On the 17th July GEC held another Horsemanship Day with Suzi Deryk of Crackerjack Horsemanship. Members had a fun day following up on last month and had their questions answered about how to keep their horses’ mind on them and to focus on the activity at hand. It was a lovely friendly and social opportunity for people to learn more about ground work and taking these skills to the saddle.
We had a small and very relaxed members Dressage day on 22 July. It was a great opportunity for first timers to do their first Dressage test and for seasoned campaigners to try the next level up. It was great to see all riders had their own cheer squad! Thank you to our lovely judges – Pam Dalrymple, Sue Birch, and Tori McBeath for judging and their encouraging positive comments. Special thanks to our regular sponsors Coprice feeds and Horseland Dural for their usual generous prizes. Special mention to our second place sponsor Spiritual Athletica Yoga & Pilates Boutique Studio at Dural who gave starter packs of yoga and reformer classes. This is a local business run by GEC Member Amanda Burke. Amanda can keep riders as balanced and supple as their Dressage horses.
What a very busy weekend GEC had on the 11th and 12th August! On Saturday we started with our popular Car Boot Sale, and many happy customers went home with excellent bargains, while enjoying coffee and cake in the sunny weather. At the same time, we ran another successful show jumping clinic. Nineteen riders participated in small group classes ranging from 40cm to 1m and as usual, many found Keira’s encouraging manner combined with practical tips to improve the balance of both horse and rider very helpful. The Club’s policy of investing each year in one or two new jumps means that riders had the chance to practise over a good variety of poles and fills. Thank you, Keira, for your boundless energy , enthusiasm and your passion for getting riders to stretch themselves just that little bit further.”
On Sunday, we had our Horse’s Birthday Party and Fun Day, and Paul Cairns training Légèreté (French Classical Dressage) running in another arena. There have been two Club Légèreté days since my last entry. There is growing interest which is great for the health of our horses. We are showing the world how to get to high school or advanced movements or even just balance between jumps while maintaining respect for our horses. This is training which does not need side reins or tight nosebands. Come and see for yourself… our next event is on Sunday 28 October.
GEC celebrated the horse’s birthday in style this year. We had a day of games (bending, applebobbing, polo goals, egg and spoon , etc, – such fun) and an obstacle course, with two teams competing, so there was lots of cheering , clapping, encouragement and laughter – with lots of interesting reactions to our famous “bull” (thank you, Kim Milne, for making Ferdinand!) and the Liverpool jump, complete with 12 little plastic yellow ducks ( I am sorry Quizzy tried to eat one!). We all had a memorable day and enjoyed the carrot cake (of course!), and prizes and party bags with thanks to donations by Horseland Dural and Leonie Warner (Joint Performance). Thanks also to Robyn Finfer, Sue Southey and Jan Tribe for helping with the planning and smooth execution of the day.
As usual, please check our Facebook page and our website for all up-to-date information on all our events. Visit http://www.galstonequestrianclub.org.au/
UPCOMING EVENTS :
9th September: Working Equitation with Kim Peterson
18th September: Horsemanship
22nd September: Dressage Protocol Day (with A and B grade judges! Learn from the best!)
23rd September: Official Dressage Competition
2nd October: Training day with Caroline Hooper – Flat work and Sandy Lucas –Showjumping
14th October: Agility with Suzanne Bellette
16th October: Horsemanship
