Ashford Valley was brilliantly represented this weekend as Poppy and Jacob joined the Southern England Squad at the Junior Home International Tetrathlon in Warwickshire. Both riders showed exceptional commitment, talent and team spirit throughout a packed and highly competitive championship.
The competition opened with the shoot, where they both delivered solid, composed performances to get the squad off to a confident start.
In the pool, the momentum continued.
The afternoon brought the much‑loved but fiercely contested relay event. Both riders earned places on the four‑person Southern relay team, each taking on a 50m sprint leg. They stormed their heat to reach the final and finished a close, hard‑fought 5th, just behind an exceptionally fast Irish team.
The day wrapped up with the famous themed Dance Competition and party, always a highlight. This year’s theme was Films, and although their Men in Black routine didn’t make the podium, the squad threw themselves into the fun with full commitment.
Sunday began with a brilliant result for Jacob, who clocked another personal best in the run, placing him 3rd overall— only beaten by two of his own teammates.
Meanwhile, Poppy headed out on the big, technical, up‑to‑height cross‑country course that Jacob would next be facing. With many combinations causing problems across the field, Poppy piloted the wonderful Ronnie with real skill and composure to secure a strong, respectable score.
Poppy then moved on to her run, tackling a tough cross‑country track with determination to finish on a very creditable score.
Jacob concluded his competition riding his stunning grey pony Sam, who he navigated around the same course with true skill and had a fantastic ride successfully finishing with another excellent score!
After a long weekend, the pair arrived home at 11.45pm, only to be up again for school at 6.30am—a true testament to their resilience, dedication, and love for their sport.
Huge congratulations to both Jacob and Poppy for representing Ashford Valley with such pride, positivity, and determination.
Thank you to their support teams and our coaches for all your hard work supporting Poppy and Jacob, we know what goes into this behind the scenes.
Lastly thank you to the Home International Organisers for running such a wonderful event.
See more event photo’s below
Another fantastic Ashford Valley Tetrathlon competition on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th April, kicking off on Saturday with the riding phase at Petley Wood. Sharon had cleverly organised the ride to run alongside an Arena Eventing competition, helping to make the event viable while also encouraging a brilliant number of entries.
This format allowed us to offer novice classes alongside the more challenging Tet heights, which can become quite demanding once riders reach mini level and above. The decision proved hugely successful, with over 90 entries ranging from cross poles right up to 1m — a wonderful turnout and a great atmosphere throughout the day.
On Sunday we reconvened at our familiar and much‑loved venue, Sutton Valence School, for the run, shoot, and swim phases. As always, AV athletes performed superbly, and it was especially lovely to welcome so many new faces from other Area 11 branches.
We also continued to offer our increasingly popular Triathlon classes, giving those without a suitable ride — for any reason — the chance to take part and enjoy the fun.
We would love to see even more of our younger members giving tetrathlon a try. It’s enormous fun, very accessible in the lower classes, and with Triathlon sections available, even non‑riding siblings can get involved. It’s a brilliant way to build confidence, fitness, and friendships.
A huge thank you to everyone who helped across the weekend — these events simply wouldn’t happen without you.
Special thanks go to Darren and Melanie, who put in countless hours handling all the admin behind the scenes. We are also very grateful to those from other branches who stepped in to lane judge, and to former member Daisy, who did a fantastic job scoring throughout the day.
Easter Weekend Ashford Valley Run Event: Tetrathlon and Triathlon on Good Friday & Saturday attracting just enough entries from across the area and beyond to provide a bit of healthy competition in all classes.
We started with the Triathlon phases at Sutton Valence School on Friday and then for those opting to complete the full Tetrathlon we moved over to Breech Barn in the beautiful Elham valley for Arena Eventing.
Matilda was taking part in her first full Tet and did brilliantly winning the run, the swim and going clear in the ride to win the Beanies section.
Cousin Rupert did spectacularly well, executing another clear ride and good all round performance in the other phases to take 3rd place.
Eloise was rather tired after her efforts on the Friday so decided not to ride but still got a 5th place rosette, well done!
Immy , completely new to tetrathlon and triathlon, took a very well deserved 2nd place rosette in the Mini girls section after riding a superb clear on Snowie. Rumour has it that she’s caught the Tet bug so we will be seeing more of her!
Hattie wasn’t too far behind in 3rd place after a rather frustrating ride on cheeky Bojangles who, when going back in after the competition executed a perfect round! Ponies!
Tilly, another of our first timers did brilliantly, just rolling a pole in an otherwise superb round and putting in solid scores in all the other phases to end up in 3 rd place.
Thomas was second in the Mini boys after sensibly jumping down and producing a lovely clear round on his beautiful new pony; Mini. Thomas was also part of the official arena party for the entire day!
Poppy Lovejoy also joined us for the first time and started with a very creditable 740 shoot. She also opted to jump down and again, this paid off when she achieved a great clear round . She finished in third place and we definitely think she is another Tet convert!
Poppy Polding, one of our seasoned athletes, achieved her customary win in the junior girls class winning both the shoot and swim and riding a great clear round. Excellent!
Flo was very pleased with her clear round in the intermediate girls class, she also had best run & swim to take first place.
Zoe competed as a Triathlete and after winning best shoot , she also won the class.
Jacob, also competing in the Tri had a very convincing win, taking both the best run and the best swim rosettes. Jacob was also part of our busy arena party on the Saturday.
Lilly had a great shoot , a solid swim and just one unlucky pole down to secure 3 rd place. Great work Lilly!
Thank you to all of those who put in their time on the run up and on the competition days. Tet does require a huge team effort to run so we couldn’t do it without our helpers from AV , EK and RM branches as well as grandparents and siblings.
Four athletes from Ashford Valley attended the first Tetrathlon of the season hosted by OSB at Felbridge and Copthorne school this weekend.
Thomas’s ride didn’t quite go to plan on Saturday but despite retiring he was ready to go today, putting in a fantastic PB run and swim . All this done with a huge smile to collect the 3rd place rosette in the mini boys class. Well done Thomas! Great perseverance!
Poppy had a lovely round on her young pony, just having one pole leaving her in second place overnight. However, with a winning 980 shoot, best run and swim she ended up with a well deserved first place in the junior girls class. Fantastic performance Poppy!
Jacob and Sam produced a lovely clear round on Saturday and consolidated their performance with Jacob winning both the shoot and the swim as well as having a great PB run to win the junior boys class convincingly. Excellent!
Florence flew round rather enthusiastically in her first attempt at intermediate level. She did leave 3 poles on the floor and then had to endure a gun malfunction. After borrowing a right handed gun from another competitor ( she’s left handed!) she declared herself happy under the circumstances with her 400 shoot! She went on to win the run & swim and pick up second place. A great comeback!
All in all a fabulous weekend, thank you OSB ! You even organised the sunshine!
Southern England Tetrathlon have announced their team and we are so proud that our very own Ashford Valley Member Jacob has been selected – this is a huge honour and an amazing opportunity!! Jacob and his Southern England team mates will be competing at The Royal Windsor Horse Show on the 16th and 17th May. We couldn’t be prouder of you Jacob, all the hard work that you have put in and commitment to attending weekly training has paid off – well done!

















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.



ASHFORD VALLEY YOU’VE DONE US PROUD! 18th February 2025:
We’ve had some big weekend achievements that we wish to shout about…more will follow tomorrow as Ashford Valley you are on fire at the moment ![]()
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“Ashford Valley had a fabulous day at the Area Triathlon held at Cumnor House School on Saturday.
Oliver did a fantastic job in the Beanies section; winning the throw on 800 and coming 3 rd overall.
Sister Zoe put in a great all round performance coming 3rd in the mini girls but as 2nd area 11 girl , she has qualified for the winter Tri final again!
Thomas also had a solid performance seeing him finish 4th , but again, he is off to the final as the qualification was passed down to him – fantastic!
Poppy had a clean sweep in the junior girls: best run, shoot & swim to win and pick up her qualification. All that commitment is really paying off now!
Lilly will be keeping her company at the final as she was 2nd area 11 girl coming 3 rd overall.
Jacob had to work supremely hard for second place in the fiercely competitive junior boys section, he’s also off to the National Triathlon Finals in March. Having previously qualified out of area so passing his qualification down to the 3rd place boy. Jacob also won the Area 11 League competition for the boys, a real achievement! ![]()
Flo just missed winning the intermediate girls league by 2 points- so close!
Poppy won the junior girls league with Lilly not too far behind her for second place and Zoe took the mini girls league.
In the mini boys; Thomas was 3rd and Oliver was also 3rd in the Beanies league. ![]()
All these achievements are testament to the dedication and commitment of our AV athletes (and their grownups!) who turned out all winter in sometimes quite miserable conditions to competitions and training.
A big well done all of you!
BIG NEWS!!
Poppy Polding selected to represent the Southern Region ![]()
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17th & 18th May 2025
Southern Region are proud to announce their team for this pretigious event at which only 24 of the best competitors in the UK can compete.
Ollie Gillman – South and West Wilts (Area 14)
Emma Harding – Chiddingfold (Area 13)
Poppy Polding – Ashford Valley (Area 11)
Many congratulations to these Tetrathletes on their selection.
Romney Marsh Triathlon 25th January 2025:
Ashford Valley had a hardy bunch of athletes competing at Romney Marsh today.
Flo was our only intermediate and unfortunately she had a poor start in the shoot which despite a winning run and good swim meant she finished in 5 th place.
In the juniors we had Poppy and Lilly representing us in the girls section and Jacob in the boys.
Poppy won with a good shoot & superb swim with Lilly in 4th with a very respectable shoot and another great swim.
Jacob had to work very hard in an increasingly competitive boys section , he ran brilliantly and had an amazing PB swim to finish 3rd.
Meanwhile our Minis did us proud with Zoe shooting her 2 nd competitive 1000 to win the girls section and Thomas putting in a great all round performance to take 3 rd in the boys.
Oliver was our lone Beanie today but worked really hard to finish 6th.
Great results all round on such a horrible day weather wise.
Thanks to Romney Marsh Pony Club Events for putting on a lovely competition and hopefully we will see everyone at the final one in the area 11 league : the Area Qualifier to be hosted by OSB.
January 4th 2025: Well done to all who took part in todays Triathlon Competition no matter where you came you did the club proud.
Flo. Intermediate 3rd overall. 2nd team and best run! ![]()
Lilly 2nd junior girls ![]()
Poppy 1st with best run, best shoot and best swim junior girls ![]()
Jacob 2nd junior boys ![]()
AVPC Junior team 1st ![]()
Zoe 1st mini girl with best shoot (940) ![]()
Thomas 3rd mini boys ![]()
Mixed mini team 2nd ![]()
Oliver 3rd overall missing best shoot by 20 points and 2nd in mixed team ![]()
We couldn’t be prouder of our members!
Thank you to all the families and coaches that work so hard to support the members to achieve these results.