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02/09/10 ESRC Prize winners from 2010 shows! If you are in the list below you have won an award for yearly class points at our shows: Amy Clarke Alex Barnett Amy Shepherd Lynne Goalby Isabelle White Jane Venables Hannah Leah Virginia Smith Megan Lewis Molly Broadley Shannon Whiston Kimberley Lees Jo Berwick Victoria Jones Michelle Surmacz Aimie Perkins Gail Beard Carleen Lewis Yvonne Fradgley Sophie Holder Nickie Williams Charlotte Lander The Awards will be presented at our AGM which is on Tuesday 21st September at the Victory Hall in Lower Penn. Starting at 8pm. Please contact Bev Higgs on 07760308056 to let us know that you are coming. 20/06/10 Read the full report fro the Area 20 show jumping qualifiers here 13/07/10 Congratulations to Katie Hughes and Archie on their first BE win! Here's a little report from Katie: I hope everyone had a great day at Kelsall and there are some good results to report. As you know me and Archie were at Wolverhampton on that Saturday which is why i wasn't able to make it to Kelsall, but i couldn't wait to let you know how me and Arch got on!! We got a fab dressage (for us) of 31 and with no jumping faults to add, we won our section!! So we certainly did the East Shropshire proud once again! It was the BE90 at Dunstall Park!! So now i can say i've ridden a winner at Dunstall Park!! Haha! There's a first (and last) for everything! Was the first BE that i've won,so was thrilled! See you soon.   Katie xx 14/03/10 Congratulations to Sophie Holder and Tracey Crane who both won their 2nd rounds and have qualified to go to the finals at Royal Windsor to represent the club in intermediate show jumping. 18/11/09 An apology to all our dressage team members who've been waiting on the report from July - it's now up! I've also added the report from October. See how the ESRC teams got on here 11/11/09 East Shropshire Riding Club were out in force at Aston le-Walls horse trials on Saturday 24th October. Katie Hughes and Sophie Whiting did the club proud. Katie and Archie won their section and Sophie was 4th in hers, with them both qualifying for the Harley Equestrian Championship in 2010. Great news for the club and congratulations to Katie and Sophie!   04/10/09 The ESRC teams tacled the new hunter challenge. For the full report click here End of Year Awards 2009 We have finally managed to work out the winners of the class awards from the shows. If your name is on the list below you have won an award! Hollie Tomkins Clare Pearce Alice Cipolat Helen Gough Amanda Millard Hannah Whitehouse Jane Venables Amanda Rickhuss Amy Shepherd Megan Lewis Lauren Hickman Jodie Patrick Sarah Duffield Jo Berwick Mandy Cross Jenny Millman Michelle Surmacz Sharon Baxter We will be presenting these awards at our AGM on Tuesday 29th september at the Bell in Trysull. 8pm start. Table Top Sale @ Jubilee Hall Brewood. 10th July Adverts for the event were put up on notice boards through out Brewood, Coven, Codsall, Shareshill, Cannock, Various livery yards/feed merchants, on car windows at the RC show, and attached to information packs handed out at the Denise O’Reilly demonstration. The event consisted of 12 confirmed sellers, all of which turned up and certainly had plenty to sell ranging from “old second hand” goods to immaculate “never used” equipment. The Venue was adequate to cater for 12 stalls (anymore would be too tight) and a bar was provided which both buyers and sellers made use of the facility. A small entry cost was also charged at £1 for a non member, 50p for a member. The event ran from 7.30pm, with sellers starting to pack away from 9pm onwards. ************************************************ The overall opinion appeared positive from both sellers and buyers, with (I think) all sellers making some profit. Although more buyers would have increased this further!  The buyers who I got chance to speak with had reported seeing plenty of adverts and that they were more than happy with the set up and bargains on offer…some people staying till they literally spent their last penny!! Having one seller who was not a “table top sale virgin” I took the chance to get some valid guidance from him! He advised that the best table top sales are ones that have become established and become mainly known by word of mouth.  He therefore suggested running another event nearer Christmas; two reasons, 1 -people will look to buy presents and 2 -they are getting to winter so would consider cheap, emergency ‘could be useful in winter’ purchases.  If we could establish 2 sales a year (the other being spring for the ‘spring clean clear outs’) people would start to plan for the sales and theoretically more buyers should come through the door!!! Especially with the credit crunch once people hear someone on their yard say “there was a great tack sale last night and I got this fab rug for a fiver, you should have seen how much was on sale…I wanted to buy everything…etc” he predicts more interest will start to generate.  He continued to suggest the best evening sales are Tuesdays or Wednesdays, although he had no real idea why he made an assumption as to many ‘would-be’ buyers use Fridays/Sats for big nights out/breaks away etc, and Sundays present the problem of most equestrian’s are competing and the last thing they think about is going shopping after a long day!  From an organizers point of view I know that at future events I will not be opening the venue, bar, setting up tables, watching my own stall, collecting table money from other stall holders and collecting money on the door again as I was not born with enough eyes or hands to cope! If we had a mass rush of buyers I’d have really, really struggled!!!!  Due to this I believe that I did fail to get entry money off some buyers when they ‘snook’ past me, therefore losing some profit (Sorry!!!).  All those that I did catch were content enough to pay the agreed price.  Therefore, now knowing this, I intend to avoid having my own table next time so I can focus more on the event…and maybe a certain Dad maybe available to rope in next time, mom did her best while she was there though! I am happy to organize further sales if we want to establish this event for the riding club. Frances Small. Many thanks to Frances for organizing this event and to all those people who attended. I came away well chuffed with my  bags of goodies. I only went to buy an old girth (which I picked up for 50pence!) and £18.00 later, I had a mountain of unmissable bargains. I can’t wait for the next one! Bev Higgs. Area 20 Horse Trials @ Kelsall Hill 27th June. The evening before the area 20 horse trials saw torrential down pours, but luckily the day dawned dry if some what grey and warm. The day didn’t start to well for poor Sam who got as far as Penkridge before realising the reason their car wasn’t running properly was that she had put petrol in and it is a diesel car! Chef d’equipe to the rescue and they were soon hitched up and en route for Kelsall again. First off for ESRC were the senior novice ‘Angels’ team Wendy McGarry, Sam Davies, Catherine Starkey and Tanya Forbes. Their dressage scores were all reasonable and left us in touch, it was then on to the SJ where both Wendy and Sam jumped clear while Catherine and Tanya just had one down. They all then put up an excellent performances jumping clear cross country and just adding a few time penalties. Wendy had to ride strongly at the water complex to persuade Thomas to get his feet wet but her determination was rewarded with 3rd place in her section. Sam, Catherine and Tanya were just outside the individual places in their sections but the combined scores left the team in 5th place (out of over 20 teams) which was a great result.  Emily Crane was our only junior representative this year. Floyd pulled a shoe off before their dressage, the blacksmith nailed it back on but this left her with very little time to warm up resulting in a disappointing dressage score.  However Emily held her nerve and Pink Floyd jumped clear SJ before flying round the XC in fine style to win the Junior intermediate class. Finally it was the turn of the senior intermediate 'fearless fillies'; Lynsey Chalmers, Francis Small, and Tory Hamersley. All did reasonable dressage tests before moving on to the jumping phases. Lynsey and Francis were both (after a little persuasion from Chef d’equipe) tackling this intermediate class for the first time. They rose to the occasion with their super horses Swancote Countryman and Carys Mai to jump double clears and just add a few time penalties to their dressage scores which left them just out of the places. Tor our experienced intermediate representative had a minor hiccup early on the XC this time, but Roli jumped the rest of the course with ease. Many thanks to Louise Green and Bev Higgs who spent a long day fence judging. Without people willing to volunteer as our ‘club helpers’ for the day our teams would not be able to participate. Photos http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025765&id=1385953055&l=041365470e Don’t forget to let me know if you want to enter or fence judge at the Area Cross country competition in October. Jen Area 20 Novice SJ @ Middlewich 21st June 09 The senior novice show jumping team remained the same for 2009 as in the previous year. This was Denise Billingham on Katie, Sara Harrison on Liffy, Frances Small on Cass and Bev Higgs with Zaffy. Having achieved 4th team place at Smallwood in last year’s qualifier, everyone was feeling confident and hopes were high. All team members arrived safely at Stanthorne Park, a nice flat field with a good covering of grass and the weather was kind to us apart from a few spots of rain. The show jumping course was full of twists and turns with potential for time faults. I was first to go for our team. Zaffy seemed his usual bouncy self as we cantered towards the first jump. This was not to be our day and he put in a stop! After further stops at the double that was it for us and we got the big ‘E.’ (Pete Goalby made it all better though ‘cos he bought me an ice cream x ) Denise and Frances went on to jump two faultless clears which put them in the jump off. Both riders jumped really well to the cheers of our supporters and Frances was just out of the individual placings. Sarah and Liffy jumped with impressive style with just one knock down. Two teams finished on nought, the eventual winners being a team from Nantwich. Our team was one of four with just four faults to carry. The fastest times from the second round were then brought into play to decide who came 3rd to6th. From a total of 19 teams, East Shropshire finished 3rd which was yet another great result for our club. Well done girls! Thanks go out to our band of supporters, John, Maggie, Jerry, Pete and Lynne, with an extra special ‘thank you’ to Frances Hampton for being the judges’ writer for the day. Bev Higgs. Royal Windsor Horse Show 14th & 15th May 09 Photos At 6.00 am on Thursday 14th may, a very excited Frances, Katie, Bob, Claire, Jerry and I set off on our great adventure to the Royal Windsor Horse Show. After a trouble free journey in Katie’s box expertly driven by France’s dad Jerry, we were directed to our parking spot with a lovely view of Windsor Castle which was to be our home for the next two days. We walked through a very impressive collection of large shiny horse boxes and carriage trailers belonging to other competitors and saw some fabulous horses on our way to find the stables for Carys Mai and Archie, which were just 4 boxes away from Robert Smith’s horses. We had a short time to take in some of the sights and sounds of this top class event which included showing classes, horse drawn carriages, RDA fancy dress and show jumpers, who were clearing fences I would have preferred to walk underneath! It was soon time for Frances to walk and plan a course for her Novice Top Score show jumping round in which more difficult fences score more points. The highest scoring fence was an upright of planks worth 200 points or minus 200 if knocked down. Frances nervously warmed up along with 23 other riders. She rode a brilliant round and finished 5th which meant she was through to the championship round with 5 other riders in the main Castle Arena. With commentary by the famous Mike Tucker she held the winning time in the jump off right until the 6th rider went in and knocked 3 seconds off her time. She was proud to have gained 2nd place to loud cheers from her thrilled supporters. Later that evening we lucky enough to see some of the immaculate military riders at close quarters as they entered the main arena for the Windsor Castle Royal Tattoo and watch them perfecting their routines for their performances inside. Cass and Archie soon got used to carriages, bagpipes and cannons being fired! Definitely ‘bomb- proof!’ After a night of champagne celebrations and silliness, Friday dawned and it was Katie’s day to jump in the Intermediate class. Her class did not start until 4.40 pm so we just had to go shopping to settle her nerves. Events on this day included more show jumping, four in hand carriages, ridden and in hand showing and the Shetland Pony Grand National. We also happened to see Prince Philip strolling around! Katie and Archie looked immaculately turned out as they entered the ring, Katie having planned a clever course to include all the high scoring fences. She rode in her usual impressive, rhythmic style but luck was against her on this occasion and the top plank of the Joker fence fell! This meant minus 200 points with little chance of gaining back the loss. She accumulated a good score in a competition where some riders were even unlucky enough to fall off. “Thank you” Katie and Frances for qualifying so that we could all go to the fabulous RWHS and for competing there in such superb style. I was a very proud chairman. Thanks also to Claire for being a top class groom to them both, to Bob for his support and ‘domestic’ skills and to Jerry for his safe driving. This was definitely an experience to remember. Bev Higgs. Royal Windsor SJ Day One 14/05/09 We are very pleased to say that Frances small has had a very successfull day... 5th in the 1st round then 2nd in the Final!! Well Done Frances!! Fingers crossed for Katie Hughes for tomorrow.... A full report will be online as soon as they return with the details! Change on Committee 11/05/09 At the committee meeting on Monday 11th May, Jo Clarke resigned from the committee. Sam Davies is standing in as club secretary until the AGM in October when we will review the situation and the committee roles. Jo will continue to organize the rallies with Ticky Fletcher and Melanie Mitchell as a club member. First Show 03/05/09 A big thank you to everyone who turned up to support the first show of the year. It was a great success with all of the classes having a great turnout. We are especially pleased that our showing classes now seem to have established themselves and our new clear round ring proved to be very popular. An extra thank you to everyone who gave up their time to help. All of the results can be seen Here Lower Penn Easter Parade 13/04/09 Yet again members of our club show just how versatile they are! The parade is held in Lower Penn every year organised by Robert Reade in aid of the fund for the village hall. Everyone is invited to take part free of charge and there are prizes for the best outfits. The horses then parade round the streets led by the shire horses pulling carts full of children, all collecting money for the fund. Lots of people line the streets to see the horses pass and it is a lovely sight to see. Frist prize for the easter turnout went to our member Ashleigh Williams riding Pippa, then Robyn Johnson riding Jill Davies' Shamrock came 3rd and Charlotte Davies riding Midge (our rescue pony) came 4th! So the east shropshire horse and ponies did very well indeed. As usual Bev was the ESRC papparazzi and has taken some great photos, click on them to see larger image. The express and star were also filming on the day and you can see all 3 of the ESRC crew and a short interview with Ashleigh in the video below. This video is taken from the express and star website. (you may need to download flash player to view it) Royal Windsor Horse Show Qualifier at Tushingham Arena 28/03/09 Frances Small and Katie Hughes brought more success for ESRC in the qualifying rounds for this new competition to be held at Windsor on 14th and 15th May this year. The competition took place at Tushingham arena near Whitchurch on a freezing cold Saturday, in the form of Top Score Show Jumping and Riding tests 6 and 7. It proved to be a very exciting competition against some very skilful riders and horses from other Area 20 clubs, but both Katie and Frances achieved a brilliant 2nd place in their classes. Click here to see the full report Senior Winter Dressage Qualifier at Maelor Equestrian Centre 01/03/09 It was a beautiful day and we were blessed with mainly sunny conditions and good temperatures through out the whole day. There were a huge amount of entries for the competition 24 teams in all, more than expected which all in all made for quite a long day. All of the team members really looked fabously smart and they were a real credit to our club on the day. The team actually came equal 14th out of the 24 and the winning team overall was East Cheshire Combined Training Group. Once again many thanks to our memebers for coming forward and taking part and representing ESRC on the day. Click here to see the full report Indoor Dressage Competition @ Watt Meadow 31/01/09 Well done to everyone who took part in the indoor dressage competition on saturday. This was a first for us and seemed to be a successfula nd enjoyable day for all. Luckily for all attendees we thought about hot drinks at the very last minute, and everyone was able to warm up with a cuppa as it was rather chilly!! The results and photographs are now online. Click here Xmas Fun Day 08 at Rodbaston EC 29/11/08 Xmas fun day 2008 at Rodbaston was a great success as always. I'm sorry to everyone for not getting these photos on here sooner! I've only just realise that they weren't on. Click here for photographs Winter Indoor Dressage at Watt Meadow We are going to be holding an indoor dressage competition at Watt Meadow on Saturday 31st January. This wil be the first time that we have held this type of competition and we're hoping that it will be well supported by our members and non-members. Click here for Schedule Area 20 Junior Winter Dressage at tushingham Well done to our junior dressage team who had a great day Report here Area 20 XC qualifier at Kelsall Hill 25/10/08 Well done to all of the team who braved the very wet weather to compete. Everyone did really well. Report here AGM Quiz A Big congratulations goes to Lauren Woodhouse as she was the only one with all answers correct. Hot on her heels was Jane Ratcliffe with only one wrong. Tie-breakers made interesting reading but were not needed. A £10.00 ESRC voucher is on it's way to Lauren. Thanks to those who took part! Area 20 Dressage to music & Area 20 Team SJ Well done to all our members who took part. Full report in area 20 Dressage Qualifier at Berriewood 20/07/08 Full report now in area 20 Horse Trials Kelsall Hill 28/06/08 Link to the photographs Thank you to all of our riders who travelled the distance to Kelsall Hill to represent the club in the Area 20 Horse Trials. Also a big thank you to Suzy Hipwood and Carol Gregory for giving up their Saturday to fence judge. See the full report in Area 20 Visit to Greater Manchester Police Mounted Division 22/05/08 The visit to Greater Manchester Police Mounted Division was great fun and informative. We were able to watch a training day where a group of officers were instructed in a variety of disciplines including a troup drill ride, baton training and effects training (getting the horses used to smoke, riot gear etc) and we watched them play football too! We had the opportunity to chat to the officers and their mounts and discover what it's like to do their job.The horses were varied sizes and breeds and yes they spook just like ours at times! The day also included a tour of the stables where we saw the fantastic level of individual care and attention each horse receives in order to keep it happy and healthy in its work. We also visited the kit room (the tack was immaculate) and the divisions museum. Hillocks Farm ODE 20/04/08 ESRC members had a great day at Hillocks farm’s One day event even though the weather wasn’t quite on their side… Wendy McGarry and Sam Davies (her first ever ODE) were in class one which was 2’6”max. With early dressage times for both riders the rain was still hovering and the ground was slippery but Wendy got 31.1 and Sam got 27.3 which put them in 6th and 3rd place (out of 32). The weather had taken its toll on the SJ ring and the course was now nicely marked by a muddy track which resulted in many riders picking up cricket scores; but Wendy and Sam managed good rounds with one down each. The XC went without a hitch for both riders and they stormed home just outside of the optimum time with Wendy picking up 4.8 time penalties and Sam 6.4. In their section Sam finished in 4th and Wendy was 6th! For the overall class of 64 they’d come 4th and 7th. Class two was 3’1”max, Jenny Milman and Sophie Whiting were braving the weather for this class and both had good dressage scores with Sophie on 30.0 and Jenny on 37. Both riders made the SJ course look easy and came away with nice clears. In the XC Sophie had a nice round and came in clear with just 10 time penalties and after a sticky start Jen romped home with another good round. Sophie finished just outside of the placings in 8th. Well done to all of our members. All Matters Horsey Quiz 10/03/08 Marie Mac Donald and Jo Clemson gave everyone a very warm welcome at The Spread Eagle pub for our 'All Things Horsey' quiz night on Monday 10th March. Some of us enjoyed a delicious meal chosen from the extensive menu they offer at the pub. Marie and Jo had assigned a special area to us for the evening and we divide into five teams; 'Four Fine Fillies, ' The Sprogs,' unpaid Grooms +2,' Hoof-Hearted,' and 'The Looney Ladies.' Marie and Jo had given a great deal of thought to their varied and challenging six rounds of questions. These ranged from 'What was the name of the pony who was Black Beauty' s friend,' to some rather testing anatomical and veterinarian style questions. The picture rounds asked us to identify 15 different bits (a couple of which looked like they came straight from a torture chamber!) and 18 different faces from the horse world(one of which was Jo Clarke's personal friend!) We developed brain ache in the 'Jumbled Up' round of horsey words. The winners were 'The Looney Ladies.' A lot of fun was had by all and we would like to say 'Thank You' to our hosts Jo and Marie and we hope that they will produce another quiz for us some time. Area Senior Winter Dressage 01/03/08 Thank you to our senior dressage riders who braved the gale force winds and travelled to southview equestrian centre for the area qualifier. It was a good (and very long- especially for Judith!) day Photos are wanted from the day... please send them to Sam!! See the full report in Area 20 Area Junior Winter Dressage 10/02/08 Tushingham Arena Thank you to our team of junior dressage riders who braved the cold and travelled to the Tushingham arena on 10th Feb for the area Qualifier. A great day was had by all and the competition was very close See the full report and photographs in Area 20 Changes to Judy Kemp schooling 4/02/08 The schooling session with Judy Kemp at Burnhill Green has now been changed from 10th Feb to the 17th Feb. Changes to the Ticky Fletcher Clinic in Feb 30/01/08 On 16th February we will now be having a flatwork rally from 2-3pm and then a jumping rally from 3-4pm. We hope that this is more suitable to all who were interested. See the programme details for booking info. Changes to programme dates 25/01/08 Due to the Albrighton point to point being moved to the 27th Jan and due to the 23rd March being Easter Sunday we have changed the dates of the schooling sessions. These will now be 10th February and the 30th March. See the programme details for more information. Junior Indoor SJ 18/11/07 Southview E.C. Cheshire Thank you to our team of junior show jumpers who braved the trip to Southview on Sunday Nov 18th for the Indoor Showjumping Team Qualifier. They battled with the threat of bad weather, the challenges of horse transporting and last minute panics over flu vacs! See the full report in Area 20 Christmas Social 18/12/07 The Bell Inn, Trysull This year's Christmas social event held at The Bell Inn, Trysull, was very well attended by members of East Shropshire Riding Club and South Staffs and District Bridleways Group, many of whom belong to both organisations. Penny Jones who was writer, producer, director and presenter on the night kept a packed house of more than fifty people entertained with her quiz about all things 'Christmasy'. Nine teams of four or more took part including 'The Robin Red Breasts,' Santa's Little Helpers,' and 'Hoof-Hearted,' to name but a few. The Cryptic Carols round started us off with clues such as this:' ABCDEFGHIJKMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ x2.' The answer to this was 'Noel, Noel' ( No L in the alphabet, get it?) 'Half a Small Mule' was 'Little Donkey,' of course. The General (Christmasy) knowledge round asked us questions like 'What was the occupation of Jesus's father?' The team whose paper we marked seemed to think he was a 'car bender' but we realised it was not written too clearly! The Twelve Days of Christmas round involved remembering how many French Hens, Lords-a-Leaping, Maids-a-Milking etc. there were in the song and then applying this knowledge to various maths problems. Anything after Seven Swans was causing major mix- ups! Each team then had to stand up and sing a Christmas song. Andrew Bryant's team were particularly good.(Did they get a tip-off and have singing lessons all week before?) Santa's Little Helpers gave a brilliant performance of 'Silent Night.' (It WAS silent) Congratulations go to the winners of the quiz The Mince Tarts (AKA Di Foster, Viv, Jenny and Pam) We hope that they will be at our next 'All Things Horsey' quiz in March . A raffle was organised by Maggie Harrison with fabulous prizes and The Bell Inn provided us with a tasty buffet. A big THANK YOU to Penny for all her efforts in making the evening a big success and so much fun for all. A Happy New Year to all members and friends of E.S.R.C and S.S.D.B.G Christmas Fun Day 01/12/07 Rodbaston EC See Photos We held our annual riding Christmas Party on the Saturday 1st of December at Rodbaston, with Sylvia Hazelwood as the Master of Ceremonies, showing her superlative skills at controlling an unruly mix of reindeers, elves, Christmas trees, sparkly fairies and Santa’s little helpers, to name a few, as well as coping magnificently with some special guest appearances from both Father Christmas (who looked very much like Bev Higgs when the moustache and beard slipped southwards in the more strenuous games) and the Spice Girls (but one of them had turned into a gorgeous little dog, and there were only three of the band who made it). After the fancy dress parade and prize giving for the best dressed horse and rider, Sylvia warmed up the horses and riders with a drill ride to music, which went beautifully (and looked it from the gallery) although Bev on Zaffy and Sarah on Lord were seen to nearly run over the little ponies at the back of the snake of riders on more than one occasion – fortunately Sophie on Tigger and Robyn on Misty were keeping an eye open for trouble from these pair and easily kept their mounts going and out of the way of Father Christmas. After the drill ride there was a break for some sustenance, with warming fruit punch, and, amongst other things, slices of the best Pork Pies in Britain (the UK Taste of Britain winner this year). After a short break, the pony club games began. The skill and drive to succeed in the games by the committee was proven to be sadly lacking at the musical poles – every committee member riding got eliminated before any other member from the club lost their place…I think any ideas of any Championship Mounted Games had better wait for another year! After the lunchtime break with plenty for the riders to eat (and slices of Christmas Swede for the horses, courtesy of Nat Davies), we had the team races, The water bucket race showed exactly who normally holds a drinking glass without spilling a drop while riding (and you know who you are!), and in the hoopla race some riders found out that cantering down the line – nice and quick – then expecting your horse to stand still while you throw the hoop on the pole didn’t always go to plan, and the horse trotting sedately to the end sometimes got back a bit quicker; a bit like the fable of the tortoise and the hare! There were some strange interpretations of the ‘pair’ element of the pairs race (which was supposed to involve holding hands or sticks and riding side by side), some horses obviously decided they could do much better on their own and this included getting back to the line a lot quicker than their mate. The Horse and Hound race involved either the dogs pulling their owners through the bending poles (Jo’s red setter Gally being a prime example of a dog well in control of its owner), some owners pulling their dogs round the poles (especially the little dogs who couldn’t quite see the whole course from where they were standing), or sometimes with neither being in charge – one nameless rider at some point going one side of the pole and the dog the other, which made for an interesting finish to the race!). The team points were very close, with Santa’s Little Helpers (Bev & Zaffy, Charlotte & Gunner, Alexandra & Honeybunch, Jill and Patch) and The Reindeers (Jo & Ches, Frances & Woody, Sophie & Tigger and Lauren & Tia) coming joint second, just pipped to the post by The Mad Hatters (Sam & Boo, Jenny & Frenchie, Robyn & Misty, Sarah & Lord, Sophie & Misty). So it was a big thanks to Sylvia for doing all the work and providing all the kit needed, and running the day with such pizzazz, and to Rodbaston for letting us host it in their indoor school, and to the committee for organising the food and drink, as well as the event itself. If you weren’t there, you missed a fun party – and as someone in the gallery, I can vouch that you didn’t need to be on horseback to enjoy the day.