Area 2 Newsletter

Welcome to what will hopefully be a sunny and enjoyable summer! We have plenty of events coming up and the next is our popular two day clinic with Scherie Dermody at Maelor Equestrian Centre on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th May. This promises to be a really fun weekend and everyone is welcome to come along, riders and non-riders alike. Scherie will be teaching morning and afternoon on both days and for those who cannot attend for the whole weekend, you can participate in single or double sessions. We will also be holding a BBQ on the Saturday evening and we have Lesley from 'Hooves' coming along to give us a talk about tack and what to wear in the show ring. There will be a mini catwalk and a couple of volunteers are needed, so if anyone has a good pair of pins they should make themselves known to Lindsey or Chris, otherwise they may be forced to step forward themselves! It should be worth coming for that alone! Costs will be £90 for the full weekend (including BBQ and talk) or single sessions at £25 and a double session (if you can only attend on one day) at £50 - BBQ £5 extra for these. We have just held our first show of the season (24th April) and the weather could not have been better. We had a pretty good turnout and David Lloyd was our judge for the day, providing some very reassuring words for the nervous and plenty of advice to help us improve our ring craft. We held a full range of classes and a big thank you goes to the committee and all helpers who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to help the day run as smoothly as it did. We also want to say a big thank-you to our sponsors, who provided much needed funds for buying the rosettes. They were - Hillside Veterinary Centre, The Raven Hotel Whitchurch, The Antique Fireplace Co, J. Pomeroy, Calf Rearers and Area 2 member Elaine Kinsey. If anyone would like to sponsor a class at forthcoming shows, please contact one of the committee members. The venue at Maelor Equestrian Centre proved very popular and also hosted our clinic on the following day, Sunday 25th April. David taught through the morning and afternoon and, by popular demand, we are hoping to book him for another clinic sometime later this summer - we will let everyone know as soon as something is arranged. Back in March we held a clinic at Walford College in Baschurch which was well attended and had good facilities. This might be a possible venue for future events and, with Area 2 covering such a huge distance, it is good to try out new arenas and open up clinics to members in further flung places. On 3rd April Tim and Janette Keeley hosted a clinic with David Deptford at their home near Ruthin. There was a session on Showmanship in the morning and David gave out some very useful advice, helping several owners to introduce their horses to show ring conditions. A delicious lunch was provided and in the afternoon we all saddled up and had individual tuition from David, then after a bit of practice, we held a mock Pleasure Class, where we were given tips on how to present ourselves to maximise our chances before the judge. We also had a go at a horsemanship pattern - looks easy on paper, but not so easy in practice! Tim and Janette will be holding two weekend clinics, with Australian trainer Steve Halfpenny during the summer, in July and September. If interested please contact them direct on 01824 750463. Also back in March, a group of us went up to the WES AGM in Coventry where Janette Keeley and I were lucky enough to be collecting some awards. Janette came home with the Open Western Pleasure, Amateur Western Pleasure and Open Pleasure Awards with Lets Role Zip MMR. Well done Janette - with your European success last year you will be needing a bigger display cabinet! I was thrilled to receive the Bill Sheppard Achievement Award for my progress over the last two years. This meant a lot to me because, as you may know, I missed a big chunk of last summer after my horse was involved in a nasty road accident. Thank goodness she is now well on the way to recovery and we hope to make the most of things in the current season. Make sure you get your entries in early for the clinic in May and don't forget we have another show coming up very soon on Sunday 13th June, at Deeside College, so no time to relax! Please go to Events page for up-to-date information on all that is planned in Area 2 for this year.

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