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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.

Team Show Jumping

Chris Rogers — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 23:19:26 +0000

What a brilliant start to the team show jumping series 2011/12. I limit the teams to approx 40 and we ended up with 43 teams on the closing date, I even had more teams trying to enter but we can only get through so many in a day and there is the parking to consider as well. The weather was very kind in fact it couldn’t have been better. Llangeinor PC won the 1ft6 with Talygarn teams placed 2nd and 4th. Talygarn won the 1ft9 and also had a 4th, we were 2nd and 3rd in the 2ft which was won by Handford Hopefuls. Glamorgan PC won the 2ft3 with Talygarn 2nd and 4th and Talygarn won the 2ft6. The next Team event in the series is December 28th. Points are on the website and Photos in the Gallery

Dressage

Chris Rogers — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 22:30:28 +0000

It doesn’t seem like five minutes since we finished the last dressage series and here we are again in October starting the next series. We had a very good turn out on Sunday with approx 46 entered over the 5 classes. Class 1 the walk trot is always popular, and so is class 2 the first prelim, the next prelim class 3 is quieter and the Novice is always quiet. The Pony Club Dengie had a reasonable turn out with Carys Morgan from Talygarn winning the class on Buffy and qualifying for the area finals. Emily Curnock and Hannah Davies from the Llangeinor Pony Club and Ellie McVay from the Pentyrch also qualified. Thank you so much to the people that helped with the writing and the gate, we could not run theses competitions without your help.

Dog Show

Chris Rogers — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 08:12:41 +0000

What a successful day the Fun Dog Show turned out to be. The Pony Centre committee worked hard to organise the event and put out lots of posters. The committee set the indoor school up at lunchtime with a ring for the fun showing classes and a ring for the dog agility. Having organised who was taking entries who would be on the agility ring etc. they were ready to start by 1pm. There was a good turn out with plenty of entries in each class and lots of dogs (and owners) having a go at the agility and if you didn’t have a dog it was worth coming to purchase the home made cakes. A big thank you to Leanne Jones who organised the judge and to the Judge herself who did a marvellous job. The Pony Club Committee is made up of the older centre members age ranging between 14 and 18. They organise several events in order to raise funds for the Halloween Party which will be held Saturday Oct 29th 6.30pm. Photos from the Dog Show can be found on 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

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.

Dressage

Chris Rogers — Mon, 09 May 2011 23:45:47 +0000

The last of our winter events finished on Sunday with the final of the Dressage series. The points winners are Class 1 walk trot Juniors Ellie McVay and Midi, Seniors Sarah Mules and Splash. Class 2 Prelim Juniors Kate Owen and Hannah, Seniors Sarah Mules and splash. Class 3 Prelim and Class 4 Novice were both won by Carys Morgan and Buffy. All the winners received white numnahs Champion Rosettes and Sashes.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately as Sarah might have beaten me) I wasn’t able to ride, due to falling off earlier in the week, when I say fall off I should say flung on the floor from a great height. It must be at least 8 years since I hit the floor last and I landed on my feet then. I definitely don’t bounce anymore, its a sort of a dead weight and a dent in the floor nowadays. Its a shame fat isn’t made of rubber, I would have enough to bounce back on. Needless to say movement is somewhat restricted at the moment but a diet of Ibuprofen and Alcohol is aiding recovery. Photos (from the dressage, not me hitting the floor) can be found on the website Gallery

Amelia

We also said goodbye to Amelia this week who has moved to Stratford on Avon to train with show jumpers for awhile. She has taken Zac with her but Leo is staying here so I think she will be back for a day most weeks.

Team Show Jumping

Chris Rogers — Mon, 02 May 2011 23:17:45 +0000

Last Wednesday we held the last of a series of 4 team show jumping competitions at Talygarn. The series has been supported by many local clubs such as Llangeinor Pony Club, Glamorgan Pony Club, Mynydd Riding Club, Millbrook Riding Club, Pensidan, Ty Luc Riders & Handfords. Eights teams were entered from Talygarn and over the series we have had many wins and places. Talygarn Pony Club Centre and Glamorgan Pony Club have managed to keep the most consistent teams throughout the series resulting in Talygarn having the most points for the 1t6 1ft9 2ft3 and 2ft6 and Glamorgan winning the 2ft. The winning team members all received grooming bags and a selection of grooming brushes. Mother of two Talygarn Team members Sheena Davies showed her support by becoming the unofficial team coach in place of Amelia and looked resplendent in her yellow Talygarn T Shirt. Intially Sheena was attempting to coach the teams that her children were riding in but word soon spread, and by the end of the day Sheena had become the official coach for all Talygarn teams. I understand Sheena is now talent spotting for London 2012. The Team Jumping series will start again in October this year, team members will be selected from those taking part in the riding school show jumping competitions run in the school holidays. There are more photos on the website Gallery

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.