Novice Challenge Eventing Report

Although there were many hassles this year, by the time we eventually got to the event we all had a wonderful time.

The day before the event a D.C. from another Pony Club put in complaints about some team members not being eligible.   The rules seem to change constantly and a few from a number of clubs had slipped through the net.

After a major panic – rule changes, lame ponies, etc. – we still managed to have 2 teams and a junior individual:
                Sophie Harvey – Minsky
                Ian Cochrane – Spring
                Kate Ellison – Ginty
                Sastre Lawrence – Shadow
                Neah Evans – Katie
                Rachel Malloch – Ronald
                Megan McNutt – Freya
                Mary Pearson – Spike
                Euan Hammersley – Junior individual.

Most of us travelled down the night before and stayed with Carol Boswell and her family.   What a fab time we had.   The ponies were ridden on the beach and then we all had a Bar-B-Q.

On the day all went well, but everybody had a bit of a problem somewhere.   The team spirit was fantastic, everybody helping each other, cheering or consoling.   It didn’t matter that we didn’t win; the children’s attitude was fantastic – which made the trip worthwhile.   Euan was a star and won his class.   All in all it was good fun and a huge learning curve for all of the children.  

Training will hopefully start around Easter time again, so anybody interested please do get in touch before then.
Many thanks to the team members, parents, helpers and all who made it such a fun time.

TRISHA HUNTER