Events in Area 2 Dates for 2012 The following events have been planned so saddle up and come and join us!

HOME EVENTS IN 2012 SHOW RESULTS FOR SALE LINKS CONTACT US Proposed Winter Clinic Dates (Non-WES Affiliated) McGuires Performance Horses will be running the following clinics at - Ridgeway Equestrian Centre, Cradley, Nr Worcester Sunday 18th December - Winter Fitness Clinic for Horse and Rider - General Western clinic for all abilities to help keep you and your horse supple throughout the winter months. Xmas theme - Mince Pies/Mulled Wine and Xmas cake to all who attend plus a special introductory offer of only £35 for a 3hr session!!! Sunday 22nd January - Horsemanship and Pleasure Clinic - Work on your horsemanship skills, iron out any niggling problems and then practice different elements of patterns ending with putting together 1/2 whole patterns - £40 for a 3hr session Sunday 26th February - Trail Clinic - Concentrate on obstacles that you or your horse find difficult and end with practising 1/2 whole trail patterns - £40 for a 3hr session. Sunday 11th March - Youngstock Clinic - Bring your yearling or two yr old along to work on desensitization techniques, halter preparation and in hand trail - £35 for a 3hr session . Sunday 25th March - General Show Preparation Clinic - ensuring you and you horse are ready for the upcoming show season - £40 for a 3hr session. All clinics are to be held at Ridgeway Equestrian Centre in Cradley, Worcestershire WR13 5JW - www.ridgewayequestriancentre.co.uk. The arena is outdoors so come prepared for all weathers and wrap up warm! Toilets and Tea/Coffee facilities are available and there's plenty of parking. Please be prepared to wear a hard hat for insurance reasons. Clinics are to be held from 1pm till 4pm on all days unless heavily subscribed when a further morning session from 9am till midday will be provided. Lessons McGuires Performance Horses will also be starting regular weekly 'shared' lessons between 2 and 3.30pm. Share your lesson with one or two friends and receive and hour and a half's tuition for just £25 each!! These will take place at our home base - Woodlands Farm in Brimfield, Nr Ludlow SY8 4NX. Please see www.mcguiresperformancehorses.webs.com for more details. Please phone 07768226952 to book yourself on to one of the clinics or book a shared lesson. Clinics must be booked at least 10 days before the proposed date. WES Northern Counties 2 Day Show Date - Saturday July 14, 2012 9:00 AM - Sunday July 15, 2012 6:00 PM Venue - Myerscough College, Bilsborrow, Preston, Lancashire PR3 0RY Judge - Mick Carder Stabling available from Friday 13th July. 1 night £25.00 / 2 nights £35.00. Electric hook up £10 per night. Accomodation limited and cost to be confirmed. Schedule and entry form to follow. For more information see Area 5 Website - http://wesarea5.webs.com/ Hereford Equestrian Directory If you live in the south of Area 2 and would like to advertise events and items for sale, or just want to keep up to date with equestrian events in the area, there is a great website to do just this - Hereford Equestrian Directory Area 6 are aiming to make use of this site to promote Western riding through articles and photos. If you have something you would like to add, these can be uploaded directly to the site. Western Fun Day Definitely Not Yee Hah! Well, a fun day was had by all that attended the 'have a go at barrel racing and pole bending’. It was held at Tim and Janette Keeley's place in Ruthin and was open to anyone. Quite a few WES members attended and also a few onlookers. Katie Burrows, a new member from Area 2, came along complete with help (from rodeo moms website). You may think that barrel racing is all about yeehah, but you would be far from the truth. It is a very technical competition and your horse needs to be supple, co-ordinated and actually very fit. Katie started everyone off doing patterning at the walk. This may have seemed very boring but was essential to warm up the horses and tune them in. She moved on to do this individually at the walk, then if riders were confident, at the jog. Some attempted it at canter (but not many!) and we did not race against each other, so everyone worked within their comfort zone. You will see from the pictures how relaxed a day it was. In the afternoon, Katie set barrels out as poles and we all had a go at pole bending (a bit more difficult as it entailed lots of leg yeilding and shoulder lifting) and again by the end of this session all the horses were working very softly. It seemed to be a valuable type of thing to do as a schooling exercise and Katie has patterns available if anyone is interested. We would like to thank Katie for her time and effort (especially as she had a puncture on the way) and also to thank her for not accepting expenses, which will now go into Area 2 funds. Thank you Katie.