The Pony Club Championships in Warwickshire:
Ashford Valley Junior Girls Team, consisting of Poppy, Millie and Florence made the journey up to Offchurch -Bury in Warwickshire for a fabulous three days of competition at the Pony Club Championships.
After settling the horses and ponies into their stables the girls had the opportunity to have a practice shoot in the big marquee , very helpful as it’s quite pressured with very large details compared to interbranch and area competitions.
Friday morning saw us all up bright and early to sort out ponies before the shoot. Poppy scored a solid 900, with Flo on 800 and Millie not far behind on 740.
Next; the swim. We travelled to nearby Leamington Spa where , once again the girls all did really well, with Millie on 6L 11m , Flo on 7L 17 and Poppy on 8L 7. At this level some of the athletes manage nearly 10 lengths but distances can vary from 5 lengths upward for some first year juniors.
The weather was being kind to us, thankfully, as some of us were sleeping under canvas and the going was looking good for the ride next day.
Millie was the first of our girls to start round the challenging course that was both technical and up to height. There are always quite a few L fences to ensure that everyone has a good chance of completing their round safely and Millie wisely took this option several times to ensure that she and lovely Larry came home smiling. Poppy was very pleased with her round, especially as she had Florence following hot on her heels! Flo and Leo flew round clear and well within the time, this being her third time around the junior champs course, so lots of experience under her belt.
At any big Tet competition there will always be the 5th discipline AKA the Party, of course, I am not allowed to report on that part of the proceedings at all but let’s just say;, a great time was had by all!
Sunday morning saw an early start for the run and for the first time everyone was to run with chips to record their times. Well, anyone who knows me will also know that technology and I are not friends, so of course I advised everyone and anyone who would listen, to time their child . This strategy paid off as initially Flo was given an 11 minute time , which even allowing for over- consumption of fizzy lemonade at the party was a personal worst by a long way! The course was a proper cross country run taking the competitors up and down some steep hills and through the water jump. All three girls gave it their all with Poppy on 7.49, Millie on 7.57 and Flo on a rectified score of 6.54.
We were all keen to get packed up and on the road but Flo was happy to stay with the rest of the area 11 gang and collect her lovely 1400 ride rosette as well as the team ninth rosettes which was a lovely surprise.
Eridge Pony Club Triathlon competition at Crowborough leisure centre ably assisted by the Ashford Valley Tet team.
This was the first competition in the newly re established Tri League.
Ollie represented us in the Beanie class ,throwing a fabulous 520 in the bean bags and finishing 7th.
Hattie had her first attempt at shooting competitively with a very creditable 500 in the tadpole girls class to finish 5th, well done!
Zoe had a fantastic day , winning the shoot with 940, the run on 4.09 and the swim with 4 L 6m and an overall win in the mini girls section.
Thomas also had a great all round performance to take 2nd place in the boys section.
Poppy and Lilly were the only contenders in the junior girls class and both of them shot a brilliant 940, Poppy edged ahead with a great PB run and both girls had a strong swim.
Jacob found himself in a very competitive junior boys class , shooting joint best with a great sub 6 minute run and a strong swim to take 2nd place.
Flo was competing for the first time as an intermediate girl and having to shoot from 10 meters for the first time. She finished 2nd in what turned out to be one of the biggest classes of the day.
Well done everyone, our own Triathlon will be on October 20th at Sutton Valence School. We hope to see as many of you as possible there. For more information, don’t hesitate contact me :Julie Channon Team Manager.
Horseheath Area Tetrathlon weekend:
A great weekend was had by all at Horseheath, Forence and Millie have qualified for PC Championships. Lilly won best shoot and Poppy best swim. On the Saturday Jacob and Zoe both came 2nd in the Triathlon with Zoe shooting a perfect 1000!
OSB Tetrathlon 2nd and 3rd March 2024:
A sunny but rather chilly Sunday saw Jacob , Florence, Poppy and Zoe up in Grantham for the Triathlon Final.
All had done extremely well to qualify and experience a big competition against all of the very best athletes from around the UK.
First up for the Junior run was Jacob who really went for it with a superb run in 5m 41s on the track .
Poppy also put in lots of effort for her least favourite discipline followed by Flo who left the rest of her heat for dust with a great sub 6 minute time.
Next up for the juniors was the swim ,where both Poppy & Flo managed PBs . Jacob also had a good competitive performance.
Meanwhile, Zoe was starting in the mini class with the shoot, putting in a fabulous 840 score in her first championship competition. She also had a good run and decent swim showing great promise for future competitions.
The juniors finished with their shoot where Jacob shot a solid 800 and Poppy scored a fantastic 940 . Florence was a little disappointed with her 680 but this is the phase that she finds most challenging, just got to keep practicing!
All in all , a great experience and everyone deserves a massive pat on the back ( including parents !) although not in the placings this time, some lovely memories to take home.
