Growing up in Strathfieldsaye, Hughes and her sister were involved with horses, yet it was later in life when her love turned into something more.

She has put in a countless amount of hours on the saddle, but never envisaged a career in competition riding.

However, over the past few years she has become a competitor, trying her luck in a range of Horse Riding Association Clubs Victoria events.

She has two horses, Angus a 29-year-old thoroughbred, and Seph, a 16-year-old Arabian mare.

Seph was intended to just be a friend, a companion for Angus.

However, with a little persuasion from her neighbours, Hughes decided to jump into something she had never done before and have a go at show jumping.

“I used to ride around the bush together with my neighbours and they told me to give it a go,” she said.  

“I thought it looked a little scary, but I tried it and I loved it.

“I had never done anything like this before and Seph had never done anything like this, but we just went straight into it.

“My neighbours were there telling me the rules and encouraging me.

“But once we did it a couple of times it was the best fun, we actually got reserve champion in our first show jumping day.”

Hughes, a member of the Castlemaine and District Adult riders club, said because she and her trusty steed hadn’t had any previous show jumping experience, they decided to do things at their own pace.

“We have started our jumps quite low and worked our way up the levels and we have done that in about a year and a half, which is pretty full on,” she said.

“The training is a lot slower usually.

“It has also been hard with taking time off work.”

The 34-year-old also runs her own business, Café El Beso, on View Street five days a week.

She said the best part of her day was seeing her two much loved horses and going for a ride each night.

“Every night after work I drive out to Sedgwick where my horses are kept,” Hughes said.

“I usually have to wash them because they are filthy and then put all the gear on them.  

“It then takes about 15 minutes to warm them up and then I might take them out on the trails and do a 10km ride, to keep their cardio up.

“We do have some jumps in the paddock but I don’t do too much jumping at home because they can get a bit sour doing it in their own paddock, so instead I do a little bit of dressage with them.

“I am out with the horses til dark and then I drive back home.”

Hughes said despite the long hours she wouldn’t change a thing.

“It is all worth it,” she said.  

“I could leave the horses earlier, but I wouldn’t want to.  

“I look forward to coming out to see them and riding every day, they are like my family.”

Hughes said her passion for horse riding continued to grow and that her connection with Angus and Seph was as strong as ever.

“You are trying to work with an animal that could kill you,” she said.  

“They have a mind of their own and sometimes you ask it to do something and it just doesn’t work.

“You want to go left and it goes the other way.

“So you have to take a step back and not think about it what just happened and keep trying and then when it does work it is a great feeling.

“You ask the horse to do something and when they do it, it is like they have read my mind.

“I love what I do.”

Hughes said it was a massive challenge to continue to find the time to balance work and her passion, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I just want to keep going,” she said.

“I am really proud of what we have been able to achieve, especially this year.”

The constant travelling and caring of her two horses has paid off for Hughes. 

She was announced the HRCAV seventh-ranked show jumper of the year.

Hughes said she was shocked to find out she was in fact ranked in the top 10 in Victoria.

“There was a leaderboard every month and I knew I was on it, but I didn’t know where exactly I was because they wouldn’t reveal that information,” she said.

“She (Seph) had an injury in her muscles in the last month so I didn’t ride her, I didn’t want to risk her safety for a ribbon, so I thought we would drop off.

“I had no idea and then I got sent a letter saying I was seventh, I was stoked.”

One of her best results was in a team challenge with three other members from her Castlemaine riding club.

“The biggest event we did was the Top Team Trophy with the HRCAV for show jumping,” Hughes said.  

“There was four of us in a team, we all did our three show jumping rounds each and the top three scores went to our end score.

“Our team, the Bucking Legends, finished eighth out of 102 teams.

“We did really well there.”

Hughes said she will continue to ride Angus and Seph to keep their fitness up over the month of December before getting back into action next year.

“Angus is 29-years-old and on the vets advice, it is important to keep him moving because he is so old,” she said.  

“Sometimes when you retire horses they go downhill, so I will continue to ride him.”

Hughes said her first competitive event will be at Glenlyon on January 1.

“We will be jumping a bit higher than we normally would, we are doing 90 centimetres,” she said.

“We have been jumping at 75 centimetres, but I am confident we can do it.

“If at any stage I can feel her easing off the jumps I won’t let her do it, I won’t risk it.

“Next year I am hoping we will pull out of level three which is 75 centimetres and then going into level two which is 90 centimetres.   

“If it is too high and it is not working we will then start competing in dressage.”