September 2013

Finally – a good Summer

This is the bit where I talk about the weather! At last, a decent Summer and what a relief not to be wading through muddy field s for a change. Yes, some of the tracks have got a bit hard and horses like my laminitic one might struggle a bit; some days it has even been too hot to ride, but hasn’t it been great to go out without a coat and feel confident of getting back without a soaking. The chilly start to September and the already noticeable drawing in of the evenings tells us that winter is on its way but I hope that you have as many happy memories of Summer riding as I do to see you through. I’ve just spent a weekend entertaining lots of relatives from the South East and they cannot believe how beautiful our area is; if you’re like me, you’ll be thinking how lucky we are to live in the Haworth area and storing up every lovely ride you manage to get against the (possibly) long hard winter ahead.

Pleasure Rides

We kicked off the season with a very well-attended May Day Ride around Oxenhope, but subsequent rides have been poorly attended. The July ride around Ogden Moor suffered from some adverse comments on Facebook which put off some members, although riders from further afield thoroughly enjoyed the day and have given us very positive feedback. This is very galling for those who have put a lot of time and effort into organising the day and is not good publicity for our organisation. I suggest that it would be far better to contact the organiser, or a committee member, if you need information about a ride rather than to rely on hearsay. A Pub Ride organised for August, in response to requests from members, was also very poorly attended. So ... if you want the committee to continue to give their time to these events, please come and support the final Pleasure Ride of the year on Sunday 29th September. This wil follow the route of our previous Grainwater Bridge rides, going as far as Hardcastle Crags – a fabulous ride, probsbly the longest we organise, with an amazing canter on the way home. We also plan to hold our traditional Poppy Day Ride on Sunday 10th November.

Annual Show

Having spent a large part of the year humming and hawing about whether or not to hold a show this year, in the event we had a really successful day on August 25th! The weather was perfect, entries were excellent, the venue (High Laithe Livery Stables) was perfect and even the fact that the caterers pulled out at the last minute did not prevent a great day being had by all! Huge thanks are due to Abigail and Angela Pell for their organisation.

Full results from the Show can be found on the show page

Website

Every time I look at the website I am amazed at how much information is on there, and how quickly it gets updated. I would like to use this opportunity to highlight all the hard work Vickie McRae puts in for all of you. It is a fabulous resource – please make sure you use it fully.

Membership for 2013.

Many of our activities can only be accessed by members and ALL are cheaper for members. The discounts offered to members by local businesses and the networks you can access as a member more than cover the small cost of membership.

Dressage Competitions

In response to requests from members, the dates for 2013 were divided between Saturdays and Sundays. Whilst this has not deterred our usual competitors, those members who pressed for Sunday competitions have been conspicuous by their absence so we will probably revert to Saturdays only if we continue with dressage in 2014.

Finding judges has continued to be a nightmare, especially those who will commit in advance, so if anyone has possible contacts, please let Gill know. On the other hand, an enormous thank you to Helen and Antony Crosland at Lilyhall who have gone out of their way to accommodate us comfortably, to the extent of building a weatherproof scorebox for judges! They are situated pretty centrally for our membership and we are hoping they will agree to be our main venue next year.

If you want to keep track of dressage results and consult the Points Table, please see the dressage results page.

Nominations for AGM 2013

Nominations required for:

Most promising Junior Member and reason

Most Enthusiastic Junior and reason

Most Improved Senior Member and reason

Most Supportive Member and reason

Achievement Award and reason

Proposal for discussion at AGM