Time to rise to the challenge

With just a week to go until the Northwest Team Show Jumping & Dressage Challenge at Eglinton, it’s time to stand up and be counted! Francis and Vera have heard from many of our members who have expressed their interest in riding on teams for one or both of the challenges.

NW Team Challenge 2013 | Schedule

The trick for our Chef d’Equipes now is to ensure that everybody who wants to compete finds a home on a team. This isn’t an event where one rider will be chosen in preference to another. Everybody can be on a team! However, to achieve this we may need your help in creating a sufficient number of teams to house everyone.

Teams are made up of two novice riders and two senior riders. Our club has significantly fewer novice riders (P & AP) than senior riders (Int & Above). This means that we may need to ask some P & AP riders to compete at the Challenge, even if they weren’t otherwise planning on it. Or those who are already signed up might need to volunteer to ride on a second team on a borrowed horse. Not every horse and rider can be mixed and matched but we have a pretty good pool of resources and will be using it creatively.

If you’d like to compete, or are prepared to compete if you’re needed, contact Francis or Vera as soon as possible. If you haven’t signed up because you haven’t got a horse, or can’t transport your horse, they’ll know who has a spare slot on their trailer, who could tow your trailer, or what other club horse might suit for you to ride.

Join in! Even if you’re not riding, come along and enjoy the day. All help will be greatly appreciated and the atmosphere of diehard club rivalry will have to be experienced to be believed.

Flatwork lessons focus on fundamentals

Mary Devine’s flatwork lessons would be of great benefit to any rider, not just those thinking of forthcoming dressage tests. On Friday night her focus was on the horses’ way of going, concentrating specifically on encouraging them to flex and bend and use their bodies fully. She emphasised the importance of building up their muscle and athletic ability gradually.

Mary described rhythm and tempo and cadence as somebody else might describe making a cup of tea — as details that should be permanently in our minds in our everyday approach to riding. Of course it’s all more easily said than done and even the simplest of shoulder-in and leg-yielding exercises prove a challenge to those who don’t school on a regular basis!

Mary’s final lesson takes place on Friday next, 26 April, and she will use it to drill her pupils a little on their team challenge tests. Book with Vera if you’re interested in joining in.

Pictured below: Hazel, Paddy and Leo performing as the Grey Ride for the first lesson on Friday evening. (They were followed by the Bay Ride with Nadine, Vera and Libby.)

Trio on Diagonal

Paddy+Leo

Hazel+Boys

Everybody safely back at base after a great trip to Gurteen

No ribbons but otherwise all reports of the National Hunter Trials indicate that the event was a big success. Enda and Pauric had a great clear round in the Advanced Primary Pairs but their time prevented them from making the placings. The optimum time for AIRC hunter trials will have us all scratching our heads to the grave. There appears to be little or no consistency from year to year but doubtless a range of factors — from the condition of the ground to the style of the track — combine in some miraculous formula to determine the exact figure for each championship.

Damien was the only one of our Intermediate riders to chalk up a clear round but, again, his time was sufficiently wide of the mark to keep him out of the ribbons.

It was left to the Gaeltachts to bring home Donegal’s 2013 quota of rosettes with John McDaid finishing 6th in the Advanced Intermediate class and the hair-raisers, Sally Mahon and Laura Schneider,  placing in both the Mixed Pairs and their respective individual classes.

2013. Another year down. It’s a credit to the county that we send participants in such numbers to this distant championship. Any of the regulars who missed it this year will be the first to tell you why it’s such an enduringly popular event.

Good luck at Gurteen

It’s the middle of April. Club members are this morning packing the last remnants of tack, clothing and provisions as they ready themselves for the road to Gurteen. The sat-navs need a slight readjustment after six years of pointing steadfastly towards Flowerhill but otherwise little is different in 2013.

Damien, Francis, Enda, Anne, Keary, Pauric, Leo and possibly Claire are heading down the road to compete for ribbons, glory and, above all, the sheer thrill of bowling around a good cross country course. They’ll be joined by friends and rivals from the Gaeltacht and Tirconaill. Inishowen are sadly missing after Kate MacPherson’s horse injured himself shortly before the event. Happily the pair will be back in action shortly.

There’s no shortage of support for the riders. We mightn’t match the sheer numbers who made the trip last year but with Audrey, Louise, Christopher and Maura leading the cheers, the club will have an unmistakeable voice.

The very, very best of luck to everybody. Have fun, come home safely, and make sure you bring some ribbons!

Northwest Challenge 2013 Schedule

With just over two weeks to go, the details of the Northwest Team Show Jumping & Dressage Challenge have been finalised.

NW Team Challenge 2013 | Schedule

Now it’s time to start composing teams and this job is being left to Francis and Vera. Make sure you let them know that you want to participate. We want plenty of teams representing us in both jumping and dressage. The club’s pride is at stake here! Even though we’re too modest and humble to maintain a trophy cabinet like some of our neighbours, wouldn’t it be nice to get our hands on those two  perpetual cups?

The dressage tests are the same as the morning tests for the Team Dressage Qualifiers, giving prospective competitors a chance for a dry run. They’re available to download from the resources section of the AIRC website.

Pictured below: Our winning team from the first ever Northwest Team Show Jumping Challenge in 2008 — Damien, Nadine, Rachel and Orla.

showjumping challenge

Riding Club TREC evening in Milford

On Friday we will have an “introduction to TREC” evening with Orla in Milford. Starting at 7pm, the activities will consist of a training session with a variety of trec PTV obstacles and CoP (Control of Paces). Riders will then ride a PTV track laid out as would be found at a competition.

Whether you’re striving for a straighter centre line in your dressage tests, better rhythm between the show jump fences or smoother communication on the cross country, the PTV skills are applicable so why not give it a try.

An optional added extra is a 30 minute introduction to maproom skills — perfect for anyone who has considered giving trec a try but is put off by the idea of map reading.

Please book with Orla by Thursday lunch time on 087 643 2458.

Donegal TREC update

Orla has been in touch with a reminder that Donegal TREC will hold a three phase TREC training competition on Saturday 13 April in Milford.  The joy of a training competition is that riders can practice all aspects of a competition while availing of back up and pointers from the stewards and coaches.

Contact Orla for full information on donegaltrec@gmail.com or 087 643 2458.

Remember too that Orla is giving riding club members an introduction to TREC on Friday next, 12 April, at Cyril’s.

Not to be overlooked: Flatwork lessons with Mary Devine

In the run-up to the National Hunter Trials (such a mouthful compared to “Flowerhill”) there’s always the danger that non-cross-country activities will get lost in the woodwork. Mary Devine’s flatwork lessons are a very worthy contender for attention. The first of three takes place this Friday evening.

Mary is an experienced dressage competitor and has herself been tutored by some of the finest in the game. The sessions should provide a great foundation for those hoping to compete in the upcoming team dressage competitions but they’ll also be of interest to members who simply want to monitor and improve their general riding skills.

Contact Vera straightaway to book, if you haven’t already done so.