August was filled with special activities and it was lovely to see children and horses/ponies having fun together. The 2 and 3 day camps proved popular and were much enjoyed, We will be running them again!
We held our second Unaffiliated dressage show of the Autumn Championship Series qualifiers and it’s good to see our competitors getting points towards the Championship which ends in December with the final Championship show.
British Dressage - Verity and Gaya finished in second place in the Advanced Medium Dressage To Music Area Festival class at Onley Grounds Equestrian and have qualified through to the Championship to be held in October.
We are delighted to announce that India has been accepted onto the Podium Potential Pathway -
Podium Potential Pathway
Podium Potential Pathway identifies, supports and develops younger athletes who demonstrate the potential to progress to compete for Great Britain on senior championship teams in the future. The focus is on education and development of the foundation skills required for future performance. This level of the World Class Programme aims to help athletes from national youth programmes, and those who have already progressed to senior level, make the transition into higher levels of the performance pathway.
Selected athletes access top equestrian specialists whilst on the programme, including international coaches with human and equine sport science support from physiotherapists, sport psychologists, nutritionists, vets, farriers and saddlers.
Podium Potential Pathway is funded by The National Lottery, via UK Sport and Sport England.
Dressage Clinics - we have clinics running as follows, which are bookable via My Riding Life:-
Kate Cowell - Monday 22nd September, 13th October, 3rd November, 15th December
India Durman-Mills - Monday 27th October
Dressage Demo we are pleased to announce that Verity and India will be holding another evening Dressage demo - through the levels from prelim to Grand Prix on Saturday 4th October. Tickets are now on sale via My Riding Life.
Horses
Billy - we are pleased to welcome Billy to the Witham Villa horse team. He has come from a private home where he has jumped, done flatwork and hacked. After a period of assessment by the staff he has now become available for some lessons.
Victor - we sadly had to have Victor put to sleep in August. He had been the most wonderful horse for us in the riding school for the past 10 years and we are pleased that he got to enjoy a retirement here over the summer. He fulfilled so many people’s dreams - he competed in affiliated dressage with our own Alison West up to medium level. He was a winner at the BHS Riding Schools Championships on several occasions with different riders. He took part in the University BUCS competitions. He will be forever in our hearts.
Loan/working livery - We are currently looking for some bigger horses to join us on loan or working livery.
Break in - unfortunately our equestrian centre was broken into on the night of Saturday 30th August. Thankfully all of the horses remained safe and well and we were able to continue to run as normal on the Sunday.
It was a great relief that all of the security measures we have in place resulted in the thieves taking nothing of any value. We are just left with some repairs to make,
The police attended, with follow up from forensics and a visit from the rural police officer. There were a number of local break-ins that night and we can only hope that the police are able to gather enough evidence to catch and prosecute the perpetrators.
September - we look forward to welcoming everyone back after the summer break and will continue with all of our normal lessons , unaffiliated dressage, pole clinics, dressage clinics. If there is ever anything you would like to see us hold here then do please let us know.