Wall and her horse Phoenix will travel north to Toowoomba for the competition held between September 25-29.

“Phoenix will go on a three-day trip up there, whereas I just have to fly,” Wall said.

“It’s his first time traveling without me, so I’m having a bit of an anxious mum moment.

“Normally we’re inseparable and go everywhere together.”

The honour of being named captain is the result of a consistent year for Isabella and Phoenix.

“I did a lot of lead up competitions, getting qualifying scores at smaller dressage events,” Wall said.

“We ended up doing really well at the NSW State Interschool Championships; we came third overall for our elementary and fourth overall in our novice.

“Something that works in my favour at a lot of these competition is his (Phoenix’s) consistency. He always stays at pretty much the same level.”

Wall will compete in both the Novice and Elementary competitions in Toowoomba, and has a fairly simple goal for the event.

“I want to go out with a bang,” she said. “This is my last year being able to compete in interschool competitions.”

“If I’m happy with the test that he produces on the day, regardless of the final result, I’ll be happy with that.”

Isabella’s mother Emma Lipscombe said Isabella has always had a fascination with horses.

“From a very young age she’s always loved horses,” she said.

“She was convinced that the neighbours would let her keep a horse in their big backyard.

“She saved up all her money thinking that one day she would buy her own horse.”

Isabella did eventually purchase a horse, but not until she was a teenager.

“She was a very late starter. A lot of kids have been riding since they were two or three. Isabella only started learning to ride when she was 13,” Ms Lipscombe said.

Isabella purchased Phoenix un-sighted and without a vet check, but it didn’t take her mother long to realise the two would make a great team.

“When he first came off the truck, he was in the holding yard lying down, and Isabella went and sat with him, and he was so gentle with her,” she said.

“They stayed like that for half an hour, and that made me realise they’d be OK.”

Phoenix has since become a big part of Isabella’s life.

“Horses are part of my lifestyle now, it’s something I’m always going to do,” Wall said.

“Even now when I’m looking at University selections I’m thinking: ‘How am I going to get my horse there’?”

Isabella has worked extremely hard to get to representative level, and a lot of the work has been under the watchful eye of Hetty Munda.

Ms Munda said she could see something special about Isabella the first time she saw her ride.

“I first saw her at pony club, and all I could think was ‘this girl can’t ride, and she’s on a very green horse’,” Ms Munda said.

“There was something there that I could really work with though. Even though I wasn’t a qualified instructor at the time, Emma approached me and asked me to work with her.”

And Ms Munda can pin-point the reason for Isabella’s success.

“She works very hard, and trains very hard,” Ms Munda said. “She’s very focused; she listens and applies.”

Now that Isabella is graduating, she is thinking about what the future holds for her and Phoenix.

“My goals are to train him up to a standard where he can still hold his own,” Wall said.

“He’ll get to a level where he won’t be able to compete to the same standard as other horses, but I want to keep training him so I’ve got the experience of competing at those levels even if I’m not doing well.

“Hopefully I’ll get a younger horse down the track who’ll be able to take me to the top again, because this guy has taught me everything I know.”

Ms Munda echoed these sentiments, and can also see big things in Isabella’s future.

"She’ll eventually need a purpose-bred horse, but she has the potential to go to the Olympics” she said.

"She has the focus and dedication required.”