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Centre News

May 2008

Wickstead Farm Equestrian Centre

Here are some photos from the Wickstead farm pony club centre. They have been doing their Poisonous Plant badge and were sucessfull in finding some Ragwort! The children found it great fun putting on the protective gloves and digging the plants up from the roots!

Members also dressed up in wet weather gear for a dressage to music display to the song umbrella! This was followed by a fun afternoon of games including chase me charlie on foot!

May 2008

Hill Farm Riding School

Isle of Wight

For the first time we organised in April a centre beach ride to Colwell Bay, a very small beach with a couple of breakwaters, perfect sand and very shallow waters, we could not have known that it would be the best weather day of the year with blue sky and fllat calm waters.  Not only was this a really fun ride but it showed the children that the quietest of ponies can liven up on the beach and turn into splashing hooligans, we cannot wait for the next beach ride which will not be until October when we are allowed back on the bay.

To raise some money for gymkhana equipment we held in April a sponsored ride to Brighstone Forestry across Afton downs and heading back towards the Needles, a round trip of approx 10 miles for which a total of £55.00 was collected by Alicia Scullion, Thea Pitman and Lynette Cox who all described the day as the best ride they have ever been on, once again the most perfect weather made it all the more special.

In May the children who were unable to make the April test date took their mucking out badge and the flags of the equestrian nations badge and I am pleased to say they all passed with flying colours.  We also held mini badge test day where the points of a pony and points of tack badges were also taken by the brilliant little under 8's, some of whom also trained for and passed their flags of the eq. nations badge, and mucking out badge.

The weather was not kind to the members who took part in the Spring Gymkhana but it did not seem to matter as they all soldiered on with great smiles, sportsmanship and competitiveness.
The classes were divided by ages into two groups and points gained from each event were added up at the end to give an overall score, with trophies going to the winners of each age group, and rosettes to all individual winners to fourth place, and to all clear rounds in the jumping.


We would like to thank all judges and examiners for giving up their time to all above events.

By Jane Brown, Centre Proprietor

November 2007

Mill House Pony Club Centre

"Coming to an end is another fantastic year with the Pony Club at Mill House. We have done a huge range of activities such as Pony Club camp, cross-country schooling at Eland Lodge, competing in the centre equitation competition at the championships, taking part in the national quiz (in which we came 6th), competing in dressage to music at Moreton Morrell as well as taking part in league competition, Easter and Christmas fun days and many rallies. Then there is fortnightly stable management sessions and doing loads of achievement badges as we are nearing 21 badges rather swiftly and opportunities to take efficiency tests and the riding and rad safety badge.We also went as a group to the British Open Show Jumping Championships to watch the professionals which was absolutley fantastic!

At Mill House we often interact with other Pony Clubs such as the South Trent who we train with and often accompany at competitions. We also meet up with a variety of different centres. It is great to have so many friends which share the same interests and we see each other both in and out of the horsey world which is awesome!

As a centre we have als had great coverage this year as a team from Horse and Pony Magazine paid us a visit which was another fantastic day with a great chance to show off in front of the camera. The ponies also enjoyed themselves asn they all behaved excellently and looked stunning!

For me personally the greatest opportunity of the year was the chance to ride at the Pony Club Championships. I felt very privileged  to represent the centre in the first year of the Centre Equitation competiton. The team was made up of myself and Charlotte Harcourt representing the 13 years and over category, and Daniel Taylor and Zoe Newton representing the under 13. The ponies Betty and Mo were fabulousand enjoyed their day out and the carrots for being stars! Overall as a team we did very well and came 5th. Daniel came 2nd in the junior individual which we were thrilled about! It was a great day with added pressure as Charlotte and I also recieved our GCSE results that day!  Thankfully we both did very well. 

Mill House is a great centre and we work very hard and always have fun. We are always striving to do our best. We also have a fantastc instructor who without nne of this would be possible. She dedicates a great amount of time and dedication and works hard helping us achieve our dreams. She is always pushing us to do our best which we are incredibly grateful for."

Kate Johnston

October 2007

Talygarn Equestrian Centre

On the 27th of October Talygarn held a Halloween party in the indoor school The event was organised and run by a committee of pony club centre members and two branch members from Langeinor .They raised funds to afford a bouncy castle slide, a rodeo bull, Sumo wrestling and a DJ by organising a small show, taking out hacks and having a sponsored walk. They needed to raise £650 to pay for the hire of the equipment and they have managed a further £100 to give to charity. The evening was very successful with about 200 people attending.

On Wednesday 31st October Talygarn Equestrian Centre held a team jumping competition. Eight Teams from Pentyrch Pony Club, Talygarn Centre, Llangeinor Pony Club and Millbrook riding club entered.


Talygarn Pony Club Centre members Carys Morgan riding Hannah, Emily Groves riding Heather, Hannah Cogbill riding Sid, and Sarah Blake riding Eric won the 2 ft team class. Talygarn Members Jessica Rowe riding Buffy, Chloe Reakes riding Blue, Nancie Edwards riding Candy, and Carys Morgan riding Jazz came 5th.

October 2007

Meadow School of Riding @ Beacon Hill Country Park

The Meadow School of Riding Pony Club meets on a Friday evening at the riding school and they visited a nearby country park to carry out some work towards their Tree Achievement Badge followed by a BBQ. The following short article was written by Zoë Johnson, one of their Pony Club members:

“At The Meadow School of Riding Pony Club we are working towards our tree achievement badge. We visited the Native Tree Collection at Beacon Hill Country Park, where we collected leaves and bark rubbings such as Oak Tree, Beech and Silver Birch. With these leaves and bark rubbings we will put it all into a project folder, along with the other work we have done.

Once we had walked around collecting leaves and bark rubbings, we had a BBQ in the BBQ and picnic area at Beacon Hill Lower Car Park, where we took photos of the good time that we’d had.

For the next Pony Club Meeting we will get tested by the ranger of the Country Park, where we will show him our folders of hard work.”

 

Abbotsholme Equestrian Centre

Abbotsholme Pony Club has held a few shows over the summer including dressage, gymkhana, show jumping and cross-country. A points system was used to determine the results, which were as follows:

 

=1st Charlie Whetton =1st Jade Witcomb 2nd Emily Bradley 3rd Sienna Somers =4th Lynsey Gear =4th Phoebe Ridley

 

Best Turned Out:

1st Sienna Somers 2nd Charley Whetton 3rd Emily Bradley 4th Phoebe Ridley

 

Well done to everybody!

August 2007

Pony Club Portugal

 

Quinta da Bica Riding Centre, in the Algarve, has become the first Overseas Centre in Portugal. The centre has 10 members already and held its first camp from 24th to 26th August. Camp activities included, mountain biking, climbing and a beach picnic as well as lakeside hacks, scavenger hunts, cross-country and group lessons. 21 children attended, (some resident in Portugal and some visiting from the UK,) with 4 bringing their own horses.

On the final day there were successes in E, D and D+ Tests and the "Points of the Horse" Achievement Badge. In the evening after the Gymkhana, a family BBQ with “Flip” the clown to entertain and camp prizes, ended three action packed days.

As with every Pony Club Camp there were some great memories. With 2 nights under canvas, camp organiser, Katharine Cook was not expecting anyone to get much sleep, and had already been warned that the boys would be impossible to wake up in the morning! However, as everyone settled down for the night she told the boys "I have a secret weapon! You'll be up eating breakfast by 7.30!" At 5.30am a huge thunder storm woke everyone up! (The hidden powers of a Pony Club Instructor!)

The unexpected rain was a relief for everyone, as the weather in August can be quite hot. Next summer, Quinta da Bica will be holding 3 camps during August 2008; Mini, Junior and Senior and welcome PCUK members to come and join them in the Algarve!

 

Long Lane Riding Stables Summer Camp

Day One

Sheila Matthews from Risley Saddlery gave a demo on how to correctly fit a saddle and she also covered types of tack and tested the groups’ knowledge with a quiz. Two smaller groups were busy out hacking down the lane and other groups were working towards ‘Poisonous Plants’, Working Dogs’, ‘Points of the Horse’ and ‘Handling & Grooming’ achievement badges. The afternoon brought mounted instruction for all of the groups and a craft hour. A game of rounders followed lunch and everyone was asleep by 10pm.

Day Two

All hands were on deck plaiting thirty horses and ponies ready for the one day event while madly re-revising dressage tests and trying to remember the jumping courses. Everyone gave it their best shot and the ponies looked fabulous, trying just as hard as the children. More training towards the ‘Loading’ and ‘Mini Grooming’ achievement badges and they finished the famous ‘Bridle Challenge’. A BBQ tea rounded off the evening with rounders and a disco for anyone with any energy left.

Day Three

The day of the ‘mystery demonstration’. Children excitedly jumped up and down as a big red lorry appeared…the mounted police had arrived! The demo began with a talk from Sergeant Lesley Taylor and then Lionheart the police horse stole the show with his impressive display of bravery as all the children screamed and waved flags. They were shown various methods used as part of his training such as walking over mattresses, trolley push and carrying umbrellas. All the children enjoyed meeting Lionheart, giving him a pat and asking lots of questions. The afternoon followed with mounted games resulting in the fittest team of helpers ever having to run and lead to get their team home first! Parents were invited to the final presentation so the children could show how much they had achieved over the three days. The table was laden with certificates, badges, trophies and rosettes all going to worthy homes.

June 2007

 

Centre Proprietors' Day @ Warrens Hall Farm 

On 18th June, Centre Membership ran a Proprietors Day at Warrens Hall. The P.C. Centres that attended took part in a training demonstration of D, D+ and C test standards, idea sharing and question sessions and enjoyed a delicious lunch provided by Michelle Jones, the proprietor of Warrens Hall.

Thank you to Michelle Jones for providing the venue and the lunch and for also providing the event with some fantastic pupils who were our 'guinea pigs' for the day who all recieved a mounted games book as a thank you gift.