From what started the brand Cowgirl Surf Club stemmed from a viral video of Cowgirl, "Nikia Hunt" and Founder of Cowgirl Surf Club "Kristin Donohue", horse surfing. Kristin then got the fire in her belly to see how it was possible to see the popular sport of skijoring with horses overseas, here in Australia.
So it all started with a, "I wonder if we could..." and here we have an Australian-first Skijoring Down Under with horses and what a better way of bringing this together than with the resort Mt Buller who embraced the opportunity to collaborate.
Last winter Mt Buller celebrated 100 years since a small group of intrepid pioneers came up on horses and skied the mountain for the first time - it’s fitting that a century later there are once again local horses up here on snow.
Snowboarder Celia Petrig takes flight as Steph Dunnachie gallops her horse down the course. Photo Tony Harrington
Country is cool again and Cowgirl Surf Club is pushing creative boundaries combinding the western culture with other cultures. Creating special collaborations like this one, between horses, athletes, and riders.
Snowboarder Celia Petrig with horse trained by Lancefield Bloodstock by Steph Dunnachie. Photo Tony Harrington
Resort spokesperson Rhylla Morgan explains, “When Kristin called to ask whether this was possible she had no idea this was something I’d been dreaming about creating here and talking to locals about for some time. Mt Buller has the snow, and there is a deep connection to horses and the pioneering cattlemen who have ridden and explored the high country for generations. We believed skijoring would be the perfect coming together of these two rich local traditions so completely embraced and shared Kristin’s vision. This felt like it was finally the right time and we had the right people to make it happen!”
Filmer Kristin Donohue with Brendan Coleman and Mietta Passon. Photo Shiloh Simmard
“It took a unique set of people with very specific skills, and over a year of planning, to finally pull it off so smoothly working with local skiers, local horse trainers and an eager community here in resort to wrangle the logistics.”
A uniquely talented team worked for over a year to pull together a plan on how to bring the idea to life, and that dream became reality just a couple of weeks ago. A few days after a late season snowfall the temperature dipped, the snowpack firmed up and then skies cleared. With support from resort management to safely float the horses into the village, the mountain operations team to support on snow, grooming crew to shape and build a course, a tireless guest experience crew to set safety fencing and pick up the horse poo (!) and countless others behind the scenes to move haybales and support an on-snow film shoot – everything came together and the riders, the beautiful horses and some very excited skiers and snowboarders made a little magic on a mountaintop.
Snowboarder Brendan Coleman as Steph Dunnachie on her horse. Photo Tony Harrington
Cowgirl Surf Club are so proud to have worked alongside Mt Buller, to hold an Australian first skijoring event.
Snowboarder Mietta Passon takes flight as Nikia Hunt gallops her horse down the course. Photo Tony Harrington
Cowgirl Surf Club is proud to partner with Mt Buller, INEOS Grenadier, Ariat and Pit Viper in this unique project.
