What a fun year we’ve had, both on and off our equine partners!
As ever our training sessions were well supported throughout the year, mostly delivered by experienced equestrian Becky Kennan at a variety of venues in and around North Cornwall. Becky is a UKCC level 2 instructor who has competed at Intermediate level eventing, trained racehorses, designed/built cross country courses and spent many years teaching in Cornwall and beyond – read more about her here. Her training has included flatwork, pole work and grids through to show jumping and cross country, including at the new Trescowe Brake course, for the more experienced, confident riders as well as those who just fancy having a go.
Members have also been fortunate to benefit from expert dressage training from Jane Lavington both on and off our horses, and more recently, lots of us are enjoying pilates sessions with new member Jane Stevens.
With all hands on deck our two-day super sunny fun ride at Trebuddanon was once again an outstanding success and, as you can read here, we had an amazing camp at St Leonards Equestrian Centre in July where the facilities provided everything we needed and more! The instruction from Becky and Jane was outstanding, giving many of us the confidence to get out there and have a go at competing.
That’s seen Camel Valley team representation at the Area 19 show jumping qualifiers at Duchy College, combined training qualifiers at Colraine and combined challenge (show jumping and cross country) at St Leonards, plus the eventer challenge at Bicton. Several members have formed ‘Mixed Bag’ and had lots of fun together at British Dressage Team Quest events, many commenting that ‘they simply wouldn’t do it without the support of the club and one another’.
Friendship and mutual support is strong within our club with members often heading off to other equestrian events together – everything from show jumping, hunter trials and local fun rides through to more competitive endurance events across Bodmin Moor, Dartmoor, Exmoor and sometimes even further afield, inspired by members who excel in this discipline.
Such inspiration is often recognised at our annual awards presented during the club AGM each Spring – in 2024 this saw Kathie Baillie awarded ‘Most Improved Rider’ Teal Anthony the ‘Competition Award’ having won the Dressage to Music Championships, Carina Kane the ‘Endeavour Trophy’ for her success in endurance and, not forgetting the importance of volunteers, Carol Cleaver won the ‘Helpers Award’.
A massive thanks to those at the very heart of our riding club – the volunteer committee who work so hard to ensure that all our members have the best possible time with their equine partners and one another. It’s always wonderful seeing everyone come together at Christmas for that all important annual festive bash, concluding yet another special 12 months for our riding club, and our training is already in full swing as we enter a brand new year!
