October 2012

Committee Members

Chairperson – Gill Burgess
Treasurer, Membership & Bridleways Officer – Margaret O’Neill
Secretary – Michelle Dalingwater
Junior Co-ordinators – Abbie Pell & Angela Pell
Hunter Trials Organiser & Facebook – Karen Ballantine
Annual Show Committee – Jane Clavin, Corrine Bower & Vickie McRae
Dressage Organiser – Gill Burgess
Welfare Liaison Officer – Hilary Bailey
Newsletter and Publicity – Gill Burgess

Please see the end of the newsletter for committee contact information.

Welcome to Autumn
After the washout Summer it’s almost a relief to contemplate Winter routines with the horses snugly tucked up
in their warm beds and no more tramping across waterlogged fields - I’m really trying to be positive! As we go to press it looks as though Summer might have finally arrived, with more sunny days in a row than we’ve had since May, but unfortunately it’s unlikely to make much difference now. Maybe next year ……

Annual General Meeting – November 20th 2012
The 2011 AGM was relatively poorly attended so please try to make the effort to come this year. It is your chance to have your say and we desperately need new, and more, committee members if we are to maintain the range of activities on offer. Membership has declined this year so we really do need input from everyone to help us reverse this. As well as the awards and the business elements of the evening, it is a social event and there will, as usual, be light refreshments. If you have not returned your questionnaire yet, this is the time to do it and have your name entered into the prize draw. We also hope to have a Bridleways Calendar 2013 available for sale, so bring your money!
Please note, if you would like to nominate a member for one of our annual awards and/or propose an item for discussion at the AGM, there is a form at the end of this newsletter which must be returned to a committee member by November 12th.

Bridleway News
There has been very little happening on the bridleways front during the summer, partly because of holidays, etc., but mainly because they have been so unfit to ride owing to the weather. Any plans for working parties to tidy up and repair the moorland tracks have had to be shelved pending drying out and reports to the council have been mainly concerning things like missing manhole covers and gate latches. The (new) committee will no doubt be turning its attention to our longer-term projects to maintain and reclaim tracks over the course of the winter.

Riding and Road Safety
Dawn Entwistle of Yorkshire riding and Road Safety (assisted by Jackie Butterfield) spoke to our August meeting on this subject which is so essential to all of us. She runs BHS recognised training and conducts the exams on their behalf, but was anxious to stress that it is not essential to take the exam – the training is the important part!!! Although fatalities are slowly declining, one incident is too many if it happens to be you, and we are only too conscious of this after the appalling accident to one of our members this Summer. For those wanting to take the qualification, this consists of 3 parts – a written exam, consisting of 20 multiple choice questions, which must be taken first; once this has been passed there is a simulated road test and then a short road route. Once passed, the written exam can be “banked” until the other tests have been passed.
Jackie offered to hold some very reasonably priced training sessions for Bridleways members so watch this space.
NB – Did you know it is breaking the law to use your ‘phone on the public highway whilst riding a horse? Hands up whose guilty!

Forthcoming events
Haworth and Oxenhope District Bridleways Group exists to safeguard our local bridleways. The events we hold highlight these and help to raise funds for their protection and extension.

Monthly Meetings
These are all held at The Old White Lion, Haworth. Junior Meetings start at 6.45pm and are followed by the Senior Meeting at 8pm. As well as sharing information, we have a talk by a visiting speaker (usually lasting around 45 minutes, followed by questions), a raffle and a chance to socialise.

We will shortly be starting to compile a list of speakers for next year and always welcome suggestions, or perhaps you would like to come and give a talk yourself Please contact any committee member with ideas.

Date Speaker/Subject
23.10.2012 Kate Dashper from Ride Yorkshire holidays
20.11.2012 AGM
We do not hold a meeting in December

Pleasure Rides
The next organised ride will be our annual Poppy Day ride on November 11th. We also hope to run the Christmas Ride on December 30th.

Dressage Competitions
The final Dressage Competition of the year was held on August 18th at Highfield House Farm and Livery, a change of venue forced by weather problems at High Laithe. In a reduced entry results were as follows:

1st P12 Seniors Hollie Postlethwaite Lucy
2nd Karen Ballantine Nothing to Add
1st P18 Seniors Hollie Postlethwaite Lucy
1st P12 Juniors Abigail Kershaw Dolly
1st P18 Juniors Faye Andrew Westie
2nd Abigail Kershaw Westie
1st Fledglings Junior Abigail Kershaw Dolly
2nd Faye Andrew Dolly
3rd Aimee Moses Bruce

Report on the 2012 Dressage Season
Once again, I must say a really big Thank you to everyone who has taken part this Summer, both on horseback and in organisation. We have again held four successful competitions, met some new competitors and judges and, unbelievably, had fine weather on every occasion! We were missing some of our stalwarts from recent years; Sian Richards trusty Sunny Cavalier was out of action and Fiona Tiley was otherwise engaged this year – congratulations on the birth of Beatrice in August – but hopefully they will both be back.
The small number of regular supporters was boosted on each occasion by competitors who only managed to compete once (thus not qualifying for the awards), but helping us to break even financially, with a healthy number of rosettes in stock to keep next year’s costs down.
Once again, Abigail Kershaw swept the board at Junior level, with strong competition at fledgling level (riders and/or horses new to dressage) with Aimee Moses and Bruce coming out on top. We had no regular adult fledglings this year, but the Senior competition was close fought, with a tie at the top between Angela Parker and Galway Warrior and Hollie Postlethwaite on Lucy.
Finally, I must thank all the judges and arena owners who have made our competitions possible, and a huge Thank you to those people who have helped in various ways on the days of competition; once again, I couldn’t possibly have managed without Chris Morrell, who has been there every time encouraging and helping everyone. Look forward to seeing you all again in 2013!
Gill Burgess