NWSC Newsletter- Sept 2021 – April 2022
Dear All.
Firstly apologies for not providing a “write-up “ of our Autumn events last year – life somewhat over-took me, but better late than never.
September 2021
Sue Conway, a member, kindly hosted a Harmony Horse demo with Fliss Bell, in which she demonstrated how to connect with the horse and work at liberty, initially working with Sue and Strado and then with her own horse. Must say it was a very pleasant & informative evening, even if a little damp. We do hope to have a follow-on session again this year.
Michelle Bowe – was the Le Trec trainer for the second clinic of the year, which was fully booked out, with new rider/ horse combinations enjoying their first experience.
A dramatic start to the clinic, as a riding accident occurred at Ravensbrook Farm, Kate Cullum has thankfully recovered, but we had to do an emergency re-location at very short notice, thank goodness for mobile phones and Clive for dashing about to tell those hacking to the event.
The sun shone and we all had a fabulous time, next one is scheduled for 14th May – bookings now being taken
Sept Hunter Trial, was well supported with 4 pairs and 18 individual riders tackling the course, which is always well maintained by the Hall family and invariably new fences are added every so often, and I know for certain that another new “stonking “ fence has just been made in readiness for this year.
Katie Withers again took lots of photos of the day and these can be viewed in our Gallery section of our website.
We are always looking for willing helpers on the day to fence judge etc – rest assured you are provided with food and drink, lovely baps and luscious cake.
Remember that for 2022 we are running on 14th Aug HT with a Twist ( SJ on grass arena ) and 17th Sept standard HT, delighted to say, have already taken an entry for the Aug fixture !
October 2021 – Dec 2021
Towards the end of the year, the club ran a variety of clinics; poles, XC & SJ, riding test/ flatwork at Ravensbrook Farm but also Rabson Manor, Seven Bridges Farm & Forest View Dressage with great trainers Rhian Jones, Jonty Evans , Jo Lees and Katie Withers – many thanks to them all.
In the main, clinics have again been fully booked out but from a personal perspective can be tricky to organise and of course organising anything takes time. Remember too that costings for these clinics are calculated on the basis of a full complement of riders and we always strive to keep the clinic fees as low as possible – particularly now even more important with ever rising costs.
I would therefore encourage all riders to give as much notice as they can, should they need to withdraw – because of their or their horse’s health – and note that only in exceptional circumstances will refunds be made, as both the venue and trainers still have to be paid – Rant Over! 😊
Our last dressage competition was held in October and our local RDA group joined in the fun, after an absence of 2 years due to Covid. For some of the RDA riders & ponies, it was their first time at Ravensbrook Farm and it was a delight to have them back and see their beaming faces when it came to presenting the rosettes.
They will be back again next week on 23rd April – when our non-virtual dressage competitions resume.
So far this year 2022
From Nov 2021 – March 2022 the club has put on “virtual” dressage competitions, which have once again proved to be very popular, entry numbers ranging from 12 – 19, each month and one local riding school has joined in the action thus allowing those , who haven’t their own horse or transport to partake and from the feedback received they can’t wait for the online comps to resume later in the year.
We’ve already had SJ clinics with Rhian and Jonty and plan to add more dates to our events diary shortly, so keep on the look out.
Dates for your diary; All events in blue are live on our website, so you can see full details there and make your entries. Hope to see you soon.
May
Sun 1 – Flatwork Clinic with Jo Lees (1st May 2022) 1 place left
Sat 14 – TREC Clinic (14 May 22)
Sun 22 – Dressage incl FSM class (22 May 22)
Sun 29 – Polework Clinic with Katie Withers (29 May 22)
June
Thurs 23 – Evening dressage from 5.30pm (23 Jun 22)
Sun 26 – Charlton Park Pleasure Ride (26 Jun 22)
July
Fri 22 – Evening dressage from 5.30pm (22 Jul 22)
Sun 31 – Ossie Ward Showing Horse Show (31 Jul 22)
August
Sun 14 – Hunter Trial with a twist (14 Aug 22)
September
Sat 17 – Hunter Trial
Rita ( chair)
Why did the horse miss the joust? He had the knight off!
North Wiltshire Saddle Club 