14th - 18th October
Bobby competed with Half Moon Willroy taking 3rd in
Team test, 4th in Individual test and 2nd in Music Freestyle.
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17th - 18th October
Congratulations to all of our teams who have just returned from Scotland!! We had a fantastic weekend in Rowallan, did not disgrace ourselves in the Karaoke, had the best decorated stables and the best turned out team! The weekend started with the trot up on Friday and the East all looked fab - perfectly turned out horses and smart efficient riders. Several comments were made over the weekend on the high level of turnout and the professionalism of our teams (as well as how friendly they all all!) so your riders did you proud!
Massive congratulations to: Kerry Allen, Diane Coxon, Tammy Ruffles, Sian Sheridan, Laura Mansfield, Trevor Downham, Addie Garrett, Louise Clarke, Sharon Keable, Slyvia Josling, Michele Wyatt, Rachel Stott, Emma Wakefield, Vicki Scott and Amanda Edwards and commiserations to Charlotte Charnick, whose horse went lame two days before the competition! We had two teams in the top 12, and several individual placings. We also had an individual champ! So well done especially to Sian Sheridan - Novice Champion! As ever, big BIG thanks to our wonderful Rider Rep and Team Trainer Paul Hayler!
As usual, Paul did not make it an easy weekend for himself, having driven to France Wednesday, driven horses to Biarritz that day, done the trot up and warmed Bobby up competing there Friday morning, then flown back to the UK and on to Scotland on Friday night in order to warm all our riders up! A long and very tiring weekend, but great fun - and well done to the Scots who were the Champions - thanks for a great time and see you down here next year!
[source: http://www.britishdressage.co.uk/your_regions/eastern_region]
22nd October
Chelmsford equestrian rider Bobby Hayler's Olympic potential has been given a ringing endorsement by multi-medaliist Mary King. Hayler, 17, is in her first year since making the step up from the pony team and had high hopes of making the junior squad for the European Dressage Championships in August.
However, St Peter's College pupil Hayler, who guided Britain to sixth at the European Pony Championships last year, was over looked for the team bound for Holland. But King - who added Olympic bronze in Beijing last summer to the silvers she won in 2000 and 2004 - believes Hayler's presence hasn't gone unnoticed in the senior ranks. "The amount of youngsters like Bobby coming through in the sport is really keeping us oldies on our toes at the minute," said King.
Hayler is in rich company in Britain with not only King, but multi-medallist William Fox-Pitt, in a bid to make London 2012. And while admitting her chances remain slim - Hayler - who is part of the Lloyds TSB Local Heroes initiative - has vowed not to give up on her future Olympic dream. "I actually do compete against Olympians past and present in the competitions I enter and it's great to watch them compete as I learn so much about the sport and how to improve my riding," she added. "I haven't got a horse for London 2012 so it is probably going to come a little too early, but the Olympics in 2016 are probably more realistic."
Lloyds TSB is providing £1,000 to over 270 young sports people identified in the run up to London 2012.
[source: Essex Chronicles Sport Paper]
24th - 25th October
We have just come back from another fantastic two days at Keysoe! Over 50 people, horses, dogs and assorted friends and lovers descended on The College EC on Friday night. Soon the stable area was a hive of activity with riders finding their stables, seeing which teams they were in and whom they were stabled with. Then it was into the restaurant for a glass of wine, and welcome. Throughout the weekend, teams got points for tidy stables and tack rooms, clean areas around their horses, and clean tack!! On Friday night we had a brilliant talk from David Wooley, Sports Psychologist. Everyone wrote down their fears and aspirations, and several of the fears were then promptly dispelled by David!
Throughout the weekend, riders could be heard quoting Tiger Woods or chanting "put deposits in the confidence bank!" and "don't add permanence to it!" Surprisingly, Friday turned out to be quite a quiet night, everyone keen to get to bed ready for the next day. Saturday morning was a mixture of lessons with our four trainers - Dan Sherriff, Julie Hugo, Paul Hayler and Mark Ruddock. In between riding there were also two workshops for everyone to attend - and both were brilliant! In the restaurant, Chris Cowan put everyone through their paces on exercise balls - working on core strength and giving us all exercises to work on that are aimed specifically at riders.
In the indoor school, Philippa Coles was doing amazing art on horses! Painting in the different muscles in chalk on the horse - it was fascinating to see how those muscles worked, and to hear how much they should change as the horse starts doing more advanced work. Several people requested more - wanting a whole workshop with Philippa with horses at different levels, so that the progression could be seen. (I'm working on it!)
In the afternoon, test riding took place, and whilst not riding, there was sitting in and writing for the judge, hearing what they had to say and getting some further tips, another exercise which everyone found really useful.
Then it was evening stables and tack cleaning, before a few more drinks and dinner. After dinner the teams had to present the answer to a connundrum they had been given the night before by David. Scenarios such as "you have a rider who is too frightened to compete as she claims that her horse always spooks when she goes into the competition arena, and that the judge does not like her anyway" Everyone did a brilliant job, coming up with suggestions and practical solutions to their problems, and the Serpentine and Medium Walk teams won two bottles of bubbly for the best answers! This was just as well, as one of their team members was Esther Bouma whose birthday was the next day!
Sunday followed a similar pattern, with workshop on getting your horse fit to compete. The test riding in the afternoon was in the form of a competition, and riders had to plait up and get out the show gear. It was really heartening to see SO much improvement on the Sunday - almost without exception, horses were going better and riders were riding better, preparing more, gaining extra marks - fabulous!
Sunday afternoon finished with our mini awards ceremony! The winning stable team was the Serpentine Team, and the best individual was Clare Day! In the competitions our winners were: Prelim: Jodie Smith, Novice: Amanda Wates, Elementary: Moira Gedge, Medium: Carolyn Davies(on her new orange dressage horse) and Louise Clark in the Advanced against herself! A great weekend, lots of happy riders and tired horses - and tired organisers too!! Massive thanks as ever to Paul Cornish our stable manager who is a complete star and makes everyone's lives so much easier! Also to Paul Hayler - the brains behind the operation and the most enthusiastic rider rep ever! We are just about to sort all the dates for next year - so keep an eye out if you want to come and join us next time - you won't be diappointed!
[source: http://www.britishdressage.co.uk/your_regions/eastern_region]