News

News

2010 Christmas Fair & Charity Bag-packing.

A huge 'Thank You' to everyone who helped or contributed at these events. The Christmas Fair raised £7,166 and charity bag-packing at Marks & Spencer's raised £3,116.

Abseiling from Wrexham Fire Station.

We said that we would publish the final amount raised by the Wrexham Fire Station abseiling event, which was held on 20 June 2010, when most of the sponsorship money promised had been received. The event is described in an article below. The latest figure for money raised is £6,438. Once again we should like to express our very grateful thanks to all those who were involved in making this event such a success.

New Boys Joining the Workforce.

Three new boys joined our workforce in summer 2010. Guinness 2 (Yes, another one!); Hamilton and Chester. There is some information on the 'Horses' web page, but as these are all new, we don't know much about their personalities yet. We are still getting to know them but they are all proving to be very friendly, happy ponies.

Little Harvey.

Little Harvey has now been sold and has moved on to pastures new.

Riding for the Disabled National Championships
10/11 July 2010 at Hartpury College.

Report by Di Porter - Wrexham Group Instructor

Wrexham Group RDA sent a good contingent of riders, vaulters and volunteers to the National Championships in Hartpury, Gloucestershire in July and had some great results across the disciplines.
In the dressage classes, Rowan won a 2nd place on a supercharged Homer, Nia came 7th and Rowena came in 8th out of some big classes.
In the Countryside Challenge classes Nia won a 2nd place and Tom came home with a 6th place rosette.
Nia also won a 2nd in the Combined Training competition.
Our Tuesday evening equestrian vaulting team gave a fantastic performance with Big Charlie to come 3rd place with the marks between 1st and 3rd being less than one full point. We are so proud of Robert, Whitney, Dylan, Callum D, Donna, Matthew, Callum P, Di W, and say thank you to Tess as Charlie did some of his work in a lovely canter.
Those riders who couldn't travel were well represented too, the Wednesday morning riders from our St Mary's school group won a 3rd prize in the Junior Musical Ride competition, having won at Regional level, their theme was 'RDA -True Animal Magic'. Well done to Callum, Marc, Jake, Sam and Bradley The group from Ysgol Morgan Llwyd came 2nd in the sculpture section of the Arts & Crafts competition with a fantastic model of a horse's head, congratulations to Ieuan, Steffan, Bethan, Aeron, Kris and Tomos.
Congratulations to the other riders from North Wales Region who travelled down to compete, especially Bethan and Alex who were both placed in their dressage classes, to James from Hope Mountain Group who won an =3rd in the Countryside Challenge and to Denise who also competed in the dressage.
The volunteers who travelled down to help the riders are owed an especially huge thank you, their support is greatly appreciated. Thanks also to the volunteers who travelled to support the teams and to the Centre for providing the horses and ponies, they were so good and a credit to the staff who take great pride in turning them out so beautifully. They didn't put a hoof wrong - such stars!
Commiserations to Tobias who, although qualified, couldn't make it to the competition, we did miss you Tobias but will be trying hard again next year.
Competition is all about team effort and Wrexham Group is such a fantastic team, thank you to each and every one of you.

Riding for the Disabled National Championships
10/11 July 2010 at Hartpury College.

Report by Tess Chew - Riding Centre Manager

What a great weekend. The horses travelled there and back in great style with David Sherlock. They all got off the transport looking fresh and happy; Twitch in particular looked very pleased to be at a “party”. Blue and Paddy inspected the Countryside Challenge course, before we tucked all the ponies into bed.

Saturday saw Toni and Rowan riding in the morning. Sadly, Toni had to retire from her test. Rowan sped Homer around her test and came 2^nd. Charlie gave a wonderful performance for the vaulters and worked beautifully in canter for Robert. The vaulters came third in a very close class, with all the teams within one point of each other. Bethan rode her Kur first on Saturday morning, her first ever test with Twitch. Her second test was much more confident, with all her movements super accurate and she came third. Tom and Nia contested the Countryside Challenge. Despite Paddy having a conversation with every horse, Tom came 6^th. Paddy repeated his performance with James, albeit more quietly, and came third. Nia came second in her class with Blue, and also second in the Combined Training, which takes the rider’s dressage and Countryside Challenge scores.

Sunday was just as hot as Saturday. Surprisingly everyone was busy and energetic all morning, despite the celebrations of the evening before! Rowena rode a very accurate test with Blue to get a Highly Commended. Alex had a great time at her first ever Championships, and despite Charlie trying to balance along the top of the white boards, she came 6^th in her class - one of the biggest classes of the Championships. Georgia came first in the Grade III with her horse, Jack, who can get very nervous in front of an audience. He reduced the audience to laughter in the freestyle when he stopped dead during his trot work to scratch his nose - he just could not wait. Samira rode a good Grade IV test and was thrilled to come second in her freestyle. Blue, Charlie and Paddy were kept busy on Sunday with riders from Treborth and Meirionydd, and so they were all please to be loaded back onto the transport on Sunday afternoon to head home.

Congratulations to everyone on such a successful weekend. Roll on next year!

Fun Days

Report by Tess Chew - Riding Centre Manager

The fun day was split over two days this year (1 & 8 July 2010), which made everything feel much more relaxed. Meirionnyd joined forces with Dyffryn Ceiriog on the first day and had a treasure hunt, games and some art and craft activities. On the second day riders came from Dyffryn Ceiriog again and also from Vale of Clwyd. They enjoyed a BBQ cooked by Ky, art and crafts and a treasure hunt. Phoenix vaulters gave a very exciting demonstration at lunch time, and encouraged some of the younger vaulters from Dyffryn Ceiriog to have a go.

A big thank you must go to Davina, from the Phoenix group, who came in on both days to run the art and crafts and had loads of exciting stuff for everyone to do. Michael left the art and crafts covered in sprinkles, having missed his paper completely!

Wrexham Group's Achievements.

Report by Di Porter - Wrexham Group Instructor

On 7 July 2010, the last ride of term, Wrexham Group extended an invitation to the parents, carers, family and friends of our riders to come along to see the work we've all done throughout the term. We were so pleased to see so many family members arrive to watch our riders 'show off', we are so proud of their achievements and it was good to be able to share our pride with so many visitors who rarely get to see what the riders do.
Ysgol Morgan Llwyd riders were able to demonstrate their rosette winning dressage tests in the outdoor school; this is a relatively new group and they have achieved so much that we have high hopes for next year too. Our young independent riders, Elisa and Georgina and our independent adult riders were able to show their family members the countryside challenge obstacles out in the field - tackling such things as the farm shop, a gate, fallen logs, cattle feeder, milk churns etc. Refreshments were enjoyed by riders, visitors and volunteers (must buy more chocolate rolls next year) and we welcomed the opportunity to chat and meet parents and grandparents. It was a busy morning but so enjoyable and an ideal way to finish the riding year. A definite must for next year.

Ruthin Medieval Show- 26 & 27 June 2010.

Report by Tess Chew - Riding Centre Manager

In January this year, Ann Lambert (RDA North Wales Chairman) asked if riders from the Centre would put on a musical ride at Ruthin Medieval Show.

Chris, Belinda, Julia and a team of volunteers slaved on costumes, made out of Ann’s old velvet curtains. I am told that everyone’s homes were covered in costumes in various stages of pinning and sewing.

Our riders: Tobias, William, Nia, Rowan, Bethany and Rowan started weekly practices. Alex, Ros, Verity, Val, Diane and Gerry were roped in as leaders. After a couple of weeks it quickly became obvious that William knew the floor plan better than any of us, and he had the job of organising us all.

Disaster struck at the beginning of June when Tobias broke his leg. Ben agreed to join the team, but with only two weeks to learn the ride. Leaders were joined by Vicky and John, and the final finishing touches were put to the ride.

The weather conditions for the weekend were perfect. While the riding conditions were less than ideal, with all sorts of jousting and mock battles taking place around the ponies, the riders put on two lovely displays. Sue, Alan and Joan performed a driving display each day with Homer, and the Phoenix vaulters gave two very professional displays- even though Red disapproved of the jousting!

Thank you to everyone who took part and helped in the preparations for the weekend, we could not have done it without you.

Abseiling from Wrexham Fire Station.

On Sunday 20 June 2010, twenty two brave souls launched themselves from the 4th (top) level of the fire station training tower to raise money for the Riding Centre. It was a good sunny day and plenty of supporters turned out to cheer the willing volunteers. We should like to record our thanks to all the helpers, advisers and organisers. Early indications are that the event has been a very worthwhile fundraiser for the Centre, and we plan to publish the final figure for the sponsor money raised after the end of July. The lighting was very harsh for photography against the bright sky, but below is a small selection of the hundreds of photos taken at the event. All or most participants were photographed on their descent but it is not practical to display them all on this web site. However, if anyone would like to come and view the complete library of photos, please get in touch with the Centre to arrange a mutually convenient time.

First to descend was our Chairman Jill Walton. Following on were Mal and Di.



Jill Walton is ready.	Out she goes.	Still a long way down!	Progressing quickly.

Mal Turner next.	Easy peasy.	Di Williams sets off.	Di is on her way.

Stephanie peeps over the edge ....		..... then gets underway.

Relaxing, thankfully back at ground level.		Lady Gladstone, Stephanie & Jill.

Photos by Chris Walton, Sylvia & Brian Mather.

Learning for Life Programme.

At Easter four students from Ysgol Pen Coch completed the Learning for Life programme. Tamara, Tegid, Nicky and Daniel all spent two terms with us learning basic horse care skills such as grooming, feeding, catching and safety. They also developed important workplace skills, choosing to work on units such as communication, work with others and safety awareness. Their course culminated in a small turnout and handy pony competition which was judged by tutors and staff at the Centre.

The project is funded by BIG and will continue to run until April 2011. There are still a few places on the project from September, so please get in touch with Tess in the office is you are interested - 01352 770446.

The students with their rosettes after their Handy Pony competition.

Our Horsebox Wagon.

As you may know we have had some problems with The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA). They have decided to classify us as a commercial business because we have paid staff. As a result they are insisting that we have a Commercial Operators License on the lorry. There have been several articles in the local news about this and two in Horse and Hound. We would like to say on this website, a big thank you to everyone who has contacted us with offers of support. They have been many, and have been extremely generous. We have had people offer us alternative transport, financial support, legal support, practical advice from transport managers, support from people offering to write to their MPs and publicity. We are very grateful to everyone who has contacted us to help, and have been overwhelmed by their generosity.

Would you like to adopt a pony?

Did you know that for a donation of just £20, you can 'Adopt a Pony'?
For information, please press the new 'Adopt a Pony' button on our 'Home' page.