SPRING CAMP 2011
We have just finished a very windy weekend at Norton Heath! The sky
remained blue for two days, the sun shone, riders had a brilliant time, but oh,
did the wind blow! Friday night and Saturday morning, fresh from Royal
wedding celebrations, 29 ponies and horses with their assorted riders
descended on Norton Heath for two days of riding and watching and chatting.
Morning was lessons with either Eleanor Collins or Julie Hugo, and these
were soon in full swing. When not riding, there were stable management
lectures, and discussions on feeding your horse with Vicky Boultwood. Some
of the maths when calculating how much their horse should eat according to
its body weight was rather suspect - but luckily riders were not being marked
on this (although there may be a couple of very fat ponies by next camp!!)
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In the afternoon, we held test riding, with all levels from Prelim to Advanced
Medium catered for. Everyone rode really well, coping with wind and the
class running a bit late, and then it was on to evening stables. This was
followed by a demo with Phillippa Coles on warming up and stretching your
horse properly. It was really interesting, and several riders were seen trying
out various moves later on! Supper was a spread out affair, Mums mostly in
the bar with a glass of wine, children in the cafe and outside, eating, drinking
and making new friends. We must have done a good job of wearing everyone
out, as by about 9pm - Norton Heath was like a ghost town, with everyone
retiring to bed!!
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Jenny Gates - C Squad Winner
Rider Test Winner
Jemima Upton - Prelim Winner
Angus Rowe - Fledgling
Sunday saw riders and ponies up and busy again. In the morning, besides
lessons, there were also practical sessions for everyone to work with Philippa
further on the work they had seen the previous evening. Feedback from these
sessions was brilliant, ranging from one small rider telling me that she thought
Phillippa was able to do magic - "she just walked in, took one look at my pony
and told me exactly what problems I have riding him" the awe struck child told
me! Everyone was very impressed with how quickly their own horse was
assessed and correctly diagnosed with areas of tightness or muscles more
built up on one side than the other. To keep everyone busy, they also had to
fit the riding of their squad tests into the morning - running from Fledgling up
to A squad.
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. The afternoon test riding on the Sunday was a competition, and riders duly
plaited and turned out in full show gear - looking very smart. John Tyrell took
photographs of combinations riding their tests - and these can be seen on his
website at: www.bigtimemedia.co.uk. Hayley Liddiard (List 3 Judge) also
came along and sat in the box with everyone talking about the tests and what
to look for. As a Judge, Hayley had lots of really great tips and suggestions
for the riders. It was great to see those who were not too confident being
coaxed into saying what they thought of a movement, giving it a mark, and
being told they were spot on!! I think we have several budding judges of the
future in our midst!
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. Everyone gathered at the end of the weekend for prize giving and summing
up, and it was lovely to hear so many people say what a good time they had
had!! In the test riding - the Prelim winner was Jemima Upton, Novice Natalie Roberts, Elementary - Katrina Hall. In the Rider tests it was a win in
the Fledglings for Angus Rowe, C Squad - Jenny Gates, B squad - Katrina
Hall and A Squad Joseph Taylor. The prize for the most cuddly pony went to
Pippa Woodford's lovely grey Eddie. Judge of the Future Award went to India
Sheridan, and the award for the highest %age of the weekend went to
Eleanor Hall and Smartie with 80%!! (Totilas - eat your heart out!). The final
award for the person who joined in, listened and contributed all weekend and
generally was a great all-round BYRDS camper went jointly to Georgia
Durban and Felicity Cole - both at their first camp (and hopefully coming to
many more in the future!)
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Pippa Woodford's Eddie - winner of cuddliest pony!
All in all, it was a great weekend. Many thanks as always to Tonie and the
team at Norton Heath, who are always so welcoming, with nothing being too
much trouble. It really does make a difference - we got lots of feedback from
people who have not been to Norton Heath before saying what a lovely venue
and how much they felt relaxed and welcomed! And also thanks to Lotte
Olsen, who took on duel roles of BYRDS Mum and Judge both afternoons,
valiantly judging a variety of tests at all levels (sometimes without even a
score sheet to write on!) Cheers Lotte - go straight to List 1!! Finally, of
course, the biggest thanks must go to our fabulous BYRDS Rep Eleanor
Collins who does all of this as a volunteer!! She was there on Friday putting
up the gazebo, all day Saturday from dawn til dusk, teaching, chatting,
advising, socialising and making sure that everyone had a good time. In
between she judged a few rider tests, sat in and talked about tests, did the tea
run and sorted out about three more BYRDS events - so THANK YOU
Eleanor - it is a pleasure to work with you!
.
And if you are reading this thinking how much fun it all sounded, then don't
forget - we have another camp coming up in October at Keysoe - so get the
date in your diary and see you there!!