South Berkshire Branch of the Pony Club

Congratulations to Helena Murray,Mayan Northway-Young and Jasmine Cullum who did very well at the Vine PC ODE. Helena was 2nd in her Arena,Jasmine came 1st in her arena and Mayan came 4th in hers.

The team all performed fantastically beating personal bests in most events. Rhiannon, Melissa and Rebecca had a tough time with the highest number of competitors and were not placed, but this does not fully reflect the massive improvements they made over previous results. Swim, shoot and runs were all improved but the ride did prove tricky on a challenging course.
The boys who were sat at 5th after 2 events finished 2nd by the end today after fantastic rides from Hugo and Piers with Justin having a difficult time with Arthur picking up 148 penalties. Congratulations to all of you, you should be proud of your achievements

Open: The day started very early for our open team which was inside in indoor arena, the team of Alistair Matthews, Hannah Turnbull and Laura Burgess were not placed over what proved to be an very up to height technical second round of which did not produce many clear rounds. Special mention to Hannah who had 4 faults after 2 rounds, however the team were 6th in the Tack and Turnout.

Intermediates: This was also held in the indoor arena straight after the open class. We had two teams Hugo Flawn-Thomas, Justin Brown, Rhys Miller and Charlie Pyke-Jones, and the other team of Alex Webb, Michael Webber, Hatty Burton and Rhia Honey who all put in very good performances over what was also a very demanding 2nd round of which produce not many clears, in fact only 6 double clears from over 60 competitors, special mention must go to both Alex Webb and Charlie Pyke-Jones who both ended on 4 faults after 2 rounds. The intermediate team of Alex, Michael, Hatty and Rhia were place 4th in the Tack and Turnout.

Novice: We had two Novices teams competing out on grass of which was quite slippery after the rain over night. The team of Brittany Pearse, Charlotte Rowe-Jones, Rebecca James and Rosie Courtier-Dutton and in the other team of Katie Mills, Lydia Wauchope and Alys Iliffe all did very well especially to those competing at this level for the first time. The teams were not placed however a special mention to Rebecca James who produced a lovely double clear, Charlotte Rowe-Jones who had 4 faults over 2 rounds and to Rosie Courtier-Dutton on a very green pony. The Novice Team of Brittany, Charlotte, Rebecca and Rosie were placed 4th in the Tack and Turnout.

Minis: We had two minis teams of Emily Faulkner, Emily Taylor and Alice Thatcher and the other team of Hannah Webber, Helena Murray, Alex Rimmer and Abby Faulkner. Extremely well done to those minis who were representing the branch for the first time. The team of Hannah, Helena , Alex and Abby came a fantastic 4th place in what was a very exciting competition. Special mention to Alice , Hannah, Alex and Abby who all jumped double clears, Helena Murray for 4 faults over 2 rounds and to Abby for being nominated to doing the jump off. Well done.

Lastly can I thank personally Sharon Taylor, Caroline Frank and Hannah Turnbull for all their help in walking the courses and warming you all up.

Congratulations to our two intermediate teams both coming 1st and qualifying for nationals.
Starting with the girls of Melissa Dawes, Rebecca Mayle and Rhiannon Honey. Melissa gave a good solid performance for the two days unfortunately, her horse Lottie was eliminated in the cross-country but showed real promise for the future. Her run was the best I have seen her do to finish 8th as an individual.
Rebecca had a PB for her swim and we could all see how much that meant. Individually, she finished 3rd only 160 points behind the 2nd who was much older than her.
Rhiannon has come on so much this season getting a PB in swimming and the shoot and an impressive run at the end to finish 5th as an individual.
Justin Brown, Hugo Flawn-Thomas and Piers Flawn-Thomas all had clear rounds on the cross-country which very few others managed, well done.
Justin had best shoot and best run and fully deserved his 1st place as an individual.
Hugo had a really consistent performance across all disciplines and was only just behind Justin coming 2nd as an individual.
Piers after a disappointing shoot pulled it back with a fantastic swim and ride. This was his 1st time running 2000m but he put in a great performance and came 4th individually.

**Congratulations to our Dressage teams who put in some excellent performances**

Open: Sophie Clark was 1st in her Arena and has qualified for the national championships, Hannah Turnbull was 6th in her arena and Alasdair Matthews narrowly missed out on being placed but was 2nd in the warm up class.The team were placed 6th.

Intermediate: Annaliese Turnbull was 1st in her arena and has qualified for the national championships. Matthew Hick was 5th, Rebecca James was 6th with Molly Mc Nickle narrowly missed out on being placed but was 2nd in her warm up class. The team were placed 3rd.

Novice: The team of Brittany Pearse, Emma Durcan, Helena Murray and Rosie Courtier-Dutton were not placed in their area test but did well in the warm up class and were placed.
Everyone did very well, were very smart and were a credit to South Berks. Keep up the good work.

The Intermediate team of Alice White and Finnegan, Annaliese Turnbull and FanFan Svrzno. Molly McNickle and Drakonian Rites and Sophie Clarke and Millbanks Ross won the qualifier and will be going to the National Championship at Draycott.

Sophie was 2nd in her arena and Alice, Molly and Annaliese were all 3rd in their arenas, a fantastic and very consistent performance.
The Intermediate team of Piers Flawn Thomas and Maghera Boy, Justin Brown and Bradfield Edith, Rhys Miller and Amber and Matt Hick and Imperial Glory all put in their best performance yet and Matt Hick got a deserved 6th in his arena.
Our open representative was Alasdair Matthews on Carelue Tikker who did a wonderful double clear with no time faults and won 4th place in their arena.
The Novice team of Charlotte Rowe Jones and Diamond Dorris, Lydia Wauchope and Time and Again, Elinor Fleming and Babylon Pippa and Victoria Fleming on Golden Jubilee enjoyed a challenging day out at their first area qualifier and both Lydia and Charlotte came very close to being in the placings.
Well done to everyone! It was a long day with an early start, well done to all the parents as well for driving, plaiting,studs, picnics etc!

Everyone had a good day at Coombelands and this time the sun shone. All of the elements presented a few challenges for the younger horses. The dressage was exciting for both Rhia's and Justin's horses but they both stayed very cool (Rhia and Justin, not the horses!) and rode them positively and effectively to get reasonable scores. Amber put in a good test for Rhys, and Matt and Sophie both delivered low 30s in their tests. The showjumping was testing too, with not a clear round in sight! The cross country course did ask a couple of questions, causing a couple of stops for the less experienced horses, although Rhia and Sophie went clear. The team just missed a placing and Sophie was 3rd in her arena

On Monday 31st May 2010 two South Berks Intermediate Tet teams travelled a long way down the M4/M5 to Bicton Arena in Devon to compete in the Area 15/16 Tetrathlon.
After setting up camp and settling the horses in there was time for all the competitors and parents to relax before the competition on Tuesday and Wednesday. After a very wet night and with rain continuing well into Tuesday everyone prayed that it would dry out before cross-country and run day. Luckily, it did and the rain had provided ideal ground conditions on the superb Willis Bros course.
All the four tetrathlon disciplines were completed by both the teams successfully. The cross-country course which was up to height and asked quite a few questions of the rider, rode well. This was the first time most South Berks members had ridden a pre-novice course in a tet competition. This was an excellent preparation for the qualifier Tetrathlon at Borde Hill in July and then hopefully, the Nationals at Hartpury in August.
The boys team: Justin Brown, Hugo Flawn-Thomas, Piers Flawn-Thomas finished 2nd with Justin 1st Individual, they also picked up the 1st branch team place
The girls team: Melissa Dawes, Rebbecca Mayle, Rhiannon Honey finished 4th
WELL DONE JUSTIN ON YOUR INDIVIDUAL PLACING AND CONGRATULATIONS TO BOTH TEAMS - KEEP UP THE TRAINING!

Our Open team of Hannah Turnbull, Biz Dance and Alistair Matthews came 6th today at the Hickstead Qualifier at Lower Peake Farm, Warnford. They ended the first round on 12 faults which left them in 9th position out of 11 teams. In the second round the teams had to jump in reverse order so our team were 3rd to go, the course was 1mtr 15 and the jumps were upto height and caused many problems throughout, but our team rose to the occasion and each member just had 4 faults each (which turnout to be equal best of the second round scores). Well Done
Hayley

It was great to see so many of our South Berks members out competing at the Craven Hunt SJ at Newbury Showground. Despite the wet torrential rain and very slippery conditions everyone that I saw jump did extremely well.
There were 2 rings ongoing throughout the day, ring 1 was for Pony Club teams and individuals and ring 2 was for individuals only. Many of members produced some great double clears (Victoria Fleming, Helena Murray, Helena Silewicz, Emma Durcan, Charlotte Rowe-Jones, Rebecca Mayle, Alex Webb, Elinor Fleming, Michael Webber) below is a list of the following results I know of:
Ring 1
Class 1 (70 � 75cms)
Victoria Fleming on Ben 2nd individually
Class 2 (80 � 85cms)
Victoria Fleming on Jubillee 1st individually
Class 3 (90 � 95cms)
Charlotte Rowe-Jones on Diamond Dorris 4th individually
Class 4 (1.00 � 1.05m)
Team finished in 5th place Rhys Miller on Amber, Michael Webber on Maggie May, Alex Webb on Robbie IV, Sophie Clarke on Millbanks Ross
Ring 2
Class 9 (90cms)
Rosie Courtier-Dutton on Silver Dollar 1st, Elinor Fleming on Bravo 5th, Emma Durcan on Sundance Warrior 6th

We had a fantastic weekend out in the New Forest camping in the DCs field which was lovely bar the bull that seemed to want to make a lot of noise at about 2 am and my mattress going flat. Thank you to everybody who brought food etc and made it a fun time.
All the children had a great time riding in the forest including some little ones who got lost on the Saturday afternoon, I think the parents were more concerned than the children and they all came back with big smiles on their faces.
In the competition we had some great results. Justin Brown,Melissa Dawes, Rhiannon Honey and Rebecca Mayle came 1st in their class with Justin coming 2nd,Rebecca 3rd,Melissa 5th and Rhia 6th individually.
A mixed team that included Ben Brown came 1st with Ben 2nd individually and a mixed team which included Jax Dawes came 3rd.
Other notable results were Michael Webber with a 3rd individually and Callum Heap with a 5th place. The parents team came a very respectable 3rd.
All the rest of the children put in a great effort but amongst stiff competition were unplaced. Congratulations to everyone who took part for putting in such a good effort and representing your club so well.

WELL DONE to the South Berks members who competed at a sizzling hot Hambleden on sunday at the SOHS one day event. Our intermediate team of Sophie Clarke,Biz Dance, Annaliese Turnbull and Daniella Kilsby Steele finished 4th out of 16 teams. Sophie finished 2nd in her arena and Annaliese 4th in hers, Biz had a double clear and Daniellla also went clear XC. Alasdair Matthews competed in his first Open class and finished 6th.

A very good day was had by the South Berks eventing teams at Bisley Hunts ODE yesterday.

The mini team for class 1 was Storm Ryan. Laura Misson, Olivia Lambert and Saskia Silewicz. Hannah Webber also rode as an individual. All the girls had a good go but unfortunately we did not get enough clear rounds to secure a team placing - 9th so just out of the rosettes. A special mention goes to Laura who got 26.5 on her dressage and to Storm who was 4th in her arena - she finished on her dressage score of 35. All the other team members including Hannah were placed between 11th and 15th! A fun day was had by all - good effort!

In class 2 there were two teams the Hearts and Clubs. The hearts team came 6th overall with Helena Silewicz getting placed 8th in her arena on her pony Poppy, Anna Worthington 7th in her arena on Harvey and Eliza Lambert 3rd in her arena on Chloe.
The Clubs team had an exceptional day getting placed 2nd overall. Helena Murray came 7th in her arena on her pony Casper, she was clear show jumping and had an excellent dressage score (2nd in her arena). This was Helena's first ever cross country course and she had only one refusal at the mirky water.
Charlie Pyke Jones riding her new youngster Bobby Blue, (first time out at a ODE for them, and first dressage and x/c) went clear in both the SJ and XC and finished 5th in her arena due to her dressage score.
The big well done goes to Brittany Pearce who came 1st in her arena jumping clear in both the SJ & XC despite Star her pony taking a disliking to a large Teddy Bear sitting in the woods. Victoria Fleming was having a great day riding a lovely dressage test, but then had a dispute with her pony over jump 3 in the XC, after sorting out their differences then continued the rest of the round clear.
Michael Webber was riding as an individual on his pony Barney Bee. He also went clear in both the SJ & XC and finished 4th on his dressage score in his areana. A excellent set of results for South Berks, Well Done.

Congratulations to the Novice teams who also had a great day, the Blue Team of Elinor Fleming, Victoria Fleming, Katie Mills and Lydia Wauchope were 3rd overall with a second place each for Elinor and Lydia in their arenas and a 4th for Victoria in hers.
The Blue team were unplaced as some of them had a little trouble across country, but the star of that team has to be Molly McNickle who had the highest dressage score of the day at 29.3, and then went double clear to win her arena.

Well it was a VERY wet day at Coombelands eventing on the 2nd May 2010!!
In the Level 2 class Helena Silewicz had a good day with her pony Poppy to come 8th in her arena.
The Level 3 Novice team of Charlotte Rowe-Jones, Katie Mills and Victoria Flemming all did well to stay upright in the showjumping ring as this was the last, and very large class of the day. Well done to Charlotte who was 8th in her arena.
Well done to the Level 4 Intermediate team of Matt Hick, Sophie Clarke, Rhia Honey and Annaliese Turnbull, who were 4th as a team overall. All started with good dressage, there were a few poles pinging on slippy ground in the showjumping and there was one stop cross country across all four of them.
Particularly well done to Rhia who had a great double clear over tough courses on her young horse, and Annaliese who got a 9 in the dressage on her young horse! Annaliese was individually 4th in her arena, Matt and Rhia were 5th in their arenas and Sophie was 6th in hers.
And well done to all parents and riders for not having any sense of humour failures in the pouring rain.

The tet team were out in force again this weekend competing at the OBH Chiltern hunter trial and tet in Chesham.
I am delighted to report that all our members had super clear rounds which put them in a very strong position at the start of Sunday's phases. They also had great results in the hunter trial and I am thrilled to report that Emily Taylor won her class, Justin Brown was 5th in the 3ft3in class and Ben Brown was 4th in the 3ft class.
The weather on Sunday was no where near as nice as Saturdays but never less there were some great performances to be seen culminating in fantastic results at the end of the day.
Justin Brown must be thrilled to bits by keeping up his winning form and coming first in the Intermediate boys tet and receiving a medal for the best run.
Rebecca Mayle came 5th in the intermediate girls tet and had a personal best run which is great as I know this is her least favourite phase.
Ben Brown was 2nd in the junior boys tet and received a medal for the best shoot.
Emily Taylor came 4th in the mini girls tet so there was lots to celebrate in the Taylor household.
Chloe Brown came 2nd in the girl's tadpole tri and had the most fantastic swim.
Joe Goodenough came 4th in the boy's tadpole tri and received a medal for the best run knocking nearly six seconds off his previous personal best.
Finally, Harry Goodenough showed stoicism beyond his years. He did a fab bean bag toss which put him in a strong position to begin with but he was harbouring a leg injury and really had to work hard at his run and swim. Thank goodness for the ice cream man!!
Well done to everyone including the parents as there is lots of waiting around and it was a long way to go. You are all super!

This tetrathlon was held at a lovely school in Salisbury with the most spectacular cross country course high on the downs where you could see for miles. The XC course was quite a demanding one, fences were all well up to height and solid, steep inclines and declines, tight bends and some quite tricky fences all added to the challenge. A long course mean't that for an early one in the season, hunting fitness was probably quite a good idea !! Rebecca Mayle, having had best shoot with 980pts held onto the first place with her swim and her clear XC ride. To the dreaded run !! The run course was similar to the ride, no less than 3 sides of steep inclines helped along by a dog-leg also in an upward direction, on this type of terrain the flint covered downslopes were a little tricky also in spikes. Not to be put off though, she pushed herself to her limits, giving a PB run, improving by some 8 secs, to finally finish 6th in a very strong Area 14 field of 22, only a few points between all six of them. As is expected New Forest took the honours...... but we are catching up with them slowly ! Rebecca was thrilled with her 3 rosettes, a great weekend and much recommended for next season.

Easter Fun and Games

Thank to Chris and Wendy Webber for hosting us at Amners Farm and to all the mums, dads, grandparents, siblings and helpers who came along to enjoy the fun and games.
Tracy Porter our Chair of the Parent's Supporters Group, judged the fancy dress and she found the decision very hard as everyone had done a fantastic job in preparing their fancy dress, special consideration was given to those who had had a big part in making their own costumes, the results were as follows:
1st Stephen Webber - Easter Egg
2nd - Hannah Webber - Chick in an egg
3rd - Nicholas Cross - Captain Jack Sparrow
4th - Rory Hodge - Easter Bunny
5th - Harriet Jones - Easter Chick
Special - Rachel Cross - Elizabeth Swann (Pirates of the Carribean)
Special - Zoe Webber - Easter Lamb
Special - Alice McCall - White Rabbit

In the gymkhana games there were lots of races with points given for each race, points accumulated as follows: -

1st - Rachel Cross 37 points
2nd - Hannah Webber - 35 points
3rd - Rory Hodge - 34 points
4th - Alice McCall - 32 points
5th - Harriet Jones - 28 points
6th - Stephen Webber - 28 points
7th - Zoe Webber - 27 points
8th - Nicholas Cross - 22 points

Well done everyone

March

South Oxfordshire Hunt Central Triathlon

The new season seems to be getting well and truly under way with everyone getting out and about and doing things with lots of early success.
The TET team went to Thame this past weekend and competed in the South Oxfordshire Hunt Central Triathlon. We all had a really great day and lots of personal bests were achieved. We would like to especially congratulate Justin Brown who was on the winning boys mixed Senior team, winning Senior boy and best shoot. WOW Justin, you need to start practising your prize acceptance speeches!!!
We also had a senior girls team made up of Rhia Honey, Rebecca Mayle and Melissa Dawes who did a superb job and came third.
There was a junior boys mixed team where Ben Brown was a member of the winning team - well done.
Jax Dawes was the only junior girl who competed - she needs South Berks team mates. Well done to Jax for her very good shoot.
Our tadpoles all did very well, well done to Becky Gaut, Chloe Brown and Joe Goodenough who ran a PB. We were especially proud of the team spirit that was generated between these three they really cheered each other on and looked after one another.
And finally to our sole tiddler, Harry Goodenough, well what can we say. Harry thoroughly enjoyed himself and had an excellent bean bag toss (shoot). But Harry too would like some more tiddlers to join him.
Well done to everyone!!!

South Berks Triathlon

Click here for results: Results from the SBPC Triathlon 21st March 2010

Didn't they do well

Vine Show Jumping Sparsholt College March 14th 2010

Visit the photo gallery for pictures from the day
At our first SJ competition of the season many congratulations to all our South Berks competitors who took part at the Vine Open SJ at Sparsholt College today.
We had some really great results and it bodes well to a good season ahead.
Class 2 Pairs
JJ Sugden and Storm Ryan - 2nd
Class 3
Rosie Courtier-Dutton - 5th Individually
South Berks Green Team - 5th (Rosie Courtier-Dutton, Rebecca Collett, Hayley Jubb, Casper Sugden)
Class 4 Pairs
Katie Mills & Charlotte Rowe-Jones - 2nd
Rhia Honey & Emily Bown - 6th
Brittany Pearse & Emma Durcan - 7th
Best Boy and Girl Pair - Alex Webb & Matt Hick
Class 5
Rhia Honey - 5th Individually
Matt Hick - 7th Individually
Alex Webb - 8th Individually
South Berks Blue Team - 1st (Ellie Frank, Rhia Honey, Matt Hick)

February

January