After a very busy & what seemed to be a very short summer I have finally got around to letting you all know what we have been up to at Higher Park Farm.
 
We have managed to hold a dressage rally every month from April through to November with over 40 different competetors in total.
 
Our rally in May got off to a very wet start and without a last minute change of venue to Potwell farm indoor school it would have to have been cancelled so our thanks to the owner Antonia and to Dorset Farms for the use of their parking area. We had 17 brave but wet competetors some even hacked there!!
 
During July and August we held our rallies in the evenings trying not to clash with riding and pony club weekend events.
 
We have had the continued support of our judge Annie Beattie and writer Veronica Leatherdale and would like to say a big thankyou to them both. A thankyou aswell to Pip Bailey who also judged and to Helen Aburrow who took a turn in writing.
Last but not least our gratefull thanks to a very kind gentleman Graham Diment whose facilities we use. He is always available to help us out if we have any last minute hiccups.
Mark as usual has been on hand to make sure that everyone parked in the right place and was happy to reverse trailers out of tight spots for those who needed a helping hand. Gill has scored and kept records of placings in order to work out which Shipton Riding Club member accumulated the most points. The points have been calculated using a combination of placings and number of rallies attended;
 
1 point for each test entered
3 points for 1st place
2 points for 2nd 3rd & 4th place
1 point for 5th & 6th place
5 points awarded to anyone who attended 3 consecutive rallies
 
I have the score book and test results for each rally should anyone be interested in seeing them.
 
The winner is Kimberley Randall.
 
I have decided to present prizes to the first 6 placed competetors whether they are SRC members or not as we have been so well supported with everyone making the effort to compete here. The placings are;
 
1st  - Kimberley Randall (SRC)
2nd - Chloe Aburrow (SRC)
3rd - Phillipa Gatehouse
4th - Linda Paget (SRC)
5th - Emma Bailey (SRC)
6th - Charlie Bailey
6th - Dulcie Gatehouse
 
I have also decided to give a prize to our best newcomer Lynne Harvey who bravely came to the summer show to do her first ever dressage test on her race horse First Dynasty (Danny) and then came to our rallies - she has since joined SRC to have some fun.
 
I feel that SRC has been well promoted at our rallies and I am sure the club has gained a few new members and quite a few hits on the web site.
 
There seems to be a demand for low key dressage competitions which proved to be the case at the SRC Summer Show. This class was full before the show day and we had to extend our time in Michael & Sally Munden's outdoor school to accomodate entries on the day - some people had only come to do the 'Have a go dressage'. So our thanks also go to the Le-Trec team who were very patient with us.
Again Annie Beattie was there to judge and Rhohasie Newall very kindly wrote. Helen Jenkins was a very good ring organiser and did a brilliant job ushering riders and their horses in and out of the school.
 
I think some of the attraction of coming to Broadwindsor are the homemade cakes and biscuits along with the supply of hot and cold drinks so maybe dressage alone can't take all the credit!!
 
Our final dressage rally of the year will be on Sunday 9th December (pm) so we don't clash with a Seavington pony club rally as some pony club members want to do both (that may be a long day for them!). Jack Bailey has kindly offered to run the raffle for us which will again be in aid of the Air Ambulance charity so any donations of prizes will be gratefully received.
 
No doubt there will be homemade goodies available aswell as mulled wine to keep the cold out! (for those not driving).
 
We will have the usual tests - walk & trot 2 prelims and a novice if anyone would like to do one. The test numbers will be posted on the web site as soon as we have decided which ones to do. I am sure if anyone would like to dress up in a festive theme Annie would be only too happy to judge a fancy dress winner.
 
We do hope that we will have your continued support during 2008 and look forward to seeing you all sometime in late March or early April.
 
 
Linda Paget.
  

Report by Zoe Roberts

We started the long journey up to the championships in Lincolnshire at 8am bright and early on Saturday morning-the 8^th of September. After 7hrs (and two stops) of travelling we finally reached our destination-Lincoln showground!

When we arrived there were hundreds of lorries parked and more kept arriving! The temporary stables were numbered from 1 to 765 and there was another large block of permanent stables. This really showed me what a major competition this was going to be! (I later learnt that a total of 1,500 competitors take part in the championships!)  Luckily we managed to park close to our stable and not too far away from the main arenas.

We very soon saw some familiar faces who gave us good advice and helped us get sorted.  Tonka was pleased to be in her stable and we left her there to eat and rest while we checked out the showground and loos!  Later I exercised her before plaiting her ready for the next day.  Lots of Club’s had organised themselves into corrals and there were lots of TV’s and radios going because England was playing Rugby, football and Cricket.  Luckily we were near friends from Weymouth and District and dad was able to visit their ‘bar’ that night. 

The next morning we had to make our formal declaration, (and receive a NAF goodie bag) and as we had a problem with the timetabling of my Dressage and Show jumping first round (scheduled to be at the same time, interesting!) we needed to speak to an organiser.  Everyone was very helpful and it was suggested we just arrived at an earlier time to jump before our Dressage test.  Tonka nearly always goes better after a jump so we were not concerned about this, (but would my plaits still look neat and tidy?)

On our way to Lincoln the day before, dad had a phone call to ask whether he could commentate the next morning.  His job was to introduce the Evergreen Veteran Horse and Pony classes.  There was a special award for the oldest horse which was won by amazingly youthful 35 year old ex-racehorse

While dad was busy commentating mum and I got on with the job of competing.

The ground was very hard and dry but all the jumping arenas had been watered and were jumping well, we had a clear first round and went off to prepare for the Dressage.  These Arenas and warm-up area had not been watered and Tonka found the going more difficult but she did a nice Test, but it could have been better. 

Because there were 115 competitors in the Novice Junior Show jumping my second round was in different arena.  The course was higher (90cm) and had spooky fillers and a treble, but again Tonka jumped a good clear.  To decide Team and individual placings there was a jump off and the Teams went first, Taunton and District were the winners and we were pleased as they were from Area 12 and won at our Area festival at the Bath and West.

 Next the 22 individuals jumped off over a different jump off course.  There had only been one clear round before I went (in 14^th position) so I had to give it a ‘go’, unfortunately we knocked the first fence but I kept going and finished with a very fast four faults.  There were only three clear rounds so our speedy round earned us 7^th place which we were thrilled with.  We also collected a 4^th place rosette for the Dressage.  My only regret is we didn’t quite make the mounted prizegiving (1^st–3^rd only) and I really had my eye on a winner’s rug and sash, oh well we will have to try harder next year!

It was a brilliant experience, everyone was helpful and kind and the event ran really smoothly.  We had a long journey home and eventually arrived back at 1.30am (and I had to go to school the next day!) luckily I slept most of the way home.  Tonka has had some well-deserved days of rest sleeping in the sunshine; I am very proud of our achievements and look forward to trying to go again next year.

jumping her old friend Tia

Gilly Milne on Charlie who got a 3rd  place rosette in the 2' 0" Class Gilly and Charlie took the scenic route and it was nice to see them both finally at the finish line.
Isobel Thompson and Patch took 2nd place with a double clear finishing in a time of 26.81 seconds
Heather Gibson and Olee' took 1st place with a double clear finishing in a time of 24.53 seconds
************************************************************************************
Lucy Milne on Finn had a 3rd place rosette in the 2' 3" Class with just 4 faults in the first round.
Isobel Thompson and Patch took 2nd place with a double clear in a time of 31.28 seconds
Heather Gibson and Olee' had 1st place rosette with a double clear in a time of 28.22 seconds.
************************************************************************************
Heather Gibson on Olee' had a few faults that gave them a 2nd place rosette in the 2' 6" Class
Katy Hills and Danny took 1st place rosette with a clear round
**********************************************************************************
Heather Gibson on Olee' had 2nd place rosette in the 2' 9" Class
Katy Hills and Danny finished the last class of the day with a 1st place
rosette with the only clear round.
**********************************************************************************
Alice Geddes decided to jump some 3' 6" fences at the end of the day and was a delight to watch.  
********************************************************************************
This wouldn't be possible to do without help from the Thompson family in putting up the course the day before and also several people who were ready and did help put up jumps and pick up poles on the day, also helped put all the jumps away, thankyou all .
    Di Forward  

Shipton were 3rd, The Team was
India McIndoe, Poppy Douglas Johnston, Daisy
Chorlier and Lucy Milne.

Area 12 Individuals

India McIndoe 5th
Daisy Chorlier 6th.

Well Done!! (any pictures?)

The Juniors did well, winning out of 6 teams.

They were India McIndoe, Poppy Johnston, Lucy Milne and Zoe Roberts. Two are seen here with Chloe Stripp, preparing to munch out on a yard of choccy biccies, thoughtfully supplied by Sally Munden.

Poppy won her class and Zoe was 3rd. Lucy Milne was 2nd in her class riding as an Individual.

The Seniors were not quite so brilliant, they came 7th (ish) overall out of 15 teams. But Tracy Scammell was 3rd in her class.