Ponies, Piñatas, and “Speedy Dads”: Albrighton Juniors First Stay-Away Weekend

there’s been a flurry of activity over the weekend as the intrepid few ventured into the unknown of their first stay-away weekend competition. Ponies were bathed, tack cleaned, roof tents bought, and off we went!

Set against the backdrop of the beautiful Malvern Hills, with mostly favourable weather, our members joined forces with the Worcester Hunt for a memorable weekend of fun and games, both in and out of the arena.

First up and flying the Albrighton colours was Lula, Georgie and Aubrey, joined by Posy from Worcester. Our Small but Mighty junior novice team came a very respectable 5th in their final, placing them 15th out of 30 teams overall. With an average age of just 4 1/2, in a competition for 10 years and unders, they really were dots out there. Highlights were new speeds reached for Lula, first tries off the lead in the arena and “Speedy Dad” awards for Tom!

Next up, the older team of Worcester Hunt, who Tilly and Della joined. A weekend of mixed successes (some races went there way, some didn’t) saw them finish 4th in their final. A surprise 2nd place in the Tack&Turnout competition was met with glee from the mums, naturally the children took the prizes!

A brilliant weekend was had by all. The kids were all amazing, running on excitement, sweets and probably not enough sleep! The kettle was often on for us parents!
The friendliness and camaraderie of the mounted games community really shone through, with Worcester really taking us under their wing. The children all mixed and played between “camps”, we shared BBQ’s, breakfasts, karaoke machines and Piñata’s.
Hopefully the first of many great weekends away with friends and ponies

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