CURRENT NEWSLETTER & RALLY RETURN
Our latest newsletter & rally return is available here below to view & print:
Awbridge House, April 2012
Dear Members and Parents,
What a huge disappointment it was that we had to take the difficult decision to cancel our ODE today! I spent a couple of hours going around the course at Rockbourne with Rob McLeod on Friday and although the XC course looked good with only one or two big puddles, we were both very concerned about the going for the Show Jumping and indeed the Dressage arenas and with such grim weather forecast, including a Met Office gale warning, felt we had no option but to cancel. It was lucky that we did as Rockbourne is now awash apparently, and there have been many moments today when I looked out the window and breathed a big sigh of relief that we were not all there, getting soaked to the bone – a sentiment which I am sure will have been shared by all those of you who were kind enough to have offered to help! We will be looking into the possibility of re-scheduling and will keep you all informed, as the ODE is one of our biggest fund-raisers of the year and it is therefore a big blow to us to have lost the revenue it generates. Those of us most closely involved in the organisation are especially disappointed as it has still taken a huge amount of time and effort, but for no reward, and my thanks go especially to Nikki Bakewell, Debbie Harwood and poor Karen Wood who is now busy sorting out the refunds!
On a much more positive note however, what a fantastic Mini Show Jumping Show we had at Sparsholt and well done to those of you who competed there and won so many rosettes and prizes. The results of this show and a write-up can be found inside this newsletter, and special thanks go to Sonya Whittick for organising it all, the wonderful David Thomas for doing such a great job of course building and judging, and to Jo Moore as entry secretary. As usual, there were lots of kind people helping on the day, ensuring that everything ran as smoothly as possible and everyone had fun!
The rest of the Easter holidays seemed to be crammed full with rallies and competitions of all sorts – XC proved to be especially popular – and we also had our Eventing Camp at Stockland Lovell which was kindly organised by our Horse Trials co-ordinators, Nikki Damment and Bobbie Middlton – many thanks to them both. Although sadly there were a number of last minute cancellations, those that went had a great time and felt they had all learnt a good deal!
Discipline trainings continue – please contact any of the discipline co-ordinators for information and let them know if you are interested in. It may be a little late now to join in for this year’s Area teams but they are always on the look-out for interested members and you may be able to join in with some of the other team events.
Talking of Area teams, our PPC teams went down to the Wylye Valley for our Area 14 PPC competition – one junior team and one novice team. They both did extremely well (write-up inside!) coming 4th and 3rd respectively and everyone smiled all day long which was lovely to see – I was very proud of them all! I am sure that all those who have been attending the training sessions as well as those in the teams, would like to join me in thanking their wonderful trainer Jilly Bull, and their equally wonderful discipline co-ordinator Sonya Whittick, very much indeed for all their hard work and help over the past few weeks.
We have an action-packed half term planned for everyone – please could those who are hoping to come to any of our Summer camps please make sure that they have attended one or two rallies on the pony they are hoping to bring either at Easter or at half-term – this is so that we can sort out the groupings of the rides for camps. There is lots to choose from – all details inside.
Our next Hursley event is our Annual Show which is taking place this year at Broadlands once more, by kind permission of Lord and Lady Brabourne, on Saturday 23rd June, followed by a Clear round Show Jumping event to raise money for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance the following day, on Sunday 24th June. We would very much appreciate your support at both of these, and once again can I please ask you to ‘tick-the-box’ if you are able to help. Although we did in the end manage to get enough help to cover our ODE at Rockbourne, it was quite a struggle, and the Committee have now decided to ask ALL HURSLEY COMPETITIORS who wish to enter the Annual Show to nominate a helper on the day to help for an hour or two, or to come and help with all the setting up the day before. This will be a condition of entry for all Hursley members. I know this is not how we have done things within our branch in the past, but there are many of you who enjoy our competitions but who disappointingly do not offer to help, and the strain on those who always do help is beginning to tell!
It was interesting to see that for the Mini Show Jumping show at Sparsholt, many of the older members and their families came to help although they were obviously not competing, and I was pleased to see some of our younger members and their families reciprocate at the ODE, where the older members tend to compete. Please remember that it is always easier to help at something your child is not actually competing in, and as all our shows contribute to the fundraising for this branch, which in turn helps to keep down the cost each year of rallies and camps, you should all have a valid interest in how well each show or competition does, whether you are competing in it or not. As a matter of fact, out of all the main organisers of the ODE, I was the only one with a child competing, so all the others were giving up their time for the good of the branch with no personal interest in the event. A great example to follow please!
Last of all, I would like to say a special ‘thank-you’ to all our newly qualified First Aider parents who are already helping at rallies with our first aid cover. We greatly appreciate their help, especially when some of them came to help although for one reason or another, their child was no longer attending the rally concerned!
Emma Hill
District Commissioner.