Swapping a saddle for a horse proved to be one of the best deals Tenterfield's Rachel Brown ever made with now two Tom Quilty championship buckles to her name.
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Brown and her little Arabian, Houdini, finished the 160 kilometre national championship event at Tooraweenah on Saturday, three years after earning their first when Queensland hosted the event.
Houdini, affectionately known as Harry, is Brown's second endurance horse.
She started the sport on her stockhorse before ending up with Harry after advertising an old saddle for sale.
"The lady who bought the saddle, she wanted the saddle but couldn't afford to pay me for it until she sold her horse," Brown said.
"But no one wanted to look at the horse because it was an Arab," she said.
"I said 'I will take it.'
"Sight unseen she drops this Arab off and I was thinking 'worst case scenario I will do a few training rides and sell him on if he doesn't suit' but he has been the best horse I have ever had.
"He is not just a good competitor, he is the best little horse out on the farm."
Proof is in the pudding for the little gelding, with the Tom Quilty is the peak of all events on the endurance calendar.
It runs for 160kms and this year was particularly tough with rocks as well as sinkholes and boggy terrain to navigate.
"It was a really tough track, it was rocks, rocks and more rocks, the toughest parts were in the dark," Brown said.
"Plenty of mud, plenty of rocks, plenty of water crossings.
"It was an adventure."
Brown lauded her "little farm horse" and his ability to adapt to conditions when working out on their property, south of Tenterfield, as to one of the reasons he made it through the gruelling course.
She also applauded his competitive and tenacious spirit.
They finished the ride in 13 hours and 32 minutes, shaving an 10 minutes off her previous Quilty time and an hour off her 2018 160km state championship ride time which was also in Tooraweenah.
And while the ride itself wasn't easy to navigate, just getting there was just as tough.
Covid saw endurance events cancelled and then wet weather saw even more halted.
Then there was the issue of saturated paddocks which made Harry's hooves more susceptible to infection.
But nonetheless the duo powered on, finding forestry tracks and roads to ride along to get to the event.
Brown said "it was such a relief" to finally get across that finish line and vet through successfully.
"It is always a bundle of emotions because it is such a huge event on the endurance calendar," she said.
"It was a test of endurance just to get the starting line, Luke [Annetts] had to pull out with his horse because it had an abscess.
"160 is always tough. you forget how tough it is until you're doing it.
"The emotion of it all, the physical fatigue, the mental fatigue, just a combination of everything."
The Tom Quilty event heads to Victoria next year and Brown said it will be a too far to travel to aim for a third buckle.
By the time it makes its way back to Queensland again, she is hopeful her next up-and-comer will be ready to chase a buckle.
In the meantime, Harry is having a well-earned six-week break before he saddles up with Brown's son to teach her young horse the ropes.