The CBEC Young Guns from Finley - Holly Arthur, Juliette Steel, Sam Arthur and Charlotte Ware Dickens - were winners of the 2025 TTT.
Cobram Barooga Equestrian Club (CBEC) may be one of the smaller clubs among the 244 that make up Horse Riding Clubs of Victoria, but size won’t stop them.
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CBEC’s dressage team claimed the Top Teams Trophy (TTT) at the National Equestrian Centre at Werribee on the weekend.
They were competing against others from across Victoria, southern NSW and eastern South Australia, with a good portion of the club’s 6000 active riders participating.
It’s the second time the local club has won the title, having last brought it home in 2019.
The TTT is the annual state team dressage championship, contested this year by more than 130 teams of four riders.
CBEC was represented by Charlotte Ware Dickins on Dun Manus Macalla, Holly Arthur on Jellycat, Juliette Steel on Nilton Spielberg and Sam Arthur on Adelie Park Cheval Delight.
Equestrian sport is unique in that riders of all ages and genders compete on equal terms.
They are not judged by age or gender, but by skill and the partnership they show with their horse.
That spirit was on full display in the CBEC team, fittingly named the CB Young Guns because three of its members are under the age of 17.
While they rode under the Cobram Barooga banner, all four riders actually live in Finley - and even on the same road.
The winning CBEC team including Juliette Steel, Sam Arthur, Holly Arthur and Charlotte Ware Dickins.
The team’s campaign started strongly, with Holly winning both her tests and taking out the overall jackpot.
Sam followed on Friday afternoon with a reserve champion placing in her division, putting CBEC at the top of the leader board after day one.
Saturday saw Rich River edge ahead, leaving a nervous wait until Juliette and Charlotte competed on Sunday.
Juliette’s third place in her division jackpot pushed CBEC back into contention, and Charlotte sealed the victory with an eighth place finish in hers.
Dressage is often described as the “ballet of horse riding”.
It’s a discipline where horse and rider perform a series of precise, choreographed movements to demonstrate training, athletic ability and harmony.
Judges score each movement on accuracy, smoothness and the connection between horse and rider.
Behind the elegance is countless hours of training in all conditions, often balanced around school or full‑time work.
CBEC is immensely proud of the team’s achievement, which has once again earned the club the right to host the TTT in 2026 - a decision they’ll consider once the dust has settled on this year’s success.
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