The seasons are a changing – personally, I love Autumn, all those wonderful colours to enjoy whilst out hacking, and none of those awful flies, but sadly “horsey” events are beginning to shut down, the same is true for our club.

Hunter Trials
The second hunter trial was held on 7th October, and we were very pleasantly surprised by an increase in the level of entries, some riders returning for a second bite of the cherry, after the September event, and more new happy faces. The refreshments, for all helpers, were provided by Katie and her family and were yummy, as always, can’t get enough of those flapjacks!
Some super riding was seen on the day, especially by the younger riders, which you can see by looking at the gallery of photos on our website – note shots sub-divided into cameras 1 & 2, thank you Simon.
If you would like to experience riding over the course, then please contact Katie Withers direct, ground conditions permitting, her contact details are under Ravensbrook Farm.

Riding Test Clinic
Another first for the club this year, was running a Riding Test Clinic on 13th Oct, held at Ravensbrook, where riders warmed up, rode their chosen test, which was judged ( by Jo Lees ) and marked in the usual way, then had a 15/20 min training session with the judge, and an opportunity to ride the test and be judged once more. It was an eye-opener, interesting to see how the body language of each rider changed from the initial test, when the nerves were apparent, to a more relaxed riding position and how this transmitted itself to the horse and with expert tips, how the horses’ way of going improved.
This clinic was only able to accommodate six riders and was booked out very quickly, but sadly on the day some riders dropped out, either because naughty ponies wouldn’t be caught, having had one the same, I know the feeling, and others thought the weather wasn’t on side.
Nonetheless, we have decided that this is most certainly worth doing again, and so we shall hold another two such clinics, during the course of 2019. We have already booked Charlotte Christopher for Sat 23rd Feb.

Events for 2019
Yes, we have already planned our fixtures list for 2019. See the website for details, once the events become “live” then they will also feature on our FB page.

Dressage Event
Our last competition of the season was on 3rd Nov – dressage, incl FSM, I can safely say that hearing the music wasn’t an issue, as the speakers built into the arena roof, are now in perfect working order, and what choices we enjoyed, ranging from a “Strictly” dance music theme, so foxtrot & quickstep music, to Culture Club / Cricket test match music, to Mary Poppins ( my choice ), Superman/ Hawaii Five O, to Thriller – because these have proved very popular, we shall continue with the FSM tests and in 2019, shall give the option to ride intro – novice.

Alyce King was our judge, always very positive and encouraging and Kim Lewis was writing for her, thanks to both, especially as it got quite breezy and cold, towards the end.
Some fabulous tests were ridden, well done Heidi Ford, a junior member, with a massive 78% on her gorgeous pony and also some personal goals achieved, notably Kate Cullum on her new youngster. Well done all – full results will be published on our website / fb page shortly, along with some photos in the gallery, thanks Simon 😊.

Poles and Gridwork Clinic
Our final clinic of 2019 is just around the corner, 17th November, poles for flatwork plus SJ grid. This has proved so popular that two of the sessions are already fully booked, but Katie Withers has agreed to run an extra, third session, poles for flatwork, at 10.45am, which already has 3 riders booked on, so as the maximum number is 5, if you are interested, don’t delay in submitting your entry to take part, via the website.

Social
The committee has organised a final social for the year, Friday 23rd November, Skittles evening at the Woodshaw Inn, Royal Wootton Bassett, at 7pm.
Sandwiches and chips will be provided, and this evening is open to Club members only, plus one guest each, free of charge, although you will have to pay for your own drinks. As we need to know numbers for catering purposes, please enter this via the website.

On a final personal note, I would like to thank my fellow club members and those non-members, who have given up their valuable time this year, to help at events, or have been part of the committee, which has enabled such a small club to put on a variety of events / clinics for you to enjoy and our hard work has been rewarded by seeing many of our events, being fully booked – thank you.

As mentioned earlier, our provisional fixtures list for 2019 can be viewed on our website and this includes the Club’s AGM on 24th January, starting at 8pm, with social from 8.30pm with nuggets / chips to nibble. If any club member is interested in coming onto the committee to help plan / run events, then please don’t be shy in coming forward.
See website for full details and the fixtures calendar for 2019.

Rita – Chair

Did you hear about the man who was hospitalized with six plastic horses inside him?
The doctor described his condition as stable.