AGENDA 2010 Committee Reports Election of 2011 Committee Guest Speaker George Whittaker Jnr, Huntsman for the Woodland Pytchley Hunt Raffle Trophy Presentations Close NEWS MEMBERSHIP FEES It is with great pleasure that RFRC can announce, for the 3rd year running, a freeze on club subscription costs. This means that our membership fee will remain the same, at £22 per year, for all riding members. Other membership types also remain the same. An updated membership form has been posted on our website as well as being issued with this newsletter. We will also be offering a membership discount for those members who renew their membership at the AGM. A £2.00 discount will be given for existing members only, if you rejoin during the evening and present the coupon printed later in this issue. EMAIL ADDRESS We will now be requesting your email address on our membership forms. In the interests of moving with the times, and using current technology to improve our communication methods, email will be used in future. In this way, urgent messages, area entry forms, training booking forms and in the longer term, newsletters and be sent to members at the ‘click’ of a button. The use of email is also very cost effective for the riding club and will help to save funds used for photocopying and postage that can be used to improve our equipment and other services. All RFRC information is, and always will be, available from our website so members can still use this facility if preferred. Of course, there are some members who are not able access the internet, so if this is you please contact Ruth Quartly 01536 790569 or 07799806491, to discuss an alternative communication method. COMMITTEE MEMBERS 2011 Please do not forget that RFRC will need some additional willing volunteers to join our Committee for 2011. New members should join us in November after the AGM has taken place, when those Committee members who have decided to resign their position, will step down. We need people who will bring some new ideas and possible changes to the Riding Club, or have skills that may help with Committee business, or anybody who has some spare time to help ‘share’ the workload, or who has a shared interest in equine activities, any of you could fit the bill! So if you are looking for a new challenge, please contact one of the existing Committee or email us on [email protected] 2 NEWS FIRST YEAR COMMITTEE MEMBER’S EXPERIENCE – EMMA WRIGHT At 8.27pm on 21st October, I had a phone call from Ruth, newsletter editor. There I was accepting the call thinking “...it' s just a quick question about whether I still need my ad running...”, little did I know!!!! What she actually said was “can you put together a piece for the newsletter, in less than 24 hours, about my experience of joining RFRC’s committee 12 months’ ago...” wait for it “...in an attempt to encourage some new members”!! No pressure then, EEEK!! Well here goes... I have to admit that the experience has been a positive one. I have been made to feel welcome by a dedicated group of people who are committed to making RFRC a success. I have enjoyed some lively debate, often including the use of some colourful language!! Care of guess who! I’ve had days out helping at events, and stepped out of my comfort zone by taking part in training clinics. Everyone has been great and really supportive. If you could spare a few hours each month, why not give it a try? YOUR CLUB NEEDS YOU! TROPHIES A request was made in the October newsletter for all trophies awarded in 2009 to be returned to Elaine Harton so that preparations can be made for the AGM at the end of this month. Thank you to those members who have returned their trophy as requested, however, the majority of them have not yet been returned. Please, please contact Elaine Harton on 07799890653, or email us as soon as possible to let us know how they can be returned. Alternatively, return your trophy, preferably in a clean condition, to any committee member. To avoid disappointment for trophy winners in 2010, it is vital that all trophies are returned as soon as possible. WINTER DRESSAGE Don’t forget the first of our winter dressage will be held at the end of this month, Saturday 27th November, and will start after 12 noon. It would be really great to see as many of our members there as possible. Helpers will also be needed during the afternoon, 2 steward and 2 writer, so if you are able to lend a hand please give Emma Wright a call on 01832 734871, we can’t do it without you! 3 AREA FESTIVAL OF THE HUNTER EVENTER TRIAL CHALLENGE The Eventer Trial took place at Plum Park on 3rd October, and the weather that day was extremely wet, so wet and rainy that some of our members did not compete at all. Sadly, this did mean that there were insufficient competitors to make up a Senior Team and the 2 riders who did attend had to run as individuals only, these were Danielle Marcus and Jade Fitzhugh. The Junior Team did run but with only 3 team members, Sophie McKinnonWood, Isobel Simons and Jordan Harrison. Results as follows; Individual RESULT Junior Pairs 5th Sophie McKinnon-Wood Isobel Simons Junior Team Jordan Harrison Sophie McKinnon-Wood Isobel Simons Senior Pairs Sally Myers Jo Rhodes Senior Individuals Jade Fitzhugh 6th Danielle Marcus RIDER RESULT 3rd 3rd 3rd Unfortunately, none of our members qualified, however, they all had fantastic rounds in very trying circumstances, so well done to you all. DANIELLE MARCUS’S STORY ON THE EVENTER TRIAL This was my first RFRC team event, and would just like to let everyone know how much fun I had representing RFRC, and encourage other members to have a go at team events next year. The process of entering the competition was easy with entry form and details clearly printed on the website. After posting, I received a letter from Antonia McKinnon to confirm receipt of my entry and my place on a team. The letter also gave information about the event and a list of the other members who would be competing alongside me. I thought this was a really good idea as it meant I knew my entry had been accepted and could look out for familiar faces at the competition 4 AREA On the day of the competition I was very disappointed to wake up to a wet and grey wintery day. However I cleaned up my horse, loaded the lorry and set out for Plum Park with high hopes of avoiding the rain and going clear show jumping and cross country. On arrival it was still raining and there appeared to be no let up in the sky. The waterproofs came out fairly rapidly and the dog and I headed off to walk the course. The cross country course included a range of fences, each asking different questions of horse and rider, and it seemed like it would ride well, as did the show jumps. After having my passport checked by the stewards, Antonia came to find me to make sure I knew what I was doing and find out whether I needed any help with anything which was really great as I had travelled alone to the competition. My show jumping was ok, I had one refusal as my horse, Luc, decided that a union jack filler was far too scary to be jumped first time! After this scary incident, we had one pole down and jumped the rest of the jumps beautifully. Straight after show jumping we were directed down to the XC course for our favourite part of the competition. We flew out of the starting box and cleared 5-6 jumps brilliantly but then we had a slight mishap, a run out between the ditch to log combination! Once we managed the combination, we proceeded to fly around the rest of the course to the finish line. I was absolutely delighted with Lucs performance, even though we had a run out. Attendance at the event was really poor, which was disappointing for my first team event, and the weather was bad, however I had a great day and came away with a rosette for being placed 6th as an individual. I would recommend taking part in a team event to any member who is interested in having a go, you do not need to be the greatest rider in the world or have a top competition horse, you just need to be willing to turn up, have a go and give it your best. I would also like to say a big thank you to Antonia for organising the teams for this event, you did a brilliant job and made the experience really enjoyable. Thank you. Danielle DRESSAGE TO MUSIC CHAMPIONSHIP The DTM Championship took place in Aintree on 12th October, RFRC had one Senior Member who qualified, Jonathan Canty riding Romario, for the Elementary class. Well done to Jonathan & Romario who were 9th. BRC OFFICIALS TRAINING ROAD SHOW – Saturday 20th November Newmarket National Stud This event will focus on the key areas of running a riding club and is open to any RFRC members who may be interested. The event will start at 9.30am 5 AREA and finishes at 4.30pm. The BRC National Executive will be covering the following areas; Running & Promoting your Club, Health & Safety, Competitions including area qualifiers and national championships, Training and Question Time. To book you place either call 01926 707856 or email [email protected]. A booking form is available from the BRC website, www.britishridingclubs.org.uk. CLASSIFIEDS Half Page - £5 per month. Full Page - £10 per month .Lineage – FREE for members, non members £1 per month - email ! " #$ $ % !"## & ' !(## ! % )* ! ## ' *+& , - & . * + '+ & ! /# ** ' !0/# /1/ & .* + . ' ( ! ## '2 ( !0## ) ! . 3* !" # ' & 45 '*+ $" ! %6# /7( 7 7/// '# 8 8 % & 6 (/ 8 CLASSIFIEDS Equestrian Leather Goods Hand Made and Repaired • • • • • • • • All types of bridles and accessories repaired and restored Handmade bridles and accessories Abbey English riding bits Cartridge bags hand made Dog leads and collars hand made Bridle measuring service Other items repaired-hunting crops, bags, rugs, chaps etc Leather samples and portfolio of work available on request. Jim Barrett BSc Kettering Northants [email protected] H. 01536 510708 M. 07966 448296 www.equestrianandcanine.co.uk -99 * ' :&*+& ;- *4 ' 4 * ' () $ STRAW 4ft bales £1.50, Large Rectangular £4.50 HAYLAGE - 30kg Sm Bales £6.00, Lg Rectangular £22.00 HARD FEED – Horse & Pony Cubes, Mixes and Chaff SHAVINGS - £6.90 inc VAT POST & RAIL, STOCK FENCING, GROUND WORKS, DRAINAGE, FIELD WATER TANK & PIPE INSTALLATION, HEDGE TRIMMING AND PADDOCK MAINTENANCE & RESEEDING FREE DELIVERY FOR ORDERS OVER £30.00 , - " # !$ +" .% ' &'* 1 4 < $ * ' 1 2 Chairman George Whittaker T. 01933 622324 M. 07879016244 Vice Chairman Elaine Layram T. 01933 664174 M. 07977869454 Secretary Jill West T. 01536 724516 M. 07802983882 [email protected] Treasurer Carol Stanley T. 01933 388908 M. 07872303632 Senior Team Manager Ben Franklin T.01604 411950 M. 07896556045 [email protected] Junior Team Manager Antonia McKinnon-Wood T. 01536 373132 M. 07854323626 6 Ashmead, Little Billing Northampton NN3 9JQ Red Piece, Stanion Road Brigstock. NN14 1DZ Member Secretary/Points Elaine Harton M. 07799890653 Newsletter/Website Ruth Quartly T. 01536 790569 M. 07799806491 Area Representative Rosemary Batten T. 01933 666163 M. 07748942936 Office Services Sue Rebhan T. 01933 460619 M. 07837806278 Sally White M. 07908717224 Training Co-ordinator Danielle Marcus M. 07817761140 [email protected] Jonathan Canty M. 07974016677 [email protected] Cathi Short M. 07704593374 Emma Wright T. 01832 734871 [email protected] RFRC Email Address – [email protected]