Sugarloaf Cobbitty Equestrian Club

Sue Hearn Clinic 27th and 28th March 2010 - CANCELLED

President's Report

Our Member’s Day was a successful day to start off the calendar year! Well done to all our competitors for their participation, a very warm day indeed!

A HUGE thank you goes out to our “cooks” for the day, Elliott and Marcus, hard work at any time and with “triple” the heat! Also a thank you to Rita for helping out when available. We are currently looking into other avenues for catering at our shows – so stay tuned for new and exciting news to follow soon.

A “Thank you” also goes out to Pam & Karene for their help to me in organising the judges – not an easy task at all. Your time and exceptional abilities are fantastic and appreciated.

HELPERS NEEDED HELPERS NEEDED HELPERS NEEDED

We are desperately looking for helpers on our days to help out in the office – if you could spare a couple of hours, ½ a day or a full day, we would appreciate your offer. Please contact myself or anyone on the committee.

Sadly, one of our long dedicated committee members is leaving the club at the end of May to get married and move to WA. Jenna has been with the club a very long time, starting off as a youngster competing, and joining the committee at the age of 18. Jenna will be greatly missed along with her dedication and enthusiasm and not doubt will be missed tearing around the grounds or the friendly face at the window! We wish her all the best with the future with Adam, and a new lifestyle in WA.

Speaking of news – I have some exciting news to share! I am due to have a baby in early June! Whilst this is an exciting time and there is still a lot to be prepared for – as all of you mothers like to remind me – don’t despair – your club is in capable hands! Whilst I may not be around in person at 1 or 2 shows ie the May / June competitions, the committee is dedicated and committed to ensuring the days are run smoothly and I look forward to being back on the ground in August – what a better way to start the little one’s equestrian future! (or my wishful thinking!).

As mentioned, we are having almost back to back competitions this year. The first one being 16th May, and the second one on 20th June. Due to time restraints, we most likely won’t be able to produce a newsletter in between these shows, so please be aware of the June entry form - we will be sending out notification once the closing date for May has passed to avoid confusion.

Take care, happy riding.

Sue Harris
President

Secretary's Report

I hope everyone enjoyed our Members day, after weeks of rain and many cancellations of other clubs we had very few scratching’s, most people eager to finally get out and ride.

Never the less, the day was hot and very sticky so cold drinks were the order of the day.

Actually now is a good time to speak about heat stroke and heat exhaustion not only for the rider but the horse as well.

We had one rider suffering from heat exhaustion, and this on a day when we did not have to ride in jackets. Remember to hydrate, constantly drinking water (not fizzy drinks, which can leave you thirstier than before drinking them) water is the best, either drink it or pore it over yourself on hot days.

Don’t forget you riding partner (the horse) he/she will be feeling the heat as well. If they don’t tend to drink the water when they are out make sure you bring plenty from home. Encourage, them to drink not large amounts but often is best. Electrolytes should be used at home and at competitions to assist with hydration.

We have wash bays at the top of Arena 1. Always hose the horse off when you have finished and walk him around to cool off. Don’t leave him to stand in the sun at the side of the float you may have a horse who overheats even more. Where possible put him on the shady side of the float or provide shade if possible. Remember, we do have stables for your horses and while it can be hot in them, it is better then standing in the sun for hours.

Great thanks to our runners who were out most of the day in that heat gathering up test papers. Also our Judges and Penciler’s on such a hot and sticky day I know it is not much fun sitting in a car for hours, it soon becomes like a sauna.

As Sue has stated earlier we are losing a couple of members of our Committee and desperately need some help to run our days. If you could spare a little of your time to help with the planning and running of our show days we would greatly appreciate your time. This is now becoming a matter of urgency if we do not get some extra hands on deck soon we will be unable to continue to run our days.

Get your entries in early for May it looks like being a big day. Your Secretary though is off on holidays for the first time in over 12 months and I will not be available from 26/4/10 to 10/5/10. If you do have scratchings leave them with my partner Graham. Remember to spell your name and the name of the horse, (he is a non horsy person) and has no idea who you are.

Joanne Squires

A Penciller's Experience

(Would you like to pencil to help your Club?)

We are always short of Pencillers and our April Competition was no different, so we called on a rider’s parent who had never pencilled before and Marie Wildridge took up the challenge, then we asked her to give us her thoughts.

YES I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. When introduced to the Judge I advised her that I had not pencilled before. Helen Mackay (the judge) was an absolute gem.

I had some really good tips from Pam Wood and Pamela Russell-Green prior to the event. Things like familiarise yourself with the test, and that the cheat sheet with abbreviations would be in the folder. Funny I thought I would need the cheat sheet but as you write the Judge’s comments down you abbreviate naturally anyway.

During the first test I had my finger on each of the movements writing down the comments and I even found that I could sneak a peek at the test, by the second test I could actually watch some of the test.

It's interesting to watch the test from a different angle, as a Mum watching/calling your daughter’s test you think you have some idea what the Judges are looking for. Where as a Mum you can see small things that are incorrect and you wonder how much they effect the marks! As a penciller, just jotting down the comments and listening to the explanation from the Judge, these little things actually make a big difference and correcting them can help considerably in preparation for the next outing.

So in answer to your Question did I enjoy the experience-Yes I was very nicely surprised.
Would I recommend it-Yes I think we should all have a go and by some small miracle you may even learn a thing or two.

We would like to say……..
Marie coped admirably as her first pencilling experience was pencilling a Medium 4.1

Are there any others out there ready to take up the challenge?

The Day the Gremlin Came to Sugarloaf

Rob Lawson has kindly donated two solid days to remove the excess sand from the indoor arena and level the surface. Rob used the Arena Pro Gremlin to aerate, level and groom the sand. This tool can also be used to level gravel driveways.

A great big thanks goes out to Rob and the SQHA for getting Rob to attend to the arena.

We've been advised that the arena is now riding a lot better and can't wait to see it in use at our next competition.