Anyone else who may be interested in this most fun and friendly discipline please contact juliechannon@hotmail.co.uk for more information.

 

On Sunday October 29th we hosted a Triathlon at Sutton Valence School.

As usual the our fabulous athletes made up a good percentage of the overall entrants, but we did get competitors from as far afield as the New Forest as well as some younger athletes from Royal Artillery and RAA Centre alongside regulars from neighbouring branches.

In the Beanies class Oliver and Francesca took 7 th and 9 th places respectively. Both of them have grown in confidence hugely and took everything in their stride, it would be marvellous to have some teammates for them at this level which is very accessible both in triathlon and tetrathlon.

Zoe had a fantastic 960 shoot as well as a strong run and swim for a convincing win in the tadpole girls class.

Wilf stepped up to compete in the tadpole boys class and did a great job to finish 4 th just behind Thomas who had a solid
all round performance, keep it up boys!

All of our mini’s decided to compete up to junior in preparation for next year. They did fantastically well with Poppy having a superb winning shoot and swim to win the girls class ahead of Florence who had the winning run.
Millie wasn’t far behind with a great shoot score and strong run .
Lilly had a remarkable swim , showing a huge improvement to take sixth place, well done!

Jacob had also stepped up and was competing against an older boy from the southern squad but did a great job in all three phases including a first competitive attempt at shooting one handed as well as the 1500 m run and 3 minute swim.

Well done to all of our athletes who always demonstrate great team spirit by supporting one another , cheering each other on and sticking around for prize giving ( I have to say that as a branch we’ve got pretty efficient at getting those scores out for minimal hanging around- no mean feat for Tet !)

Thanks to everyone who helped out , notably Darren S and Mel for organising. Darren P and Robert our fabulous Shooting Team and Sheila from East Kent who once again helped with the swim. It was nice to have a couple of mums helping with lane judging for the first time around their own children competing as well as our reliable regular multitaskers; thank you to Pippa, the Prigmore/Polding Family, Sam and Toby!Keep up with the training everyone, it’s certainly paying off! Remember, we have shoot practice every Friday with Darren Page.

Julie

Tetrathlon Team Manager

 

 

11th – 13th August 2023

 

Huge Congratulations to our Tetrathlon representatives at the Pony Club National Championships.

In the Junior Girls section, we were represented by Florence, who had qualifed for the championships for the second year running.

Shooting was the first phase on the Friday, and we think it’s safe to say that this phase has not always gone to plan for Florence. In a championship environment, the pressure really is on, but Florence held her nerves for a great 820 shoot. The competition then headed to the swimming pool where Florence put all her training into practice for a PB swim. The Saturday was ride day, and the organisers had certainly built a championship worthy course, and the parents at the stable block were definitely alot quieter than usual that morning. The good going meant it generally jumped well, but clear rounds inside the time were rare. Florence and the talented Chaos flew round for a maximum ride score, much to mum, Julie’s relief. After the Saturday party, it was an early start for the run phase on the Sunday. Florence is a great runner and again didn’t disapoint in this phase, to finish the competition on a score of over 4100, which an impressive score, and resulted in an overall placing of 28th out of 94 starters, well done Flo.

 

In the Stepping Stones competiton, Mini competitiors are selected to represent their region, to compete in teams, against teams across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The Southern England Teams are selected from members in Areas, 11, 13 and 14, so AV were thrilled to have 2 members, Poppy P and Jacob choosen to compete in their 2 teams. 

The competition started with the shoot and like with Florence, the pressure was on. Poppy who was representing Southern England for the second consecutive year, is know as an amazing shot, and started her competion with a brilliant 900 shoot. Jacob, also managed to hold his nerves and was very pleased with an 880 shoot. Both competitors rose to the occasion in the swimming and swam great PB’s. The Mini competiton ran along a slightly different format to the juniors, and the run took place on the Friday evening after the shoot and swim. A continous hill heading out on the first 500m was tough at the end of the day, but both dug deep for very creditable run scores.

The Saturday saw the conclusion of the events with the ride. The course a mixture of Showjumps and solid cross country fences proved to be influential to the final scores, but both Poppy and Jacob had great rounds and like Florence, they both finished with over 4100 points!

Poppy finished an amazing 10th place individually in the girls section and her Southern England Slayers team came a brilliant 3rd Place. Jacob was thirlled with his individual 13th place and Team 9th for the Southern England Stars. 

Well done to all three of you, we are so proud of you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Area Tetrathlon was once again held at Comphurst Cross Country Course on what turned out to be a very blustery but thankfully not too wet weekend.
We had a slightly reduced squad but still a great turnout from our AV athletes.James was 6 th area 11 boy in the Junior class with for him ,a slightly disappointing shoot but a great winning swim and steady performances in the run and ride. James has qualified for Pony Club Championships, well done!Flo also qualified in the girls class as 1 st area 11 girl and was one of only two clear rounds inside the time on new ride ; ChaosShe managed an 840 shoot and had a good run and swim.Jacob- who is already Championship bound – had a convincing win in the mini class with another 840 shoot and a clear round.Poppy took first place in the mini girls with the winning swim and shoot. She is also off to Champs to do the Stepping Stones class with Jacob.Lilly had a brilliant weekend with an amazing PB shoot of 880, a great PB swim with just a couple of unlucky poles down in the show jumping. She was second overall, well done Lilly! The Mini Team claiming a first place Team too!Zoe had a fantastic 940 shoot in the tadpole class with a strong run and good swim . She sensibly jumped down and had a lovely clear round meaning that she ended up 5 th overall.Wilf was 4 th in the Beanies class with a great clear round on his new pony. He also won the run and is showing great improvement in his swimming.Francesca competed in this class as a non riding Triathlete. She did really well showing improvement across all three phases- well done!

Good luck to those heading up to Championships!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our own Tetrathlon took place on the 17th & 18 th of June. Even though entries were down on what we had hoped for, we decided to go ahead to avoid disappointing those competitors who had entered and were looking forward to the opportunity to gain experience.
We ended up having a smoothly run and fun weekend with some novice competitors from other branches and centres being catered for alongside the more experienced athletes who all benefited from attending as sadly , many competitions have been cancelled recently or simply not run .Our Beanie tetrathletes Wilf and Oliver did very well taking 2 nd and 3 rd place respectively in a tight competition.  Francesca competed in the Tri class and was delighted with her huge haul of rosettes!Thomas was 2 nd in the tadpole boys class , sensibly jumping down and having a confident run and swim.Zoe was also 2 nd in the girls section with a convincing win in the shoot.Jacob won his Mini boys section picking up rosettes for best shoot and run as well as a lovely clear ride.Our talented Mini girls did not disappoint with Poppy going clear on a borrowed pony , winning the shoot and the swim convincingly for first place. Millie wasn’t far behind in 2 nd and Isla was hot on her heels in 3 rd. Freya also had a clear ride as well as best run for 4 th . Lilly was delighted with her clear ride and much improved PB swim for the 5 th place rosette.Florence had borrowed back Snowie ( temporarily) from Jacob taking 500 penalties for jumping down. She rose to the challenge and the promise of a doughnut from Mel to make up those points the following day . She won the run and even the shoot, taking 1st place overall, but lost out on the swim to an incredible swimmer from the RAAS centre whose competitors we hope to see more of in the future.Never be put of by the prospect of jumping down a level wether it be because of a new, old or inexperienced horse or indeed because the rider needs to gain more experience, it’s not always a barrier to success! Many of our members past and present have done this as part of their progression in competition particularly in the first year of moving up a level .Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make this competition happen, particularly to Sheila from EK whose expertise we called upon to lead the swim . Darren Page had his work cut out, running a shoot with so many inexperienced competitors & parents taking part, but everyone gained valuable experience while being kept safe.

 

3rd & 4th June 

 

 

 

 

On the 3/4th June, Millie and Wilf went off to be ‘tet tourists’ at South Garth’s first tetrathlon. It was a great experience jumping at the amazing facilities of Wellington and Wilf did well to win his Boy’s Beanie Section with best run and best shoot. Millie had an unfortunate jumping round, but came back the next day and did well in the other disciplines to come 3rd and a team win.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Florence was very excited to be invited to take part in the Junior International competition as part of the southern England team. Initially she had to decline her place but with only a week to go she was offered a pony to ride so it was game on!
After a couple of rides including a cross country lesson everyone was happy that Flo and the lovely Mikey were a safe combination so off we went to Moreton Morrell in Warwickshire.
On arrival on the Friday night we set up camp together with the other southerners including several from our area & neighbouring area 13. The first course walk caused much incredulity amongst those parents who had not experienced regionals before ( it’s well known that it’s far more technical than championships and fully up to height) however the riders all seemed really positive with much discussion about how to ride some of the frankly impossible looking combinations.
After a rather chilly night under canvas , everyone was up early sorting out horses and then it was over to the indoor school for the shoot phase.
Unfortunately Flo’s nerves got the better of her and she only managed 580 . Never mind, always another phase to try and make up the score. Swimming next , a great atmosphere with everyone cheering on their teams and Flo was much happier with that result.
Away Tets always include party night and this was no exception. Each region had to put on a musical performance based on a show. Let’s just say that southern were a little over ambitious; attempting to sing live alternative lyrics to a medley of songs from Mary Poppins . It was difficult for them to make themselves heard but a valiant attempt nonetheless, next time maybe,just mime?
Late to bed and then up early on Sunday to watch the first of the Irish girls out on the course before getting ponies & riders ready for their turn.
The trickiest fences all had Ls and Flo had planned to take some of these on her relatively unknown pony to ensure a happy round . A couple of glitches but on the whole an exhilarating round over a demanding course and most importantly safely home with a strong finish.
All the riders felt pretty exhausted, many had never ridden a course of that length before but they all still had the run to complete.
I don’t think there were many run pbs that day but Flo gave it everything and pulled herself up a little bit on the leaderboard.
In surprisingly good time it was prize giving with everyone staying to applaud newly acquired friends and old ones with a handy souvenir water bottle for everyone. As usual the Irish teams dominated the placings but we had some good results for some of our individuals and the boys managed a team placing.
A marvellous weekend for parents as well as athletes with everyone agreeing that they had had an amazing time and would all strive to qualify for the championships!  It’s just the camping thing…. 🤣

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ashford Valley fielded a great turnout across most of the classes at The Mid Surrey Tetrathlon held at their lovely pony club field at Walton on the Hill last weekend.

Francesca is one of our youngest members and she enjoyed her day immensely competing in the Beanies Tri class where she finished second. Her running and swimming are getting better every time, well done Francesca!

In the Beanie Boys Tet section Wilf , Thomas and Oliver all had fantastic clear rides finishing 5 th, 6 th and 10th respectively . They finished 4 th as a team , keep it up boys!

Zoe had an amazing win in the Novice Tadpole class with a clear ride and an outstanding 960 shoot.

Our Mini girls all showed fabulous sportsmanship as they each faced their own challenges. Freya won the shoot and did what appeared to be a beautiful clear round only to discover that she had missed out a fence on the twisty slightly confusing course, I think we’ve all done that at some point! She did have the winning run on the “ uphill all the way home” course , ending up in 3 rd place.
Millie had an uncharacteristic tricky ride with lovely Molly having a fall on the rather slippery ground on the Saturday. She then had gun issues meaning that her shoot score was well down on her average , but she won the swim convincingly and was only just behind Freya in the run, finishing 6 th.
Lilly had a good swim and shoot, showing steady improvement in both of those phases. She rode her lovely new horse Charlie,  who is very inexperienced with cross country carefully round the course galloping in fine style through the finish to take 5 th place. As they were all in a mixed team with Jacob their combined efforts gave them a team first, fantastic!
Jacob had a great day with good performances across all the phases just picking up a few penalties in the ride at his and Snowies first attempt at this height across country. He finished first in his class, well done!
James also had a great all around performance, including a win in the shoot and the swim with a fantastic PB, to take first place in his junior boys class.
Poppy stepped up to compete with the junior girls and showed that she is more than ready by winning the shoot and the swim. She incurred some time penalties in the ride but finished in 2 nd place, great achievement!
Florence had to rest her pony , so competed as a triathlete. She won the run convincingly and even managed to win the shoot, testament to her regular training with our own Darren Page. She added to our first place tally by winning overall as well .

All in all, a great day for everyone, even the weather was kind to us .
Remember, there are regular shoot practice sessions on a Friday with Darren, book in via the bookings page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

James, Florence, Millie,Poppy and Jacob all qualified and competed in the Winter Triathlon Final held at Stoke Mandeville Stadium on Sunday.
This was very exciting as we have never had this many finalists at this event before and it really is a huge step up from inter branch and Area competitions .
Florence and James both competing as juniors were first up to run and despite the wet conditions both managed a good sub six minute time for their 1500 m track run.
They then both went on to gain PBs in the swim , all that practice is paying off! Unusually they had their shoot last but it seemed to suit them as Florence managed 820, really good for her as nerves normally get to her in this phase and James got a respectable 800 . Although not in the placings they both had a great day and should be pleased with their scores .The Minis, who, along with an athlete from Romney Marsh were in a team representing Area 11 had their phases in the conventional order, starting with the shoot. Poppy shot an amazing 980 giving her joint best shoot in the class. Millie also shot brilliantly, getting 900 despite being ill the day before, and at one point not sure she would make the championships at all. Jacob was a little disappointed with his shoot score as he had difficulty hearing the commands meaning that he had to remove his ear defenders. However, he came back with gusto in the run with a brilliant 3.48 time for his 1000 m. Poppy and Millie both had strong runs in a competitive field and all three excelled in the swim. As a team they just missed out on placing but Poppy finished in 7 th place with PB’s in every phase and there were medals all round!
All in all , a fun but tiring day ( and that was just the parents!)

 

 

 

 

A huge well done to our fabulous AVPC members who were out competing at the OS&B Tetrathlon, the first full Tetrathlon of the season. Absolutely fantastic results with lots of PB ‘s and some brilliant jumping rounds.

Florence 3rd in the Junior girls section.  Jacob 1st in the Mini boys. Poppy 1st, Millie 2nd and Isla 3rd ( Team 1st ) in the Mini girls. Boyd 3rd in the Tadpole boys and Zoe 4th in the Tadpole girls. Wilf 4th and Oli 17th in the Beanies section and Francesca 3rd in the Beanies Biathlon.

We are now holding weekly shooting practices for eight and overs with our fantastic Range Master Darren Page and lots of showjumping rallies to help with jumping practice, for those interested in joining in this fun pony club competition.

 

2023

Area 11 Triathlon 12/2/23

AVPC 30 April and 1st May

AV had a great couple of days at the East Kent tetrathlon, we had competitors in every age group again , it’s lovely to have so many young members having a go whilst our seasoned veterans are still going more than a decade after they first completed for our branch! Aidan & Toby once again enjoyed a close competition with some of their friends from the Southern England squad with Toby having a lovely clear round despite the rather challenging warm up conditions at Blue Barn on the Monday. Toby finished 3 rd with Aidan not far behind in 4 th place.

James was 2 nd with a winning shoot & swim in the junior boys class & Florence was 3 rd with PB shoot in the girls section.

Boris won the mini boys class with the top shoot & a clear ride, fantastic! Jacob was 3 rd in a competitive Triathlon with a great PB run.

Our Mini Girls team goes from strength to strength taking first place with Poppy coming a close second with a lovely clear ride, Millie 3 rd also with s as clear round,  Harriet was 5 th and Lilly was 10 th with room for further improvement in her shoot, fantastic team effort girls!

Boyd carried off another great win in the Tadpole boys with an amazing all round performance . Amelia was 6 th in the girls class with a clear ride.

Our youngest competitors Thomas & Wilf came 4 th & 7 th respectively with both boys having great run times & a clear ride from Thomas.  They were in a mixed team who came 4th too, loads of rosettes for all!

National Triathlon Championships 27th March 

Florence and Poppy represented AV this weekend in the Tri Championships’ in Grantham , Lincolnshire.
They are both among the youngest in their classes at the moment, Poppy is in her first year of Mini and facing turning targets and Florence is now a Junior and has to shoot one handed.
Poppy had a pb run & swim and a fantastic 900 shoot, very well done!
Florence had a great run and a pb swim but has plenty of room for further improvement in her shoot!
Both girls had a lovely time and really enjoyed the amazing facilities and buzzy atmosphere They are hoping to qualify for future championships , maybe with their ponies as well!

We were lucky with the weather for the area Triathlon qualifier held on Saturday 12 th Feb at Moat Farm by kind permission of the Ramus family & Rye pool.
We were really well represented in all age groups by some of our Tet veterans as well as lots of new faces & being the area competition standards were high with competitor coming from near & far including from other areas. For most of us this was the first competition since last summer as Covid had prevented the usual Triathlon series from taking place this winter.

Wilf did exceptionally well at his first competition coming 5 th in the Beanies section while sister Millie came 5th in the mini Girls class. Lily had a great run and swim to finish 7 th while Poppy had a superb 840 shoot & very good swim to finish 2 nd therefore qualifying for the Triathlon final in March.
Charlie moved up to tadpoles so shot for the first time, he put in solid performances in the run & swim showing great potential for the upcoming Full Tet competitions.
In the girls section, first time competitor Amelia finished 6 th in a really close competition.
Jacob was 3 rd with an improved shoot in the mini boys class.
After a disappointing shoot where as a junior she now has to shoot one handed, Florence put in a great run & swim to finish 4 th but was 2 nd in area 11 so has also qualified for the final. James has also moved up to juniors where he had the best swim by far to finish 3 rd.
Finally in the open boys class Toby had an all round steady performance to finish 4 th.
A great day for AV , we are all looking forward to the Tetrathlon competitions with our equine friends making it even more fun!

 

Thanks to RMPC for a very friendly Tetrathlon  right at the end of the summer holidays.

Lovely to see some new members out and competing for the first time.

New member Reuben was 10th in the Beanies, what a great start!

Jacob won the Tadpoles boys section with a win in the run too.

Poppy had a clear round and was 4th in the Mini section, with new member Isabelle making a great debut for 10th place and a clear round too. 

Florence won the Junior Biathlon too

Well done everyone, look forward to seeing you over the winter for the Triathlon series.

 

 

 

 

 

Boris and Boyd have been competing in the national postal shoot over the summer.  Boris was joint 2nd (16th as there were a lot on the same score),  Boyd was joint 6th or 46th as again lots on the same score.  Well done boys, there were lots of much older children in that class so that’s an impressive achievement. 

 

 

 

Lovely to see our children out doing what they love with their friends from other branches.

 

It was a bit of a shock to have to shoot with masks and googles on, not the day for pbs in the shooting!

 

Well done to Jacob who won the ride and the run in the Tadpoles and top spot overall and also to James who won the ride and the run in the Mini Boys as well as top spot too – what a great start boys!  Poppy had a clear round and  Florence had a great ride and both were 3rd in their girls sections too. 

 

 

Congratulations to new members Lillian and Violet who completed all their disciplines for the first time in a competition, and to brother Owen who was 2nd at his first tet – well done everyone and welcome to the Tet family.

 

Toby and Aidan moved up to open, under 25 years, so are now the smallest in the class again.  They had a good day out but not the best day over the cross country, despite looking brilliantly matching in the warm up!  

 

 

 

We had a great turnout of Ashford Valley athletes for the first and for the time being, last full Tetrathlon of the season at Old Surrey & Burstow.
The ride section took place at Felbridge on the Saturday where Aidan & Lauren did us proud with Aidan being the first AV boy for a good few years to compete in the open/ intermediate class. Both of them rode well with Aidan having an unlucky pole down & Lauren just having a few faults on her lovely new horse .

James completed his first round as a mini on Lily

 

followed by a lovely clear from Florence & Snowie, first time for them at mini as well.

 

The great rounds kept coming, Matilda & Tommy sailing round beautifully, Boris cool as a cucumber even though they had been held up on the journey & thought they might miss out. Lilly & Bertie were on fine form & produced another fantastic clear round, a great start for them in the tadpole class. Poppy & her new pony were a bit unsure but will be a great team once they get to know each other.  Jacob & Gemma did a beautiful round all by themselves in the big arena.

Charlie & Boyd showed what brilliant young talent we have coming through from the Beanie class.

On the Sunday we were at Copthorne school for the other three sections, incorporating the postponed Area Triathlon.
Lauren & Toby both qualified for the open Triathlon Final. Sadly this event now cancelled due to the Covid 19 outbreak.  Hopefully they will have another go next year.
There were some great personal best results in all three phases, even in the shoot , so often an AV weakness.
Run scores were strong all round & I personally saw great swimming from all of our athletes without exception.

Fantastic results at the end of a long weekend, you should all be extremely proud of yourselves. Keep up with the training if you can , hopefully we can all be back out there competing again before too long.
Anyone else who may be interested in this most fun and friendly discipline please contact me juliechannon@hotmail.co.uk for more information.

 

 

On a very cold day, 7 of Ashford Valley’s  triathletes received a warm welcome from West Kent Meopham. There were solid performances from all. Florence and James stepped up to the Mini’s for the first time. Florence had a brilliant PB and first place in the swim coming 3rd overall, with James taking 4th in the boys section. In the younger categories Boyd came 3rd in the Beanies, with Boris 2nd and Jacob 3rd in the Tadpole boys section. Poppy finished in 5th place in a large and competitive Tadpole girls section. Finally Toby picked up 3rd place in the Junior boys class. Well done all.

A lovely day was had by all at the EK Triathlon today, AV had a great rosette haul including a win by Matilda who stepped up to mini. Toby, Jacob and Poppy also competed up in preparation for next year and our smallest competitors Charlie & Boyd did us proud as did Lauren, James & Boris.

 

 

 

A healthy 322 competitors drawn from throughout the UK participated in The Tetrathlon Championships at Open, Intermediate, Junior and Grassroots levels. The Championships took place from 8th – 11th August at Offchurch Bury, Warwickshire for the second year in succession. Ashford Valley were represented by Laura (intermediate) and Fred and Aidan at Junior Level. 

 

The first thing you notice at Tet Champs is that when you arrive to camp for 3 days you park with your region, in our case Southern Region who we had competed with at Internationals earlier in the summer.  It was the first time that our ponies passports had been heavily scrutinised by a vet and EKHPC very sadly had a pony sent home as there was an error in his passport 5 years ago!  The first night was spent getting pitched and getting our ponies settled before enjoying fish and chips in the sun.  As well as competing as individuals our 3 members were joined with a friend from Southern Region into an area 11 team.

 

The Shoot phase was the first phase held in the marquee at Offchurch; our team scoring 720, 660 and 800 respectively.  The Swim phase was held at Warwick University’s brand new Sports and Wellness Hub with all 3 our of team swimming well and getting PBs . The Ride phase involved another challenging cross country course designed by Lloyd Hunt, which proved to be highly influential to the overall result.  We were thrilled that Fred and Aidan both jumped clear and Laura had just a handful of penalties despite the lashing rain.  The riding day was rounded off with a great party for the kids in an 1920s theme, I am not allowed to report on what went on but children went to bed after their parents that night!

 

 

The competition was rounded off by the Run phase on Sunday morning with all our members running well.  Overall our team members were 29th, 26th and 20th nationally, a great result with both the two boys scoring over 4000 points.

 

Prize giving, included collecting our completion medals, and dispersal occurred in monsoon-like conditions on Sunday afternoon, we were lucky to just avoid most of it before making our way back around down the M40 and the M25.  

 

Looking forward to next year’s tet season already.  Our junior boys team move up to Intermediate and hope to join Laura and Olivia on occasions in a mixed intermediate team.

 

We noticed that there is a grassroots competition running at the same time as the champs, we are hoping that we might be able to send some members next year.  It looked like great fun and an opportunity for a stay away show with your tet friends, as well as the atmosphere of tet champs.  If you have never competed at junior level and fall into these categories we hope that you will join us next year.   (Teams to consist of three or four Members and can be of mixed gender:  One competitor aged 12 or under, One competitor aged 14 or under, One competitor aged 16 or under, One competitor aged 21 or under)

 

 

James had a winning run and swim with a new PB and a good cross country round to win his whole section, BRILLIANT!

His Sister Lauren was in a very competitive junior girls sections but finished well with a good cross country round.  Laura too was in a competitive intermediate section but has QUALIFIED for the national champs with a good swim, run and ride. 

 

Our junior boys team shot abysmally and we nearly gave up after the first section, however they all swam and ran well.  The testing course at Munstead sadly did not suit Toby’s horse but Fred and Aidan had clear rounds with only one rider error (Aidan!) to seal their QUALIFICATIONS too. A happy day for 3 excited teenagers who are off to Warwick for 4 days for the Pony Club Tetrathlon National Championships at the beginning of August.  WELL DONE ALL!

 

EAST SUSSEX TET 8th and 9th June 2019

An amazing day at East Sussex Pony Club for Ashford Valley’s tetrathletes this weekend.  The weather was really windy and gusty and Ashford Valley had PB’s raining down all over the place.

In the Tadpole girls Matilda came 1st and Florence 4th, both with beautiful clear rounds.  Matilda had a superb PB in the run and Florence a massive PB swim in the process.  It was a win for James in the Tadpole boys winning the shoot, swim and run on the way.  A brilliant run from James saw another impressive PB.  Boris finished 3rd with a great all-round performance and like James jumped a lovely clear round on his relatively new pony.

Our Beanie representatives were also in fine form with our team of Lilly, Charlie, Harry and Jacob winning the team event.  Individually Jacob was 1st, Boyd 3rd, Lilly 6th, Harry 8th and Charlie 10th. Jacob won the bean bag throw, the swim with a PB and jointly the run with Boyd, who had a new PB.  Lilly had an amazing PB in the swim for 2nd place and Charlie set fantastic PB’s in the bean bag throw, swim and run.

In the Mini Section we were thrilled to have Ruby JP out of retirement to do a beautiful clear round.

Our junior boys were on fire, Fred best swim, best run and a clear round, Toby won best Shoot and Aidan had a clear round and an overall win! They were first team too.

Beautiful riding rounds from all in testing conditions, well done everyone!

Fred, Aidan and Toby were thrilled to be selected to compete at the Junior International Tetrathlon on the weekend of 1^st and 2^nd June at Moreton Morrell College in Warwickshire to ride for Southern England.  The boys have been a team since they were 6 years old and were fortunate that they are the same age so move up the classes at the same time.  Teams from all over England compete with those from Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Everyone left home at 12 noon on Friday lunchtime, the M25 was dire and it was over 3 hours before we made it around the M25 and on to the M40. At this point we felt we would never make the 150 mile trip to Moreton Morrell.  Luckily the M40 was a breeze and we got to our destination in time for tea. 

We were not allowed on to the site before our pony’s passport was checked and then the pony was unloaded and went off into his stable, with 163 other children and their ponies.  The adults set up camp with the AVHPC gazebo having pride of place in the Southern England team’s camp HQ.  Tet parents spend a lot of time together at tets so we knew all the other area 11 parents and children and after we were introduced to the other Southern England parents, a wonderful evening in the sun with wine and food ensued…

After a night asleep in our lorry or tent, we started our first day of tet with mucking out and hand grazing our ponies before we went off to the walk the course for the first time.  It was both big AND technical, certainly the biggest they had jumped.  

The beautiful indoor arena at Moreton Morrell was the scene for the shoot and our boys did well all scoring over 740.  Thanks to the Brightling family for stepping in at the last minute with a replacement when we had a gun malfunction.

A journey to the well equipped new sports complex at Warwick Uni was next, an enormous 12 lane pool with lots of noise and some super talented swimmers; our boys swam just over 200 M with Fred managing 208M, Some of the international boys swam much more and there was a round of applause for the Irish boy who swam nearly 300 metres in 3 minutes, amazingly quick.

After another course walk with the whole team, after which the course did not look any smaller, less hilly or shorter we came back to basecamp for a hack out, tack cleaning and a BBQ.  On the Saturday night there was the traditional talent competition, let’s just say that Southern England need a choreographer, the kids had fun but we did not win, we did well to avoid coming last!

The camp was a good walk from the stable block so most the children had been pre-warned and took their bikes, there were often piles of bikes to be found scattered around the course and stables.

Saturday dawned with more mucking out, hand grazing and by 8am the first competitor was out on the course with the commentator blaring out their progress from the Tannoy across the top of the stable blocks, not exactly the relaxing start to the day we had planned.  Southern England XC kit was donned, studs put in and ponies tacked up before we made our way to the XC course.

Our boys did fantastically, the mothers were sick with nerves but the boys stepped up; Fred had a clear round and Toby and Aidan got to the end, some faster and with less control than others, but we were so thrilled with how they rode.  The hedge was enormous, the drop was 1.3M, there was a hanging log into the water, the technical combinations were like nothing they had seen before but they all kicked on, got over everything and smiled their way through.  Maisie and Fred did us proud and were one of only 14 clears for the day, brilliant!

After that big adrenalin rush they had to keep their cool as a tet is not over until you have done all 4 phases; a quick snack and energy drink for lunch and we were then off to the run, by then it was raining too.  The run was organised into heats with the boys starting off with children of the same ability, which produced some great results and PBs for all our boys.

At the end of the day we were thrilled to find out that Fred was 21^st and our team was 7^th overall.

A truly memorable weekend that the boys and parents will treasure for a long time. Proof that training hard can get you from your local Pony Club to International competition. They move up to seniors next year so it will be a long time before they can compete at this level but they are keen to do so.

Thanks to everyone who has encouraged them over the years, particularly Anne Clarke, Michelle Rice-Wilson and our Tet Team Manager Julie Channon. 

AVHPC TET 2019

Our tetrathlon was held on 13th and 14th April, our junior boys team of Toby, Fred and Aidan were joined by Toby’s brother Sam who borrowed a pony from another member, the team were 1st with the boys 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 7th respectively.  William made his triathon debut with a great 2nd place in the shoot, keep going William we need you! His Sister Lara did a lovely clear round in her section too. Lauren won the junior girls section and we were very happy to welcome Sophie to the tet family sealing her debut with the only clear round in the girls section, well done. 

James and new member Boris represented us in the tadpole boys section, winning all the sections between them with an overall first and second place, awesome boys. Florence and new tet member Matilda were in the tadpole girls section, great clears from both girls and a 2nd place in the swim gave them 4th and 5th place, a great debut for Matilda and thanks to mum too for tack checking all afternoon.  We are thrilled to have 2 teams of beanies led by the eldest team member Poppy who won every section (apart from the run, which was won by Jacob)  and was joined with Lilly, Jacob and Charlie as winning team closely followed by the 2nd place team of Harry, Boyd, Olivia and Sandy.  Its fair to say that there were a few rosettes were handed out to AVHPC members that afternoon! 

 

A very long, but successful day at the Mid Surrey Tetrathlon for the Ashford Valley Beanies. The team of Lilly, Poppy, Boyd and Jacob were 2nd, just 2 points behind the winning team. All 4 jumped clear rounds and had great all round performances, with Poppy picking up 2nd and Jacob 3rd places individually.

 

A flying start for the Beanies Team at the first Tetrathlon of the season this weekend. Ashford Valley’s Team of Lilly, Poppy and Jacob were Winners at the Old Surrey and Burstow competition. 

Poppy was 1st individually, Jacob 7th and Lilly 19th in a massive class of 27. All 3 jumped great clear rounds, with Poppy riding a beautiful round unassisted in the big Felbridge arena for maximum ride points.  PB’s all around in the swim, which Poppy and Jacob won jointly and Jacob picked up best run too with another PB. Roll on the Ashford Valley Tetrathlon next month!

 

 

Fantastic results from our older competitors  weekend too. Everyone had very good rounds at Felbridge on the Saturday picking up just a few faults between them despite the wind.
Back to Copthorne School on Sunday braving showers & gale force winds. James had a great win overall as well as winning his run & swim. Toby had a great run & won his swim to finish 2nd in the junior boys section & Lauren finished 3 rd in a competitive junior girls class. Well done all, hope to see you all at our own Tet in April.

It was a beautiful day for the East Kent Triathlon on Sunday 24th February. Ashford Valley was strongly represented in the Beanies class with 4 competitors. 

 

Jacob finished 1st, winning the run with a PB and a new PB swim. Poppy was 3rd, winning the Bean bag throw with a massive 840. Lilly was 6th with a PB run and a PB swim. Sandy finished 10th with a superb run on her triathlon debut.