We held a Dressage Protocol Day on 23 rd April, with B Grade judge Vicki Newham and D Grade judge Sue Birch each judging and teaching a full day of enthusiastic students. We started with a record time of setting up 2 arenas in Saturday afternoon – 45 minutes, and finished with an even better time of 25 minutes for packing them away after the last test on Sunday afternoon. Many helping hands and a good system works a treat…Thanks to the volunteers. Vicki and Sue kindly helped riders from Prep C to Elementary improve their future marks with excellent advice and tips, and all riders were thrilled with the results.
Jenny Merity delivered her talk on 27 th April, on the responsibility of gear stewards and competitors at a dressage competition, in a friendly and casual manner, and happily answered questions as she went along. Thank you for giving us your time and the benefit of your experience, Jenny, it was much appreciated!
Our first Official Dressage Competition of the year held on Saturday 13 th May was a resounding success! Thanks to a huge effort by the committee and volunteers, we had a smoothly run but very busy day. The 69 riders rode 123 tests, from Prep to Elementary, and were judged by 5 excellent judges (Vicki Newham, Julie Jones, Kay Barney, Rachelle Evans and Merilyn Betty). We were happy to give 3 other judges (Gail Kroon, Ann Messenger and Sandy Woods) an opportunity to increase their knowledge and skills by shadow-judging. There was a very foggy start to the day, but soon the sun came out and the weather was perfect. Watching beautifully groomed and plaited horses with their smartly jacketed riders dancing in the 3 white edged arenas on the emerald green grass was a joy to behold! The canteen and BBQ were kept busy all day keeping everyone fed, and our many generous volunteers gave their time to ensure the day ran without a hitch, from arena set-up on Friday to the final arena pack-up on Saturday afternoon, including all the jobs in-between! Feedback from our non-member competitors was very positive and all are looking forward to our next Official Comp. in September. Horseland Dural and Coprice/ Nutririce once again generously sponsored the prizes – thank you very much! GEC has such a friendly, positive, welcoming and supportive atmosphere, no wonder riders enjoy coming to our events!
We have now run 3 of our Peter Haynes clinics, which are held on the 2 nd Wednesday of each month. Members and non-members are welcome to the showjumping clinic, where Peter runs small groups so he can concentrate on each individual rider’s needs.
Two interesting talks will be coming up in July and August, to be held at the Galston Club in the evening. Everyone will be welcome. Sophie of Integrated Equine Nutrition will give a talk on equine nutrition and hair analysis on 25 July. Heather le Provost will be giving a talk on weeds and weed control in paddocks on 22 August. I am sure both will be very interesting and helpful to us all!
Upcoming events :
25 June- Working Equitation with Kim Peterson
Dressage Training Day
8 July – Showjumping Fun Day
Legerete with Paul Cairns
9 July – Georgia Bruce Clicker Training Day
23 July – Members Only Dressage Competition
25 July –Sophie of Integrated Equine Nutrition will give a talk on equine nutrition and hair analysis.
As usual, please check our Facebook page and our website for up to date information on all our events. http://www.galstonequestrianclub.org.au/
