Olympian returns for Albany Show
Olympic equestrian competitor Sonja Johnson began her successful career at the Albany Agricultural Show.
One of Johnson’s first memories was riding into the arena at four years old on a horse named Cactus dressed as a ballerina, but leaving in tears after spotting another rider in a gorilla suit.
Johnson did not let that first frightening experience hold her back, going on to win many local events and competing in multiple Olympic Games.
“(The show) gave me a taste for competition where I discovered I was highly competitive and loved the feeling of winning,” she said.
“At one stage it was the biggest show outside the Perth Royal Show.
“So we got really good competition there in dressage and hacking, and there were lots of very good show jumpers.
“So at a very early age I was able to compete against a really high level of competition, and on occasion was able to beat them.”
Johnson said the Albany Show was the perfect place to train not only the riders, but horses too.
“The show is so different to big show jumping weekends because they don’t have the same atmosphere,” she said.
“I still love taking my good horses to the show because the environment is so good for training them.
“So when they do get to the Olympic Games they can cope.”
The Albany-raised rider was not the only Olympian to have honed their skills at the show.
Johnson remembers competing against fellow Australian Olympian Clayton Fredericks in her younger years.
“Quite frankly, we had a strong rivalry going when we were about 10, and then from there we ended up on an Australia Olympic team competing side-by-side,” she said.
The Albany Agricultural Show has equestrian events on all days of the show, including the Great Southern Horse of the Year Awards final on Saturday at 1pm.
The show is on this Friday and Saturday.
