Members would be forgiven if they walked away from Manning Valley Dressage and Hacking Club in the wake of the global pandemic and floods.
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The club was starting to get back to normal after an interrupted 2020 when the flood hit and caused damage to Taree Showground.
But through their dedication to the sport and a NSW government grant, they say nay (or perhaps neigh) to giving up.
It's been a rough period for the horse riding community, according to club spokesperson Janett Watts.
"COVID was really hard for horse people because there wasn't any events on," she said.
"We were starting to get back out there and doing things when the flood happened."
Fridges, filing cabinets and first aid kits were among the main items destroyed in the club's office in last month's floods.
Flood water was at least one metre high at the showground, which gave the items little hope of survival. The club plans to hold a fund raiser to restore the office.
A dressage competition, planned for this month, was also cancelled due to the state of the grounds.
The club recently received $15,000 to replace three logs for dressage arenas at the showground.
"Thank goodness for the grant because the arena isn't at a stage that it can be used right now," Janett said.
Member for Myall Lakes Stephen Bromhead recently visited members at the showground and presented the grant.
He said funding, derived from the government's local sport fund, was being processed before the floods.
It's delivery certainly came at the perfect time.
"The floods caused a lot of damage and now they're getting $15,000 to fix that up," he said.
"You think about the number of kids and people who are involved with horses... it's a big fraternity."
Rider Maria Schwensen said the club was grateful for the funding.
"It means a lot to us, when we applied for the grant in October we could never have realised then how important it was going to be," Maria said.
