One of only four four-star events contested in the world each year, the Adelaide event attracts some of the premier riders and horses from Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and America.

Competing at such a high level is difficult at the best of times but trouble with her truck meant Frew arrived in Adelaide at the last minute and she also had a stressful night upon her return.

"We got back at about midnight on Monday and my husband Peter and I were lying in bed and I just said to him that I had to check the horse," Frew said.

"So I went out and checked on him and he had a bout of colic so we called the vet and he was treating him until 3am.

"Colic's something that could kill him but the vet dosed him up with five litres of oil and he seems to be all right now.

"It was funny because when we went out to do the showjumping on Sunday he just didn't want to be there, which is very unlike him.

"He tried his hardest but I just knew something wasn't right and I guess I was a bit nervous about the course because I knew there was something wrong."

The gruelling three-day event that included dressage, cross country and showjumping took its toll on both rider and horse but Frew returned to Dubbo with her reputation further enhanced.

Frew finished the competition in eighth place just behind internationally-renowned New Zealand rider Megan Finlayson but said after being ranked as high as second by one judge in the dressage she had visions of an even better result.

"When I went down I definitely thought top 10 was attainable but after the dressage I upped the ante and thought I could finish top five," she said.

"It was most definitely the best dressage result I've had and the German judge even had me ranked second which does make you think I suppose.

"We had to go before the ground jury on Wednesday and Mark Todd, who is the New Zealand coach and one of my heroes, was there and said he was going well so I had plenty of inspiration to do well.

"We had a couple of problems in the showjumping but that is understandable after what has happened."

As there is only one four-star event contested in Australia each year Frew said it was hard to prepare a horse for the step up and making sure he was fully fit for the start of the competition.

"We definitely upped the ante as far as his training was concerned, we did a lot more dressage and Olympic showjump coach George Sanna came to Dubbo and spent some time with me," Frew said.

"It's hard training out here on your own to know exactly how you are going but I've got a heart-rate monitor that I use on him for gallops.

"Leading up to Adelaide I was galloping him over three lots of eight minutes with a three minute rest in between.

"You basically have to work out how fast and how long he can go without burning him out and having him peaking at the right time."