Well, the weather has certainly been having a lovely time with our scheduled events! First the blistering heat forced us to postpone our show jumping clinic with Keira Burns to 4th March, along with most of our first Légèreté clinic. Then the rains came – much needed for our dry and cracking paddocks, thank goodness, but that unfortunately washed out Keira’s rescheduled clinic so that will now be held on 1st April. The Légèreté clinic will continue on 28th May.
So, after extreme heat and flooding rains, GEC finally got to hold a Sunday event under beautiful sunny skies!
The very popular Lucas Hurps instructed a full day of individual flatwork lessons for riders on Sunday 12th March which was great success. Everyone learned so much and we thank Lucas for his encouraging and skilful instruction.
For the Horsemanship Practice Day, run by Barbara Anderson also on 12th March, we had 10 members take on a range of obstacles including tarps, a noodle shower, and barrels, both on the ground and then later when ridden. Members learned to get their horses relaxed and to go sideways and backwards over obstacles. When a horse can stand calmly with a cone under its stomach, it makes the horse a lot more confident, which was really noticed when the horse was ridden, rather than being led. It was a fun day and a great introduction to GEC for some of our new members, including a mother and her daughters and a member who travelled all the way from Ebenezer. We will run more of our popular Horsemanship Days (which are free to attend for members) later in the year.
We are really pleased to see that about 50 of our entries for our Members Only Dressage competition on 26th May are new members, and a number of these are having a go at their first ever dressage test! This is one of the things that makes our club so popular – encouragement of everyone, regardless of their level of riding. We are all learning, no matter how long we have been riding and we never stop.
Don’t miss our excellent Gear Check Info Evening with Jenny Merity at the Galston Club on 27th April, starting at 7.30pm. This is free to everyone. Jenny is an FEI Level 1 Eventing Steward and a National Dressage Steward. If you are a rider and would like to know more about the do’s and don’ts of the warm up arena, or what gear is permitted or not on you or your horse, then this will be very informative. What an asset you will be to your club once you know all this! Come and join us for dinner beforehand and for a fun social evening. Meals and drinks can be purchased in the bistro and consumed in the Auditorium.
Upcoming events :
13 May – Official Dressage Competition 2
8 May – Legerete with Paul Cairns Poles and Grids with Tana Subotic
11 June – Agility with Suzanne Bellette
As usual, please check our Facebook page and our website for up to date information on all our events. http://www.galstonequestrianclub.org.au/
