“She was just so gutsy, even back then,” said coach Van Wieren of a then nine-year-old aspiring equestrian. “She was so small but would get on anything you asked her to.”

Jump ahead about a year and Nelson was set to begin another meaningful relationship, one she looks back on with equal clarity.

“He was wild… crazy actually,” she said.

That rather blunt characterization refers to trusty mount Razmataz, a thoroughbred appendix that the Nelson family — specifically mother Liz— rescued from an abusive situation in nearby Hamilton.

The result of an unplanned and undesired siring, with pops breaking through a fence to get to a mare, the now 12-year-old grey colt was little more than a cast-off field horse when the Nelsons took her under their wing.

Fearless young rider, meet untamed horse.

To hear those closest to them tell it, Maddie and Razmataz’s partnership could almost be considered destiny.

But for the duo to secure Grand Champion honours in just their second season on the Ontario Trillium Child/Adult Jumper circuit — well nobody would have predicted that.

At least not without having their sanity called into question.

“When we first got him he couldn’t jump a stick,” explained Liz, who appropriately named the family horse after the Tazmanian Devil due to his wild side.

Razmataz is jumping a lot bigger obstacles than that now, with he and 16-year-old Maddie having recently punctuated a stellar season with top spot at the provincial championship finals at Palgrave’s Caledon Equestrian Park.

Far from favourites to finish first, the pair delivered three clear rounds and won two out of the three classes to reign supreme — beating out 45 other entries, many with a lot more experience.

“It was awesome to win it,” said the triumphant rider, a Grade 11 student at Bishop Reding who trains and works weekends at the nearby Vanbrook Equestrian Farm. “We got a standing ovation from the crowd, which was great.”

Of course Razmataz’s transformation from run-of-the-mill field horse to equestrian champion has far too many chapters to be included outside the confines of an actual novel.

Suffice to say, his development took an awful lot of patience — not just from his soon-to-be riding partner, but from Liz and her three other daughters (Emily, Jackie and Kathleen), all of whom ride and compete as well.

Said Maddie, “Slowly but surely he progressed. He’s always had a great personality and now he loves to compete.”

The same can be said for the local teen, whose passion for the sport has never skipped a beat — even during a rather frightening incident involving another horse two years ago that may well have scared away many riders.

“Yeah it hurt, but I was only out for a couple of weeks,” she said about sustaining a broken nose and facial bruises from being kicked in the face after a spill during competition. “It really wasn’t that bad.”

That perseverance, Van Wieren stressed, is what’s put Maddie and Razmataz in the championship picture.

A complete embrace of speed — something that many riders her age haven’t quite mastered yet — doesn’t hurt either.

“One round she and Tazi won by about three seconds, mainly because they took this one risky turn hard,” said Van Wieren. “We’d discussed it before hand and decided she could do it. There’s no fear in her.”

But Maddie certainly isn’t about to claim all the credit for her recent victory.

“I’ve got a great coach and Tazi and I just came together this season,” said the lifelong horse lover, who also guided Practically Perfect to third-place honours out of 62 entries in the pony classic at Palgrave and recently rode a horse for an injured friend at the Challenge Series in north Burlington.

So what’s at the heart of the Grand Champion duo’s success?

“Maddie’s really taken the time to understand Tazi. She thinks things through more now and that’s been the difference,” said Van Wieren. “And they’ve got a great bond, which is essential in this sport.”