BY PHOEBE SCOTT Local equestrian Sophia Hill has been spending time at home after her long campaign overseas, making the country proud with her performance at the 2026 FEI World Championships in Aachen, Germany, in August. At the world championship, the highest level of competition she has ridden, Sophia ranked an incredible 14th against the world’s best riders. Sophia reflected on her experience representing Australia at one of the most prestigious equestrian events outside the Olympic Games, saying it was an incredible opportunity to ride on such a grand stage, alongside other incredible riders and in front of such an enthusiastic crowd for equestrian sport. “It was amazing being part of the Australian team,” Sophia said. “It was great to be part of the team and to be riding alongside other Australian riders who I really look up to, like Andrew Hoy, who has been a medal-winning rider for many years for Australia. “The venue itself was also incredible at Aachen, it was really a stadium and definitely the biggest stadium that I’ve ever ridden in, and the crowds were huge and very vocal.” The equestrian said that being a part of the Australian team for the first time, and the added aspect of teamwork and pressure of such a world stage, was unlike anything she had experienced at previous events. “The pressure of representing your country, how you know everyone at home is watching you and behind you, is an amazing feeling but there’s a lot of extra pressure with that,” Sophia said. “Team things are a new experience at a championship for me as well. “I had an amazing run across country, and after that, I can normally relax for the day, but instead it felt like I was going through the whole experience watching each of my teammates. “It was disappointing when I individually went well and two of them fell off. “As an equestrian we usually are competing as an individual, so to be in that team environment was different.” Sophia’s performance during her individual event was everything she could have hoped for, putting out a solid dressage routine followed by clear cross-country and showjumping performances to place an incredible 14th in the eventing. Her performance showed the strength of Sophia as an equestrian and her relationship with her horse Humble Glory, better known by his nickname Hughie. Sophia said she was satisfied with her and Hughie’s performance under pressure. “It was just rewarding and exciting to be able to put our best performance together when it mattered and under pressure, because it’s one thing to just do it at any old event, but it’s another thing to do it when it mattered,” Sophia said. While Australia finished 12th in the team event, Sophia said she continued to focus on her own individual performance, taking the opportunity to experience riding on a world stage. “I was just focusing on what needs to be done to make your horse perform the best in each individual phase,” she said. “By showjumping day I was really just competing as an individual and I was just soaking up the atmosphere and getting to ride and enjoy riding on one of the biggest stages in the world.” Hughie, the little brown thoroughbred, made his way to Sophia in 2017 from the racetrack for a career change that has reached new heights with the world championship. Originally trained by Gai Waterhouse under the racing name ‘Camon Houdini’, Sophia said she never expected Hughie would take her as far as a world championship. “I didn’t expect I’d be attending a world championship with him when I first got him, that’s for sure,” Sophia said. “He’s been an incredible horse for me; he’s taken me places and to events I never dreamed of attending.” Sophia and Hughie spent a few months before the world championship preparing in America, with Sophia saying it was necessary to prepare for the higher level of competition. “It was just something we had to do to get the best possible preparation,” Sophia said. “We’d flown Hughie over to America as there’s not many opportunities for five-stars in Australia, and so we could target both Maryland and Kentucky five-star as we needed to go well at Kentucky to get our qualifier for the world championships.” Sophia’s performances at the American five-star events qualified her for the world competition and selection for the Australian team, and she said it was an intense period in America while working towards the world championships. “It’s quite an intense time because you’re really hyper-focused on that one thing, that one event, and preparing that horse for that event, and it was a lot of travel,” Sophia said. After her many months abroad and her major milestone competing at the world championship, Sophia said she is now happy to be home and looking after her horses. Hughie and her reserve horse Tango are still waiting to be transported home after their journey back. “It’s also quite nice, now that it’s over, to be back home and just taking a breath and enjoying horses too,” Sophia said. “I love just producing horses and it’s nice being home and in a lower-pressure environment.” Though Sophia is enjoying her break after her success at the championships, she said she is still looking to the future and has her focus on one day competing at the Olympics. “I’ve definitely got my eye on the LA Olympics, it’s a major goal of mine to represent Australia at the Olympics and I think Hughie could put in a really good performance there like he did at the world championship,” she said. “I’ll be looking after him and picking events that would help me best prepare for LA, as well as preparing some of my younger horses as back-up options.”
