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Chairman's Chat - September

 

I do hope that you're all managing to enjoy your horses and have fun.

 

Area 14 Competitions 

Emily and Vinnie represented us at the  BRC Horse Trials Championships at Swalcliffe Park. Despite very difficult weather conditions they did a fantastic dressage test, show jumped clear and then the trakener fence proved a bit too scary for Vinnie. No worries Emily, you're still a star in our eyes!  
This weekend we've got members competing at the National Championships at Lincoln - Jess B in the Junior Riding Test; Brooke & Megan doing dressage tests; Freya, Jess & Brooke doing Junior Style Jumping. It's sounding like a busy weekend but I'm confident that their supportive camaraderie will help them through. Good luck everyone. Special mention must go to Kayla and Violet who qualified but are unable to attend.

30th Sept - 1st Oct is the BRC Introductory Champs at Bury Farm. Representing us is the Senior Intro Dressage Team of Nicola T, Hannah, Maria, Sarah L ;in the Junior Intro Dressage is Emma N and Nicola & Emma will be doing the Mixed Pairs.

 

Club Camp at Forest Edge 5-7th August

 Wow! It was so great!! If you've seen Jill's post on FaceBook, and Jamie's photos, you'll have a good idea of just how wonderful it was. I've been to lots of camps but have never experienced a group of riders, many of which didn't know each other, form such a happy supportive group. And as for improvements in confidence and skills, they were super impressive too! 

Apart from the weather on the first afternoon, everything was perfect for the camp - friendly hosts, tasty food, two indoor riding arenas, well designed stable blocks, miles of off road forest hacking and Rachel & Jess our two first class trainers. In fact, it was so good we've booked for next year, July 20th-22nd!!  

 

Charity Fun Show - Sunday 17th Sept at Topthorn

This is our BIG EVENT for September and I'm hoping that you'll all be able to support it in some form. Like many of the activities GRS runs, this aims to be friendly, encouraging and supportive - a day to enjoy your horse without being stressed. We'd like lots of you to come as competitors and hopefully there are several classes suitable for you and your horse. Remember it is a pre-entry show with limited class sizes, so don't leave entering till the last minute!

If you're not planning on riding, might you be able to help? We need help with setting up and clearing away, some stewards, help with jumps and some general helpers. Please don't be shy, it really will be a case of many hands make light work.

As in previous years all profit will go to East Anglian Air Ambulance. Sponsoring a class or making a donation towards staging the event or providing a raffle prize would be very much appreciated.

All details and the schedule are on WebCollect. 

 

Club Online Dressage Competition

This will run from November to February and be a members only competition. There will be rosettes for each class and additionally points will accrue for league placings. As well as Intro - Elementary levels, they'll be a team competition and Freestyle to Music. This will be a great opportunity for members to try different levels or DTM without the stress of travelling / other competitors / being really smart / getting grey ponies clean etc. The October Chairman's  Chat will have more details.

 

Training.

Sat 9th Sept - poles and jumps with Rachel Lee, at Crow's Hall

Tues 12th Sept - flat and poles with Anne Gayfer, at Topthorn

Fri 22nd Sept - jumping with Anne Gayfer, at Suffolk Rural (Otley College)

Sat 23rd Sept  - mini member training with Anne Gayfer, at Suffolk Rural (Otley College) 

Future dates for training with Rachel are likely to be 7th Oct, 11th Nov and 9th Dec.

Thanks goes to Bex for being super organised and putting training dates on WebCollect until the end of 2023.

 

GRS Committee

I'd like to raise the subject of us needing a few extra committee members. Two of the team will be stepping back and therefore the remaining members need some help. I will write to you about it in October but in the meantime perhaps you would have a think about whether you could consider it?

 

Club Events in 2023

Once the coach travel is arranged, details of the trip to the London International Horse Show (Olympia) will be announced.

 

Club Clothing 

 Remember we have a variety of club clothing, so do get in touch with Bex if you're interested in making a purchase.

 

Special Mentions

JP - for offering help at jump training.

KS - for rediscovering the utter happiness that riding can bring to your life.

 

Welfare and Safety

*In order to make horse riding safer, the British Horse Society wants data about incidents. Have you got the HORSE i app? Have you looked at their website and seen recorded incidents in our area?

* I expect you know the signs of a happy horse but how would you tell if your horse was unhappy?

 

Bitesize BRC

As the BRC Handbook runs to some 180 pages, it was suggested that each Chairman's Chat highlights a rule that might apply to GRS members.

It is not permitted to remove a horse's whiskers.

 

Communication

 I am very keen that communication is two way, so do contact me or other committee members about issues relating to the club.

 

Happy riding,

Alison

 

2022 AGM

It was great to be able to hold our AGM 'in person' this year, after 2 years of them being held via Zoom, it was great to see our members in person away from training and competitions. It was held back at Mendlesham Community Centre and followed previous formats of the AGM and awards being first on the agenda, followed by the ever popular (and recently missed) fish & chips, followed by a tombola, quiz and the infamous Horse Beetle!

Thank you to those who attended, and for those not able to make it, the minutes from the meeting are HERE

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***Helmingham 2022***

What an epic day!!!!

My news feed is full of photos of everyone’s gorgeous horses and ponies having fun and making memories at Helmingham.

I honestly cannot remember the last time I saw classes at a local show as big as they were today, full of pure quality. THANK YOU to everyone single competitor for supporting our event you were all amazing. So many comments about the fantastic atmosphere which is down to you guys, you help make it.

Our judges certainly earned their lunches today a tough job but they were all superb giving each person their time to shine.

The amazing team of not just the committee but members & non-members doing their bit and not forgetting every other family or friend who gets roped into helping out. It ran so smoothly today, team work makes the dream work!

We are so lucky to have also have a huge band of very generous and supportive sponsors who really do make a difference to us being able to put on the kind of show we do.

Everyone was kept well fed, photographed and had somewhere to spend their prize money and the first aid was on point too.

As always I cannot thank everyone enough, I do hope I caught most of you to personally say it but if not please know how grateful we are.

Till next year!!

Bex x

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If you didn’t get a chance to see and buy pictures on the day, they are available for viewing and purchase direct from the photographers website

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