Not Cambewarra's Jamie Priestley, with the 23-year-old firmly focused on one day achieving her lifelong goal.

"Watching the Olympics kept me positive and encouraged me to continue to train hard," Priestley said.

"People have asked I want to go to the Games in Brisbane 2032 and the answer is yes.

"But I'd also like to qualify before that and compete in either Paris or Los Angeles."

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That dream is definitely in each for the Nowra Anglican College alumna, if her recent performances at June's 2021 Festival of Showjumping and Caboolture FEI World Cup.

"To say heading to Queensland wasn't daunting is an understatement," she said.

"I took five horses and we took two pupils and their horses with us as well - so seven horses, three dogs and five people.

"It just felt amazing to be on the road again."

To prepare for the world cup qualifier, Priestley and her horses competed at a warm-up event at Gatton, to work off some "rust".

"I had a third placing on Courage in one of the mini-prix qualifiers and I had Optimus in a very tough mini-prix final, who jumped amazing in the biggest course he had jumped in a long time after his injury," Priestley said.

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The 2021 event marked the third Caboolture world cup qualifier Priestley had competed in, after previously attending Melbourne Royal in September 2019 and Sale in November 2019 - in which she placed seventh at.

"My dad wasn't sure I would start, as it was such a big event for limited starts in over a year, due to COVID-19," she said.

"Mum was all for it, even though she is a nervous nelly and can't watch me compete once it goes over 1.45m.

"But I went ahead with it and the warm-up day at Caboolture was fantastic and settled the nerves.

"We had not competed there before, with all five horses loving the big indoor arena and clearing their jumping rounds."

The next day saw the competition transition into the Australian Jumping Teams League.

"It was extremely difficult to choose the right horse to give our team the best possible score," the 2019 NSW senior showjumping champion said.

"With the world cup on the following night, my heart decided to choose Optimus to let Courage freshen up for the world cup.

"It proved to be the right call as we finished equal second in the teams' event on zero penalties but dropped down to fourth place on time.

"Finishing just off the podium was disappointing but when there was less than a second between second and fourth place, you can't get too down with that."

These events perfectly set up Priestley to end her Queensland expedition on a high with the actual world cup.

"Being held at 7pm at night, it's a long day to keep nerves at bay and focused," she said.

"Courage jumped amazingly to have one rail down in the first round, before making it back for the jump-off as they take the top 12 back for the second round.

"The jump-off felt incredible, he really gave me everything and we finished in ninth place.

"The whole team were jumping up and down, it was definitely an exciting event."

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This caps off what has been a successful period for Priestley in the competitive arena, despite a disrupted schedule due to COVID-19

"Although there weren't many shows, the ones for me held at SIEC [Sydney International Equestrian Centre] were extremely successful," she said.

"I had numerous wins and placings on my young horses in the six and seven-year-old classes, a special win in the 1.45m on Courage and a third on Diamantina among the state's best.

"This season has been even slower than 2020 though.

"We had a warm-up at the Nowra Show but the grounds were wet which made limited starts for a warm-up show.

"After one more training day in Sydney with a win in the main class and a first and second place in another, we were off to Sydney Royal.

"I did feel very underprepared for Sydney Royal but everyone was in exactly the same boat as me.

"I took two horses, Courage and Diamantina - they performed and jumped amazingly all show with a second placing and mostly top 10 placings in all classes.

"Again, with lots of the agricultural shows cancelled, we had to prepare for the Queensland trip with a couple of days with the Shoalhaven Showjumping Club at Worrigee and the Jumping NSW show at SIEC, where Optimus and I won the mini-prix at our first show back together in two years, which felt amazing as he was out of action due to injury."

While it may seem like deja vu for Priestley and her team, who are currently stuck on the competitive sidelines - much like 2020 where all events were cancelled from March to September - she is using this extra time to train with her horses ahead of a big 2022 campaign.

"Right now all events have been cancelled through to October, so we are just taking things one day at a time," the 2017 Bega Showjumping Cup winner said.

"The training doesn't stop but we don't know what is next for us due to COVID.

"The horses and I will be sticking to our routines to stay in the best shape possible.

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"We hope and pray for an Australian titles in November but it's extremely unlikely.

"I have been looking to start in the senior title there for the past two years now, but COVID is making it rather difficult when the show hasn't been able to go ahead.

"The horses have had a break since the Queensland trip at the start of July.

"I've just begun to bring them into light work now in hope things will return to some sort of normal soon, because I want to continue to press my claims for a spot on the upcoming Olympic Games teams."

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