“It’s great to have all these photos to look back on in Camperdown, so looking forward to the next one.”
Ms Miller said the Camperdown Showgrounds were “always the most beautiful showgrounds”.
“It’s the best showgrounds on the circuit, and it’s privately owned, so a lot of work goes in,” she said.
“The committees, all the committees over the years, have done a great job in keeping it going.
“I will say the Camperdown Show; a lot of times, the kids get to see their first animals. Over the years, lots of kids had their first pats of one of my horses.
“That’s why the aggie (agriculture) shows are so important, because they showcase all animals, and in the horses, all breeds of animals.”
Ms Miller extended her gratitude to the show committee and all involved in running the show.
“Currently, the showgrounds look immaculate, and that’s a credit to the current committee how they’ve got it all looking,” she said.
“It’s really good that the facility’s there because it does get used by other groups, and hopefully it’ll be many years to come and the P and A Society will be still going.
“It’s just great for the community of Camperdown to have a show to be able to come to because in this day, where there’s so many other things running, that the Camperdown Show committee still put
on such a great showcase to encourage all walks of life of Camperdown and district to come to the show and see what’s there.”
The 151st Camperdown Show is on Saturday, October 14 with horse events both Saturday and Sunday.
