The 20-year-old has spent the past 10 days competing in the annual National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Futurity in Tamworth with a metal pole in her leg, and was still able to get three horses into the final rounds.

Miss Tonkin said it had been a painful experience but she had worked too hard throughout the year to give the prestigious event a miss.

“I broke my leg in two places a few months ago and have only been back in the saddle for a week, so I was naturally excited to get to the finals,” she said.

Using a small step ladder to get aboard her mounts, Miss Tonkin rode against some of the country’s top riders to places in the top 15.

Meanwhile, Glen Innes competitor, Rob Hodgman, couldn’t grab the whopping $75,000 winning cheque quick enough after he rode Ebs Mia Cdee to victory in the open futurity.

The 20-year cutting veteran had been placed runner-up three times in the national event.

NCHA events manager, Glenn Morgan, Tamworth, said the Hodgman team shouted rounds at the nearby Longyard Hotel to celebrate the triumph.

“He was obviously overwhelmed, as were the record number of competitors riding at the new Australian Equine Livestock Events Centre here in Tamworth,” Mr Morgan said.

More than $560,000 in prizemoney was shared across the 10 days and crowd numbers were three times the size of showground turnouts during the previous five years.