Chris's Blog » Riding School

Talygarn Equestrian Centre 2011 – 2012

Chris Rogers — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:04:29 +0000

Normally I like to write a blog looking back at last year at the end of the year, I don’t know where the time has gone but I cant believe we are half way through January already. This time last year was the big freeze and we had cancelled the team jumping at christmas because people couldn’t get their horses out of the stables due to the ice. This year we have had to cancel the team jumping because it has been so wet and parking would be impossible. We had many successes again last year with our students achieving numerous passes. We became a riding and road safety centre last year and our first 8 candidates all passed. We will be holding our next riding and road safety training and exam this spring. Two of our riders qualified for the area dressage last year with Carys and Buffy being placed 6th. Our Quiz team came 1st and 3rd at the area finals and 2nd at the championships in Warwick. We held or annual quiz last saturday for all Pony Club members to select the teams for 2012. There was a poor turnout for the quiz but those that came did extremely well and we will enter the teams for the area quiz in February. Our Pony Club Horse and Pony Care teams came 3rd and 4th in the juniors and the seniors came 2nd and qualified for the champs at Derbys where they came 5th. Talygarn Centre team Carys Morgan, Sarah Blake, Chloe Ellis and Robyn Edwards came 4th in the centre competition at the championships in derby out of 20 plus teams with Robyn Edwards winning best newcomer. The Fun Dog Show, Halloween Party, Christmas Gymkhana, Team show jumping, Camps and many other activities were a great success last year along with the Summer Open Day which gets better every year. After visiting a riding school in france which participate in vaulting I have wanted to have a go at putting a display together which I did for the open day last summer. It was a great success and I decided to take up some further training in coaching. This year we will be adding equestrian vaulting to our long list of already popular activities starting with taster sessions in February. We were very lucky throughout the summer with managing to hold all of our mini hunter trials in the fields and the show jumping and dressage have been very popular. With all the rain we have had this winter i am hoping there wont be too much left and we will have another good run this summer. On the holiday front I managed Morocco Greece Romania Singapore and Malaysia and I’m starting 2012 with Iceland and Belfast. The garden wasn’t as good last year although I did have an abundance of runner beans, lettuce, potatoes and the fruit trees did well. There are lots of photos on the gallery for last year and I’m sure there will be lots more this year. Keep an eye on the website for all activities and a belated Happy New Year

October Half Term

Chris Rogers — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 22:53:12 +0000

October Half Term has been a hectic week. On the monday Steve, Jen and I travelled to Northampton to continue our training to coach vaulting. We were both assessed and passed and are now Level one coaches for vaulting. We took the trailor with us to pick up a barrel for vaulting practice. It was a long day and we didn’t get back till late. Tuesday we had Pony Day and lessons in the evening and I had all the preparation to sort out for the team jumping. Wednesday morning was an early start and late finish for the team jumping. Thursday Client show jumping I thought would be quiet after the team jumping but it turned out to be quite busy in the tipping down rain. Thursday was also my birthday so Steve and I left for Bristol after the client show jumping. We had a nice meal in Bella Italia (curtesy of Tesco’s clubcard vouchers) then went to see We Will Rock You in the Theatre. We stayed over and came back the next day. Ready for the Halloween Party on Saturday. Another successful event organised by the Pony Club Centre committee made up of the older members. There was a good turn out and great to see so many adults supporting the event and even dressing up. The Halloween Party finished about 11.30 after a clean we had a few drinks in the house, five of us went to sleep in my lounge and I woke up on the floor in the early hours, so I assume it was a good night. See photos in the Gallery.

Show an Hunter Trials

Chris Rogers — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 00:31:38 +0000

We have been a bit short on help on the yards the last couple of weeks and Kate Malissa and Zoe M have turned up every day to help out. I had planned to take Jimbob to a couple of competitions so we decided to take some ponies for them too. Last sunday it was the Millbrook/Llantwit Riding Club show. Sarah took Jimbob, Kate has grown out of Hannah and just bought a new horse Bodie so Kate took Hannah for her final outing and we took Jasper. Kate had a 2nd on and a 4th in the jumping on Hannah and Zoe had a bit of a stumble after planks on Jasper, nearly fell off but then had a fence down. Sarah won the 2ft 3 on Jimbob and was 4th in the 2ft6 and Malissa had a 3rd in the Best horse for riding club activities on Jimbob. The girls did the gymkhana classes at the end of the day winning several rosettes. Kate won the one up polo beating the ‘games ponies’ and Zoe fell off in the bending. I took my camera but forgot the card so Photos were taken by Pat Blake (Sarah’s Gran). This Sunday we went to the Hunter Trials at Alps. Sarah and Carys took Rosie and Jimbob in the pairs and Zoe and Malissa took Jasper and Foley all went clear. Bethan and Angharad were also there and did very well on Diesel and Sid. Toni Thomas won the Minimus seniors on Emma. In the Novice class Malissa and Sarah had a few stops, Zoe went clear and came 5th in the junior section and Carys and Jimbob won the senior section. Julie Whiles took the photos because I took my camera and card but forgot the battery. When we go to competitions I always say to the girls – Have you got your hat, Whip, Bridle etc and they are now going to reply with – Have you got your camera, battery and card. Photos on the Gallery

RCT Supporting Local Business

Chris Rogers — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:53:35 +0000

Did you come to our open day. Did you see the effort put in by these young people aged from 4yrs to 20yrs to perform the displays. Were you amazed by what they achieved in such a short practice time. Every year I think how can they get any better and every year they do. Approx 300 people turned up to watch this year and everyone that spoke to me was impressed. Do you know about our Pony Club team that went to the championships in Derby last year and beat the rest of the country to take first place. Did you know that one of our riders is representing Talygarn in the Dressage to Music Championships at Derby this year. We also have a team in the Centre Equitation and a team in the Senior Horse Care. Did you know that we have a lad that came to us with Aspergers syndrome from Tonyrefail and asked us if we would take him on as a student, he has passed numerous qualifications since being here and has been awarded Student of the Year by Yale College Wrexham. Did you know that we have a child with cerebral palsy that takes part in competitions and wants to be in the open day next year. Did you know we are the largest and most successful Pony Club Centre in Wales. Did you know that all our BHS & NVQ students had a 100% pass rate this year. If you have anything to do with Talygarn Equestrian Centre you probably do but if you are anything to do with Rhondda Cynon Taff Council you probably don’t. Because RCT do not support us in any way. They took down our road signs, they do not support us for any bridle paths, they refuse to allow us to expand and now we have a neighbour who complained about the noise on our open day – it is laughable those of you who were here will know the music wasn’t loud enough on the premises never mind down the road but instead of attending the event and seeing how much the community enjoy themselves they jumped at the opportunity to install noise recording equipment in his house. I would like to point out that Talygarn Equestrian Centre is a business it is not a charity and I do need to spend most of my time making money to feed these horses and keep the wolves from the door (the main one being RCT Rates – nearly £1000 a month, bet you didn’t know that) I do this by teaching this is my bread and butter. Open Days and Pony Club Championships are just not financially viable they are fun. I put 6 weeks of free practices in before the open day along with the hours of planning, costumes, stress etc. By the time the Open day arrives I feel physically exhausted and believe it or not the only reason I do it is because I get tremendous pleasure from watching it all unfold on the day and seeing how excited all the youngsters are seeing their enjoyment working as a team in the morning with all the preparation. We raise the money on the open day to take the Pony Club Teams to the Championships in Derby. Another NON financially viable 3 days spent on a showground away from my business having to pay extra staff whilst we are away. Many of the practices for the championships are given by my daughter again free of charge. Last week we took one of the members to another venue to make sure the pony would be ok jumping away from home that cost my husband time and money to do so, out of his own pocket. Don’t get me wrong we enjoy seeing these kids achieve these things and thats why we do it because not everything is about money. So RCT if you want to come along and ban our open day because one neighbour doesn’t like his sunday afternoon disturbed between 2pm and 6pm thats ok it will save me a lot of stress. But please tell the child with cerebal palsy and the lad with aspergers why they wont be in it next year. Please tell the Pony Club they wont be able to go to the Championships next year because we wont be able to raise the £500 it costs to take them. Please tell the child who is in the championship dressage to music that she wont be able to qualify next year because she won’t be able to practice the music. Oh and by the way my daughter and I are half way through a british vaulting qualification which will open the door to 100’s of young disabled people but then again that requires music so perhaps RCT won’t be giving them that opportunity after all. Like I said RCT have no idea what goes on here and have no intention of supporting us.

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Equestrian Vaulting

Chris Rogers — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 23:05:51 +0000

Ever since Amelia and I went to France and watched their vaulting team I’ve wanted to have a go. I think we were traveling back from the quiz in Warwick when I discussed the idea of putting something together for the open day with Amelia and Carys. The first practise was dire but I was very impressed by how well it all came together on the day. This prompted me to e mail the British Equestrian Vaulting (BEV) organisation to see if I could get any help. A lady called Gill e mailed back and invited me to attend a course to learn more about vaulting in Northampton. Jen decided to come with me. Gill kindly organised accommodation for us and included us in working towards a BEV level 1 in coaching during the 3 day course. We drove up to Northampton last tuesday. The course started at 10.30am, first we received a lot of information from John Eccles about the BEV, The rules, the compulsories, the freestyle etc. We also spent a lot of time watching the English Vaulting Squad. Day two included more theory and practical – lungeing and some teaching and more observing the vaulters on the barrel and the horse. The horses are very big and the one I lunged was over 18hh. Lunging is much the same as I’m used to although the lunge whip is much longer and therefore heavier to hold and there were some variations in the lunging e.g when asking the horse to halt the lunge whip is brought over your head and down in front of the horse. Many of the vaulters do not ride but attend gymnastics and dance classes along side vaulting. Lucy Phillips gave us information on warming up vaulters and use of the barrel. Good Vaulters have to be very fit and very strong so vaulting classes spend a lot of time developing this fitness an strength with games and stretching, the moves are learnt and practiced on the barrel and more time is probably spent on the floor and the barrel than on the horse. In the morning on day three Julie Newell English squad coach spent some time with us teaching us tacking up for vaulting and lungeing. Julie is very knowledgeable and has an obvious passion for her horses, she gave us many tips on warming the horses up and use of the lunge whip. I spent a some time helping one of the others to lunge and trying to pass on some of the info Julie had given me. Tacking up was the same for putting on the bridle so that was easy but much to learn about the pads and lunge roller. The days were very long finishing after 6 and mostly starting at 9.30 By Thursday afternoon we had absorbed so much information that it was all getting in a muddle. Jen and I were in different groups for our assessments in tacking up for vaulting and lunging which we both passed. We all agreed that we didn’t have enough time in three days to understand all the compulsories, freestyle, teaching techniques and rules so we have decided to go back and finish off the assessment in a few weeks time. We thoroughly enjoyed the course though and learnt so much from it. Everybody was so helpful and keen to teach us as much as possible. Accommodation was arranged for us with Rachel one of the other people on the course. We spent a lovely two nights with Rachel and her family in their beautiful house near Peterborough. We still have a lot to learn and practice but we are keen to start up our own vaulting group so watch this space.

Horse Sales

Chris Rogers — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 23:46:18 +0000

The maddening thing about trying to buy horses from private sellers is the time it takes. Once you have found a suitable advert, tracked down the sellers, cleared at least half a day off work, travelled 30 plus miles and thats if its local, got lost then eventually found your destination invariably one of the following occurs – the horse/pony takes 3 steps forward and you can see its lame (the owner can’t or doesn’t want too), It has sweet itch, its 14hh (was advertised 15.2), It is not quiet in fact bordering on wild, it has several confirmation faults. I tend to find one in twenty matches the advert. I try to see at least 3 in the same direction if that is possible and I’ve been known to have to take the entire day off to do this then find none are suitable, get stuck in traffic on the way home, forsake the diet and buy a very unhealthy meal to ease onset of depression. The other option is to visit the horse sales, easier because there are several horses to look at in one place but not without its problems. When buying the private horse the owner will lovingly tell you everything about the horse down to what it eats for breakfast, they even tell you things that eventually put you off buying the horse. At horse sales the majority lie at every opportunity, favourite saying when selling small ponies is “only selling because I don’t have anyone small enough to ride it” , one wonders why she bought it if she doesn’t have anyone small enough to ride it. The other classic is we have to many so we are selling some from our riding school, on that basis would you take the best or the worst to the sales. Most of these people are dealers. You do get the odd genuine people at sales but it is hard to work out which is which and some people are very unscrupulous. Being short of ponies we decided to take a trip to Leominster Sales. The sale starts at 11.30am with the biggest horses and works its way at a rate of about 40 an hour to the smallest ponies. We decided to aim to arrive about 12 noon in order to give us time to look at the ponies before they went in for auction. Unfortunately half way there the engine overheated and set fire to the insulation under the bonnet. Slightly worrying but glad the diesel tank is at the back. Arrived at the sales just before one but in time to have a look at the ponies. I marked off a few in the catalogue to look at in the ring. A small palomino and a grey I was interested in were bought by the same person, both looked lovely but didn’t look sound and a couple I liked the look of were much sharper and spookier in the ring. In the end we settled on a 12hh bay pony who appeared to have a laid back nature, called Evan and still stopped on the way home for an unhealthy meal of pie and chips. I am glad I am not a dealer I don’t think I could cope with buying and selling horses every day, its bad enough just trying to buy for the riding school now and again.

Open Day Practices

Chris Rogers — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 23:40:50 +0000

This time of year most of my time is taken up with practices and preparation for the open day (and NVQ files). Originally we started the open day with a BBQ and a few riding demonstrations which were performed by the kids that give their time freely to help on the yard on the weekends and evenings providing they rode at a good level 3 and up. Today the demonstrations have grown in size considerably and with costumes although I still try and stick to selecting the kids and the kids of parents that give their time free to help throughout the year. At the end of May beginning of June I start the practices on a saturday after lessons. Everyone thats here helping on the day has a go and we and then we choose who is in by whether they can do it. The Bareback jumping always starts with loads having a go. They all jump through a grid with their saddles and bridles. Each time their jump down the grid we remove something like their stirrups, then their reins, then the saddle. No one has to take anything away if they don’t want to and they are not allowed to if they don’t look safe. By the time we get to no saddle no hands we usually have half a dozen or so riders left that are then in the display. The next practice involves taking off bridles and two on a horse. This is done in the outdoor school over 6 fences. Generally some one falls off and on this occasion Katherine and Katie fell off 3 times trying to do pairs. The riders in the musical ride are chosen from the level 4 an 5’s with a couple of good level 3’s for the youngest ones again with emphasis on those that help out. Last saturday we practiced the the vaulting and the gymkhana. I still have lots of costumes to organise for Pony Club (delegating to Lisa Vukashin). The musical ride have had two of their 4 practices and I am impressed with how quick they have picked it up. The bareback jumping and vaulting is organised just need more practices. The pony club display and gymkhana still need organising and we were going to do a horse football display but that is not working to well in the outdoor school so that may be changed altogether. The open day will take place on Sunday July 10th gates open 1pm tickets are £2 everyone welcome. Everyone needs to start keeping fingers crossed etc for good weather. Needless to say after all this stress and organising I do feel the need for a holiday, so I’ve booked the flights to Romania 9 days backpacking, Bear watching, dracula hunting and bird watching from a floating hotel.

Summer Shows

Chris Rogers — Tue, 31 May 2011 00:29:11 +0000

During the summer months May to end of September I prefer to hold our show jumping competitions in the outdoor arena instead of indoors. The winter dressage series finishes which is replaced with Mini Hunter Trial events throughout the summer. Last year we were very lucky and managed to hold all Mini Hunter Trials and most of the show jumping outdoors. May this year has been a bit of a wash out, so far we have managed only one Show jumping in the outdoor school (I’m glad we have the option of going indoors) and we had to replace our first Mini hunter trial with indoor Show jumping last Sunday. Lets hope June and the rest of the summer is going to be better. The initial tryouts for the Open Day take place randomly in May and priority is given to level 4 and 5’s and some level 3s that have given their time free during the year to help out on the yard. Most of the try outs for the Open day have been done now except for the Gymkhana and serious practices start next week. It is only 6 weeks to the open day and there is a lot to organise. Horses for displays are going to be difficult this year as we seem to be going through a phase of having a lot of new horses some being a bit on the young side, although we have got some exciting displays and a couple of new ones this year. The open day is Sunday July 10th. Gates open 1pm, tickets are £4 to raise money for the Pony club. Refreshments available, everyone welcome.

Easter Holidays

Chris Rogers — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 07:22:16 +0000

I can’t believe its only just over a week since I was in Greece with Martha. I knew Easter was going to be busy and going away for the week leading up to the holidays was probably not the best idea, I arrived home from the airport at 2.30am a week last Sunday and my busy week started at 6am with a trip to warwick for the pony club national quiz. The Talygarn Team consisted of 4 members Carys morgan, Millie Bushrod, Kate Owen and Sophie Thomas. The team were lying in 5th place at half time and and took 2nd place at the end. The team also received a runner up prize for their mascot which was based on riding and road safety. The winning mascot was based on the royal wedding. Many years ago it became a tradition to stop at McDonalds after Area Competitions. Nowadays its 2 stops, breakfast on the way there and meal on the way back. The following morning Amelia took her horse to Stratford to a show jumping yard for two weeks and I went to Cardiff for the Pony Club Horse and Pony Care Competition. Talygarn were had 2 junior teams and two senior teams. The junior teams were placed 3rd and 4th and the one of our senior teams was placed 2nd. Tuesday was a manic day with riding and road safety badge pony club centre and lessons. On wednesday we ran a cross country clinic which turned out to be very successful and we were extremely lucky with the weather. Friday was another busy day with a riding school show jumping competition. We also had 3 new horses arrive on friday 2 8yr old mares and a 4yr old 16.1 gelding. (Sunday got the garden rotovated) Monday we took Sarah and Buffy and Carys and Jimbob to the hunter trials at Sunnybank. They day started well with Carys driving the land rover into the wheelie bin but did improve. Both horses had a few stops in the first class then both jumped a clear in the pairs and took 3rd place. Tuesdaya Pony Day was busy and today we have Team Junping, which is looking like another long day. We will be holding a riding school jumping competition on friday for those who don’t wont to be watching the royal wedding. With all the lessons to run as well its been a long week and I’m thinking I need a holiday.

R.I.P Simply Blue

Chris Rogers — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 00:07:28 +0000

Last Thursday at 8am Blue was found in her stable and appeared to be cast. She struggled to stand but seemed unable to hold her wait. The vet arrived and on investigation discovered that she had broken her leg (Femur). I am not sure how long we had Blue I think she was a 7yr old when she arrived and she would be 12 now so around 5years I guess. I remember the evening that Blue arrived on the yard, it was cold, dark and raining. I didn’t know that she had arrived as they had unloaded her at the top of the drive and walked her down. I assumed that she hadn’t travelled well as she was quite worked up and had a cut on her head. We had prepared a stable for her and soon discovered that she had quite a phobia about being in a stable. if something alarmed her she became extremely upset and pannicky. Over the years she had become a lot calmer in the stable although still somewhat temperamental and prone to biting. She could never be tied in the stable but was fine to tie on the yard. She was difficult to shoe and impossible to clip. She was an attractive 16hh black mare but despite her moodiness many people enjoyed riding her. She never reared bucked or ran away. When she first arrived I rode her for awhile. She was excellent in traffic and good to hack out. I had assumed she may not travel well as she didn’t like being in the stable but she was fine on the lorry and I jumped her over a few small courses at Sunnybank and Broomes, she wasn’t very careful or talented then. Eventually Carys Morgan took her on. Carys persevered with the jumping and improved Blue no end. They had a wonderful partnership and I truly believe that Blue trusted Carys completely. Carys gave her confidence and she became easier for others to jump but she was always at her best with Carys. No one would have thought Blue would have jumped the 4ft planks at the open day and leave them up but she did for Carys. She will be missed by many and it was a sad and tragic day to lose such a nice horse in the prime of her life. Our thoughts this week have been with those who loved and cared for Blue especially Carys who had a special bond with her.