The final fixture of the Champion Headwear Pony Club Pony Racing series, held at Lingfield Park Racecourse on October 26^th 2015, saw sunshine and a special visit from The Pony Club’s Patron, HRH The Princess Royal. 

As a great turnout of over 400 Pony Club Members, supporters and family poured in through the gates ahead of the pony racing action there was the opportunity to visit the British Horseracing Education and Standards Trust (BHEST) andcareersinracing to have a go on the equicisors, try on real racing silks, get top tips and find out more about Racing as a sport and a career. Over in the paddock, the National Hunt racehorse Sire de Grugy was in fine form for visitors to admire, before taking to the course for a gallop!

As the day’s pony racing got underway, there was a bumper entry of near 100 Pony Club Members, competing for one of the Champion Headwear race titles at Novice and Open level over four, six or eight furlongs. The special ‘*Area 11 Training Stakes’ race title went to **Centre Member Sophie Manners (14), from London based Pony Club Centre, Park Lane Stables riding Derwent Dream Dancer who also won the tack and turnout for the class!

“The day has been such a great opportunity for our Members to get a feel for what it would be like to be a jockey” said Natalie O’Rourke, Proprietor of Park Lane Stables. “We must thank the Eridge Branch and The Pony Club for the opportunity to meet HRH the Princess Royal – coupled with our winner we have had the best day ever!”

With the occasion also marking the 80^th anniversary of the organising Eridge Hunt Branch of The Pony Club, HRH the Princess Royal met current Members from the Branch aged four upwards to find out more about them and their ponies, before kindly cutting into an amazing commemorative chocolate cake to be enjoyed by everyone.

“What an amazing day we had at Lingfield Park Racecourse today for The Pony Club Race Day!” said Joanna Tindall, Eridge Hunt District Commissioner. “A huge thank you to all those who helped us from Lingfield Park and the many others from other Pony Club Branches within Area 11. Everyone made it such a special day and one we will all remember for a long time”.

There was an additional surprise for Joanna, alongside Cherry Michell the former Pony Club Chairman,  as they were presented with their Cubitt Awards by HRH the Princess Royal, to honour their individuals commitment of over 20 years voluntary service to The Pony Club.

Before heading home HRH the Princess Royal was able to watch some of the pony racing action before stopping by at the prize giving for Race 5 to present the winners and receive a bouquet from Eridge Hunt Member, Theo Boyle.

“It was wonderful to have HRH the Princess Royal with us for our final pony racing fixture of the year” commented Pip Kirkby, Chief Executive of The Pony Club. “The day was such a great display of what The Pony Club is doing at grassroots level with racing as a sport, as well what our amazing volunteers achieve on our behalf”.

Andrew Perkins, Executive Director of Lingfield Park Racecourse, echoed the success of the day saying “Hosting the annual Eridge Hunt Pony Club pony racing event at Lingfield Park has always been a pleasure and it was great to see the occasion made even more special this year with the attendance of HRH the Princess Royal”.

Over 100 players applied to take part, in a selection process involving a written application and observation of players by managers and coaches across the country. Standards were high, with selected junior sections for England, Scotland and Wales teams containing five of players recently named in the UK Polocrosse Association’s own Under 16 team; Ruaridh Gillanders (Scotland), Annabel Mahoney (Scotland), Annabel Twinberrow (Scotland), Jack Brown (Wales) and George Parrish (England) have also all been named as part of the UK team that will play against Zambia in a test match series in early August.

England Manager and Pony Club ambassador Chris Milburn comments, “The standard of play and the level of competition for spaces was incredibly high across all the Nations. All the managers and coaches have said how hard they found it to make their final team selection.  I would like to congratulate all the successful players and I look forwards to a very close contest in July.”

The selected teams are:

The unique format for the competition sees each Nation’s team consisting of one section of *Minis, one section of **Juniors and one ***Open section, meaning that players of all ages will take to the field during the weekend. Each section within the teams’ consists of three players, but with an option for Nations to select four players in each age group and swap the players in each section around between chukkas.

Each Nation will play each other once, with six matches over the weekend each consisting of nine chukkas, at six minutes each. After each chukka the sections of the teams will change over, meaning that each of the three sections will play three chukkas in each match and get twelve minutes of rest for each six minutes of play; this structure, with built in rest periods, means that each player will only have to use one horse during the weekend.

Jan Whitehead, the Chairman of Pony Club Polocrosse, comments “It is wonderful that 23 years after it was first introduced as a Pony Club discipline, Polocrosse has now grown and developed to a point where we can select strong and competitive teams from all four Nations within the United Kingdom. We hope this will be the first of many competitions of this nature, and with the sport continuing to grow both within Branches and Centres, we would love this event to act as an inspiration for up and coming players all around the country.”

All the teams involved are also benefitting from support towards their clothing and equipment from Redrow Homes, Ollard Westcombe and Polocrosse Extreme.

Further information about the Pony Club Polocrosse Home Nations can be found on www.pcuk.org

Over 100 Pony Club Members gather at Moreton Morrell College, Warwickshire, on April 4^th 2015 for The Pony Club National Quiz Finals, kindly supported by NFU Mutual.

The NFU Mutual National Quiz attracts teams from Pony Club Branches and Centres throughout the UK, who qualify for the final by winning their Area competition. A total of nineteen teams qualified for the event, and all were keen to demonstrate their knowledge across a range of equestrian and non-equestrian subjects, to be in the running to take the Branch or Centre title in this popular annual competition.

The teams were tested on a diverse range of topics across the eight rounds:

Round 1 – The Pony Club
Round 2 – Recognising Horse Ailments
Round 3 – Around the Countryside
Round 4 – Breeds, Colours & Markings
Round 5 – Practical Round (Individual)
Round 6 – Travelling & Road Safety (Pairs)
Round 7 – Know Your Spelling
Round 8 – Picture Round

The Branch competition was hotly contested, with teams including the Chipping Branch who were victorious in 2014 and the Hampshire Hunt who took top honours in 2012 and 2013. The marks were close at the interval, but the team from Hampshire Hunt – Ella Greenway (11), Catherine Van Randwyck (12), Archie Moffat (14) and Abigail Gant (15) – took the lead in the afternoon session, gaining an impressive 86 points out a possible 90 to win the competition; 30 marks ahead of second placed Chipping Branch who finished on 246.5 points who narrowly pipped Bramham Moor Hunt Pony Club came in 3rd place, with a total of 246 points.

Emma Moffat, Hampshire Hunt’s Quiz Team Manager was thrilled with the win. She commented “At the beginning of December, twenty of our Members starting training for the Area Quiz.  We arranged a series of Achievement Badges throughout the winter to tie in with the quiz subjects this year.” Emma continued “Our winning formula is to supplement quiz training with pizza and chocolate biscuits!” Emma went on to thank NFU Mutual for the generous prizes which the winners received.

In the Centre competition, first timers Tumpy Green Equestrian Centre were in the lead after Round Six with 161 points, ahead of Lavant House Stables who were close behind with 159.5 points. The Lavant House Stables team, consisting of Jim Butler (11), Ellie Dickens (12), Phoebe Goodale (14) and Laura Pattison (21), gained full marks in Round Seven to beat Tumpy Green in Round Eight, meaning they romped home for a third successive victory.

Denise Pattison, Lavant House Stables Team Manager, commented “Lavant House Stables were delighted to win the Centres section of the Pony Club NFU Mutual National Quiz for the third successive year.” Denise went on to say that Lavant’s high score in the first round helped to secure their victory.

The team from Tumpy Green took second place with 197 points, just half a point ahead of Field House Equestrian Centre and Throstle Nest Riding School who tied for third place on 196.5 points. The judges decided that Field House Equestrian Centre should be awarded third place as they had a higher score in Round One, so Throstle Nest Riding School went into a respectable fourth position.

Pennant Park Riding Centre, who were also attending for the first time, won the Home Made Collage or Display competition with their papier mache horse’s head, which wowed the judges. Wyndham Branch were runners up with their artistic mini display called ‘All About the Horse’.

Hannah Clack, NFU Mutual National Quiz Secretary, congratulated everyone who took part in the final and added “Teams came from all corners of the UK and worked extremely hard to prepare for the final – and we thank NFU Mutual for their ongoing support of this popular competition.”

The Pony Club Winter Triathlon Final, kindly sponsored by NFU Mutual, was held on March 15th 2015 at Stantonbury Leisure Centre, Milton Keynes.

A fantastic 265 competitors came forward to the final after qualifying at Area competitions held during the winter months. The competition caters for Pony Club Members at all ages, with sections run for Minimus (aged 8-11), Junior (aged up to 14) and Open (up to the age of 25) incorporating those at Pony Club Intermediate and Open level; with Open seeing all competitors swimming for three minutes, shooting turning targets from 10 metres, and running 1500m (girls) or 2000m (boys).

The winners in each section were:

Open Boy’s: Robert Fraser (Moray and Nairn Branch)
Open Girl’s: Isobel Mogg (Triley Fields Pony Club Centre)
Junior Boy’s: Connor Dougall (Braes of Derwent South Branch)
Junior Girl’s: Emma Whitaker (Lancaster & District Branch)
Minimus Boy’s: Joshua Mitchell   (West Warwickshire Branch)
Minimus Girl’s: Gina Speakman (Ryburn Valley Branch)

There was also a competition for teams made up of four Pony Club Members, with the top three scores from each team counting. The team from Area six of The Pony Club, comprising Olivia Hooper (South Notts Hunt), Laura Bates (South Notts Hunt), Henry Traylen (Fitzwilliam Hunt) and Lewis Harby (Quorn Hunt) took the top slot on a score of 9622.

“The final was a great success” commented Judy Hardcastle, a member of The Pony Club Tetrathlon Committee. “We must say a huge thank you to all the volunteers that joined us, and helped make each phase of the competition run so smoothly”.

Full results from the Winter Triathlon Final and details about how to take part in the series can be found HERE.

A former member of the Albrighton Woodland Branch of The Pony Club in her youth and a member of the 1960 Olympic British Show Jumping team, Dawn has held a multitude of roles in The Pony Club, proving herself an incredibly valuable attribute for half a century; during which time she has come to epitomize the purpose for which The Pony Club was created.

Dawn, from Studley in Warwickshire, became Chairman of The Pony Club between 1991 and 1997, and it was under her Chairmanship that The Pony Club became independent of The British Horse Society and a charity in its own right. In 1997 she also coordinated the re-writing of The Pony Club Manual of Horsemanship, widely considered the ultimate text book for the riding and care of equines.

At grassroots level Dawn has also worked tirelessly, and still runs a Mini Camp at her home every summer for the under 9’s, and it is from these camps that the next generation get their first taste of ‘kicking on and having fun’.

Dawn is still a member of The Pony Club Training Committee, and until 2014 was the coordinator for the prestigious Pony Club ‘A’ Test, making sure that nervous candidates were always welcomed and reassured on one of the biggest days of their Pony Club careers.

“Dawn has a vast knowledge of riding and caring for horses and ponies, which she is always willing to share.” comments Cherry Michell, former Chairman of The Pony Club. “She is one of those very rare people who can inspire people of all ages and The Pony Club is privileged to call her one of their own!”

The Torch Trophy Trust awards are unique in celebrating the often thankless and sometimes overlooked work of volunteers, with the prestigious ceremony designed to encourage, reward and recognise the three million people in the UK who give up their free time to volunteer in sport, in their local communities, every year – without whom sport simply wouldn’t be able to function.

Speaking at the event, Chairman of the Torch Trophy Trust, Sir Bobby Charlton said: “We have honoured these volunteers at the Torch Trophy Trust Awards because of their incredible contribution to our great sporting nation. These volunteers are experts in their own field and we are pleased to bring attention to their tireless work. Volunteering is more often than not a thankless task but we must remember that without volunteers’ grassroots sport simply wouldn’t be able to function. Giving their time means more than turning up on a Sunday morning – as praiseworthy and important as that too is.”

Dawn was nominated for the award by the British Equestrian Federation and her award was collected by her daughter, Valerie Wofford, on her behalf at the event which was held at the Army and Navy Club, London.

A mix of social and skills-based activities for young people, Young Equestrians offers 13-18 year olds the chance to connect with equestrian sport through a fun and informal hub offered at local riding schools. Originally developed by Hoof, the British Equestrian Federation’s (BEF) participation programme, the Young Equestrians scheme is being delivered through The Pony Club and provides participants with more choice and freedom in how they take part in equestrianism, as well as providing a focus on skill development

Lodge Riding Centre’s Young Equestrian Group enjoyed an initial nine participants, who kicked off with a Zumba session led by riding instructor and Young Equestrians coordinator for Lodge Riding Centre, Jade Taylor. Jade, 27 said the Sport England-funded Young Equestrians initiative was all about keeping riders riding and active at a time many dropped out of the sport. “They’re at that age when everything’s changing,” said Jade. “It’s important for us to do things that are a bit different. Zumba helps with fitness and body awareness which they need in their riding, but it’s also about confidence which they need too.”

Leigh-Ann Armstrong, 14, from Runcorn said the Zumba session had definitely improved her riding and also was excited about being a part of Young Equestrians, commenting “I like different experiences and trying different ways of doing things”.

Following on from the high-energy exercise session, focusing on how a rider’s skeleton moves, participants then saddled up for a riding session to put some of their newly learnt skills into practice, with Daisy Green, 14, commenting “Using Zumba, you learned how your body works and that you can control your horse just by moving your body.”

“It was a fantastic start to our Young Equestrians group” commented Debbie King, Coordinator at Lodge Riding Centre. “It focused on the fun side of riding and on a rider’s relationship with the horse and I think that’s what’s so exciting about Young Equestrians; the emphasis is on enjoyment of exploring new activities with horses and with others who share your interests.”

All the day’s participants agreed the session had been fun and joined in enthusiastically when it came to suggesting ideas for future sessions, which included Polocrosse, Endurance riding, Pony Racing and horse painting!

Young Equestrian’s can log their sessions at www.youngequestrians.club, where they can record their activities and achievements as well as access training materials offered by The Pony Club. Riding schools who deliver Young Equestrians are given access to virtual tools to help them establish their group, including example session plans, marketing materials and a host of different ideas on how to retain teenagers in equestrian sport.

If you are a riding school or young person and want more information on how to get involved in the programme please visit www.youngequestrians.club.

The Pony Club is full steam ahead towards Olympia, The London International Horse Show, with an enhanced presence at the show for 2014, 

including all the usual Pony Club merchandise, running the Olympia Shopping Drop Off, launching the next level of the e learning site ‘PonyPrep Plus’ and some great action in the Mini Major show jumping competition!

• Charley Hamilton (aged 12) riding Bee Bop A Lula – Aberdeenshire Branch
• Lily Freeman-Attwood (12) riding Kitty – Tantatside Hunt
• Ella Quigley (11) riding Hot Chilli Pepper – Sir Watkin Williams Wynn’s Hunt
• Francesca Young (11) riding Pussy Cat Doll – Old Berkshire Hunt
• Hannah Bishop (12) riding Green Gem Coco – Banwell
• Anabelle Heffron (11) riding Miss Elegant – Iveagh
• Niall McEvoy (12) riding Sparkling Majestic Caesar – Seskinore Harriers
• Megan Morris (11) riding Brown Sugar III – Edinburgh

For perfectly priced gifts, that will keep you looking safe, smart and even include something for those who love art, The Pony Club has all you need this Christmas!

The 2014 Pony Club Christmas card reflects the current trend for ‘selfies’ and features an exclusive and humorous illustration from Kate Scurfield. “Selfie” comes in a pack of 10 cards and envelopes with the message “With best wishes for Christmas and the New Year” inside and is priced at £4.95.

Produced in partnership with V-Bandz, the leading innovator in equestrian high visibility products, the new Pony Club fluorescent tabards are perfect for autumn hacking and are certified to European standard EN1150. Featuring The Pony Club logo and reflective strips for additional safety, the design is suitable for both male and female riders and are fully adjustable to ensure good fit over a range of clothing. They are available in three sizes; small child, large child and adult, and priced at £14.95 each.

Following on from The Pony Club’s successful Art Competition, in association with the Society of Equestrian Artists, a useful notepad carrying an illustration by 2013 finalist Arabella Barnes makes the perfect present. Depicting the exhilaration Arabella felt when her young horse jumped a clear show jumping round in their first competition, the note pad contains 100 pages, sized at 15cm x 14.5cm and priced at £3.95.

Perfect for keeping your riding kit clean and safe, The Pony Club hat bag, boot bag and holdall are available at a special price when purchased together, so why not treat yourself to the full set? Practical and hard wearing, in smart black and purple colourway, with an embroidered Pony Club logo you can purchase all three for £42.95, saving £10.00!

The commemorative Pony Club 85th anniversary products also make ideal stocking fillers, but they are only available in 2014, so make sure you get them while you can! The 85th range includes mugs, coasters, a canvas shopping bag and a set of postcards all beautifully illustrated by Annie Horwood, and prices start at just £3.50.

Whatever you’re looking for this Christmas, from scrunchies and stocks to books and boot bags and much more visit The Pony Club to see what we have in store!

Order online at shop.pcuk.org or by calling 02476698300. Items will also be available from The Pony Club trade stand at Horse of the Year Show, Your Horse Live and London International Horse Show (Olympia).

The Pony Club Championships, held at Cholmondeley Castle, Cheshire from 15^th to 18^th August, once again played host to the finals of The Pony Club Art Competition; a joint venture between The Pony Club and The Society of Equestrian Artists (SEA), open to all Pony Club Members and aimed at finding the next generation of talented equestrian artists.

In The Pony Club’s 85th Anniversary year, entrants were asked to base their artwork on the theme of “The Pony Club Then, Now and in the Future” – depicting a past memory, what they love about The Pony Club today or what they envisage the organisation will be in years to come.

The competition once again proved hugely popular, with near 100 entries submitted, and themes that included Members’ favourite Pony Club Camp, their first experience of competing and the close relationship between a horse and rider.

At the initial judging, carried out by SEA representatives, the exceptional quality of entries made the judges’ task a very difficult one, but an eventual shortlist of thirty paintings was produced to go forward to the second stage judging with ten in each of the age categories.

The second stage of judging saw The Pony Club’s Area Representatives drawing on their extensive Pony Club knowledge to vote on their favourite paintings in each category, producing 15 finalists. These artists all had the opportunity to have their work showcased at The Pony Club Championships for the final judging, undertaken by Mary Tuckett, Chairman of The Pony Club, and Jennifer Bell and Michelle McCullagh from the SEA.

After much deliberation, Myfanwy Powell from the Tanatside Hunt Branch was chosen as the Reserve Champion, but it was Verity Child from the South Devon Hunt (West) Branch who was crowned the overall Champion with a painting inspired by ‘Pony Club as a precious time, laughing with friends and the love of ponies’.

Both Verity and Myfanwy will now have the unique opportunity to have their artwork showcased at the SEA’s “The Horse in Art 2014” exhibition at The Mall Galleries in London, taking place on 2^nd September, where Verity will also be presented with a trophy by the SEA.

“I wasn’t expecting to win the competition when I entered and it was incredible just to win my age category”, commented Verity, adding “the amazing quality of all the artwork at the finals makes this award even more special.”

Debbie Burt, Chairwoman and Press Officer of the SEA, commented that “The Society of Equestrian Artists is delighted to continue our commitment to encouraging young equestrian artists through this award. We hope that by exhibiting the work of the winner Verity Child, and the runner-up, Myfanwy Powell, at our annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries, it will inspire them to further their studies and perhaps become Full Members in the future.”

Following the continued success of the competition, plans will soon be made for next year’s event, hopefully uncovering yet more young equestrian artistic talent of the future!

Olympic riders, British Eventing Accredited Coaches, British Horse Society Fellows and the British Eventing team’s Performance Manager Yogi Breisner FBHS all gathered to take part in an interactive CPD evening, which saw lively discussion and debate. British Showjumping Accredited Coach and Coach Educator Corinne Bracken lead on proceedings, offering plenty of useful tips and thought provoking exercises to encourage coaches to adapt to new teaching methods and compare their existing techniques.

As well as leading some of the exercises, Yogi Breisner also received his first Pony Club Coaching Log Book presented by Mary Tuckett, Chairman of The Pony Club; Coaching Log Books, as well as being listed on The Pony Club instructor database, are a requirement for all Pony Club coaches to provide a record of their completed CPD.

The evening was created and hosted by Pony Club Area 9 Representative Pleasance Jewitt, who felt that an interactive coaching CPD session would be beneficial to complement the lecture-demo style more common with such events. As well as enlisting the elite coaches, Pleasance also brought in some young talent to receive training from the 28 coaches. These riders included some of Pony Club rising stars; including Tintin Belsham (VWH Branch) an individual winner of the 2013 Pony Club Open Eventing Championships and long-list rider for this year’s Junior European Eventing Championships. Thomas Tulloch (Sir W.W Wynn’s Branch) who has recently added the Charles Owen British Pony Championship title to his list of wins, Thea Godding (Cotswold Hunt Branch) and Sapphire Graham (VWH Pony Club Branch), both of whom are based at Rectory Farm.

“We wanted to improve how these types of courses had been run previously, and create something more interactive with no one sitting down” commented Pleasance. “We definitely achieved this with Corinne’s input of how to make the most of the evening, and Yogi especially went away full of ideas on how he could run the next course!”

For further information about requirements for Pony Club Coaches visit http://www.pcuk.org/training or contact Jenny Yates 02476 698305

The RDP, supported by the Sport England funded BEF Excel Talent Programme, is designed to aid the development of Pony Club Members who show the ability to progress in their sport and provides a stepping stone for young riders working towards the talent pathways of the Olympic disciplines, the British Equestrian Federation’s Sport England funded Excel Talent Programme and the UK Sport Funded World Class Programme.

Riders selected for the 2014 Rider Development Pathway Camp are:

“I am so pleased to have been selected to attend the Rider Development Pathway camp in June” comments Xanthe Goldsack, from the Cheshire Hunt North Branch. “Both me and my pony have some weaker areas which we wish to work on, and we hope that with some expert training we can improve our performance to achieve even better Eventing results”.

“I have been delighted with the feedback on our Members’ abilities from all of the coaches who attended the RDP Training and Assessment Days” comments William Blane, Chairman of Pony Club Training. “Although only in its first year, I feel the RDP has got off to a great start and we are looking forward to reviewing the concept and developing it further for 2015 so we can benefit as many Members at the level as possible. Congratulations to all who have qualified for the RDP camp, it’s going to be an excellent two days”.

Those attending the camp will receive coaching from Gary Parsonage (Eventing) and Maria Eilberg (Dressage), both of whom are on the Equestrian Elite Coach Apprenticeship Programme (EECAP), accompanied by Philippa McKeever-Curry (Show Jumping) who was the British Showjumping Coach of the Year in 2013; they will be joined by other industry experts, to work holistically on all aspects of the riders performance.  At the end of the camp a final six riders will be selected to be part of The Pony Club Rider Development Squad, who will receive further specific guidance on future development and training opportunities.

Keep up with all the latest news and view images from the RDP Regional Training and Assessment Days atwww.facebook.com/PCRDP.

For further information, including criteria and dates, visit www.pcuk.org/training/riderdevelopmentpathway or contact Jenny Yates: jenny@pcuk.org or 0247669830

Starting with the Show Jumping on Saturday, the warm up classes ahead of the Championships in the afternoon saw double success for the Pembrokeshire Hunt Branch, with Lucianna Rabaiotti and B Brief 11 winning the Winter League warm up in a time of 49.87 seconds, and Amy Tucker, with Raindance Rebel, taking the Open Grand Prix warm up top slot in 54.78.

The Winter League Championship enjoyed an entry of near 90 competitors, with just 16 going forward to the jump off including Isabel Lindsay, with Bailey XII, who went on to make the long trip down from the Fife Hunt Branch worthwhile, taking the top spot in a time of 35.03 seconds. “I am so excited and happy to have won the Dengie Winter League Championships” commented Isabel. “I really wanted to improve on my 4th place from 2013, I had such a fun time meeting all the Irish team and jumping mini-jumps until very late with them; the whole weekend was unforgettable and winning was the icing on the cake!”

With the course height raised the Open Grand Prix, which had a sound entry of near 50, got underway. Following the first round around two thirds of the field went forward to jump in the second round, and a consistent eight reached the jump off; with India Bussey, from the South Norfolk Branch, riding Westside Menlough taking the top spot in a time of 34.84 seconds, fault free throughout. “I felt a bit nervous in the collecting ring being on the smallest pony in the jump off, but when we jumped Hugo filled me with confidence because he’s such a trier” commented India. “It’s been a great experience to compete nationally, and thanks to Dengie and The Pony Club for making it happen!”

Sunday saw yet more sunshine and 80 riders taking part across the Novice and Open level Dressage. The first and second placed riders going through to the Novice ride off had all cleared 70% scores and it was tight at the top, but it was Isabelle Beeston from the Atherstone Hunt, riding VIP, who kept it consistent to emerge with a top score of 72.6%. “Coming into the championships I was aiming to finish with a rosette, so I was thrilled to come second in my arena and qualify for the ride off!” commented Isabelle. “When I was told that I had actually won I was so shocked, the standard of the other riders in the ride off was so high, I was absolutely over the moon to come away as the novice champion!”

Yet more impressive scores in the Open section produced a clear four to go forward to the ride off. Charlotte McDowall and Felinmor Buddy, from the Ledbury Hunt, dominated as a combination, who also placed 2nd in the Dengie Novice Championships in 2013, and excelled to produce a score of 73.38% to take the top slot. “Going to the Championships was utterly amazing” trilled Charlotte “I would like to thank Dengie for sponsoring the event, and the Ledbury Hunt Branch of The Pony Club for all their help and training in getting me this far”.

“Dengie is delighted to support the Pony Club Winter League Championships” comments Lisa Wilson, Marketing Manager for Dengie Horse Feeds. “As always, it was great to have the opportunity to chat to so many young riders and their families about the benefits of feeding a fibre-based diet and to hear all about their horses and ponies”.

“The jump-off for the Winter League and the Open Grand Prix were fantastically exciting, with the riders really going for it, while the dressage ride-offs were so polished and elegant that I really didn’t envy the judges their difficult task. Standards of riding were extremely high in both disciplines and we send our congratulations to those who were crowned champions and all those who took part.”

Click for show jumping results or dressage results.