Albany star show jumper Amy Kennedy to test skills against world’s best at Global Amateur Tour in Argentina

Albany’s star equestrian show jumper Amy Kennedy is set to test her skills against some of the best amateur riders from across the globe when she departs for Argentina next week. The 30-year-old will compete at the Global Amateur Tour in Buenos Aires pitted against a host of international talent in the second leg of the worldwide circuit. Originally aiming to travel to France for a show jumping training camp, the 2023 Albany senior sportsperson of the year finalist was instead hand-picked to showcase her talents through competition in Argentina. After declaring her tournament days over having lost her “competitive spark”, Kennedy hopes the experience in South America will be the perfect salute to her show jumping career. “I have lost the spark a little bit with competitions and so I wanted to just dip my toes into the training in France,” Kennedy said. “I didn’t really want the pressure of competition . . . but I’ll see how I go against them and I’d ultimately love to go out on a high and hang my competition boots up. “It’s so mentally and physically exhausting to have your own horse, compete and work . . . but I think it’s really exciting and a dream come true.” Kennedy believes she will be out of her depth when she mounts a purpose-bred horse for the first time, having ridden her standardbred horse Ajay in previous competitions. “It’s going to be a little bit out of my comfort zone, going from a standardbred to a purpose-bred jumping horse is going to be an awesome experience. “Ajay is bred to pace whereas the real jumping horses are bred for power and to jump over massive fences. They do not move like a normal horse moves.” Kennedy is one of the West Australians flying to Argentina on Tuesday and will take part in a four-day training program before the four-day competition kicks off. The competition circuits the globe with stops in Mexico and Germany hosting top-tier amateur show jumpers before the final in Brazil at the biggest international indoor show jumping event in South America.