BKRC News & Information

Chrismas Drinks @ Bev's

Brent Knoll held a Christmas drinks for members and guests at Beverleys house on 17th Dec. The drinks and food were provided by the Club for the members as we didn't have a Christmas meal. The meal was discussed at the AGM but most people felt they were busy enough with works meal and couldn't fit another Turkey dinner in!! About 20 people attended and it was a very social evening, catching up on lots of gossip!!! New committee member Celia Lewis, who runs the Equestrian side of Boulters of Banwell provided a prize of a body warmer, (names were put in a hat) which was won by Clare Nightingale from Felton, (our members are quite well spread out) which I'm sure will come in handy. There was plenty to eat and drink, a big Thank you to Bev and Tony who were very good hosts....

Click Here for the Pictures!!

Dressage to Music

A lecture/demo of Dressage to Music was arranged for Tuesday 11th April at the Hand EC after much interest from club members to have one to see how it's done. Andrea Sexton, from Severn Dressage came along to explain all, then show us how it should be done.

The ticket included light refreshments (which I was doing) and I was beginning to panic as the phone hardly stopped on Tuesday with people asking about coming and on the door that evening loads of people turned up. In the end about 56 people came which was really good. Some had been to events at the Hand before as they were well prepared, wrapped up with blankets and brought cushions to sit on.

Andrea had done some handouts for guidelines and had 2 Brent Knoll members very bravely available to be guinea pigs! They were Bev Gore & George, large horse and Becky Hall & Ringo, small pony!

Andrea explain all the necessary things to do re the music, it's not as simple as you may think, you have to apply to use the music and you also may need a spare CD player as we used 3 that night before one would play Andreas music, as music done on computers does not always play on new CD players as they can't read the format it's done in! Andrea had just competed at the National Championships the weekend before and said one of the competitors music wouldn't play, had awful that must have been.

Bev and Becky were much in need of a drink when the lecture part finished as they both worked very hard and I expect George and Ringo both slept well that night!

Andrea then came back and did her warm up while trying to fill us in on what she was doing. She did a lovely test and the horse was just fab, everyone thinking how nice it would look in their stable!! After the test much applause followed and Andrea went on to answer lots of questions. Everyone seemed to have had a really good night, many thanks to all who came see you soon Hilary.

Photos of Spectators having a coffee, Bev & George, Becky & Ringo and Andrea.

Thanks to Mark at the Hand EC for making us feel very welcome

Hilary.

Show Jumping Clinic

Brent Knoll recentley ran a Show Jumping Clinic at the Hand EC at Clevedon with Steven Hadley.

Congratulations to Lyn Skinner and Andy Pugsley on their recent engagement. Andy kept Lyn company on the Cream tea ride back in the summer on his bike so as he's joined the riding club we're hoping he's getting a horse and will swell the male members numbers to the giddy heights of 4!!

Sunday 21st was a beautiful day, just right for the annual Cream Tea Ride in aid of the I.L.P.H.

The weather really helped as it encouraged 22 riders, 1 cyclist and 1 walker to take part.

With the help of local farmers, Trevor Savage, Michael Frost and Alister House we had access to land not open to the public, which gave local riders a chance to go somewhere different and provided stunning views from the top of Ham Wood, not to mention being able to miss out on roads, a real treat.

The ride went from my yard in Hutton, headed into the village but then cut across the fields, up through the woods across more fields to join Roman road and the lovely bridleways we have there. Ex BKRC member Andy Deacon and partner Sarah were on first gate duty, with my niece Claire, who is over from America on 2nd gate duty and official photographer. As the gates were makeshift, due to going it not normally being available to the public, they were a big help as "gates" had to be done on foot. We had a few BKRC members, Lynn Skinner, Janie Spicer and Lou Smith, and Roy Orme who keeps his horse with me. Some from my yard came and some of the girls from the local riding school came just to be able to ride somewhere different. 24 people left and 24 thirsty and hungry people returned so I was very happy no one got lost on the way!

Cream tea was waiting for them and it didn't take long for the sandwiches, cakes, scones with cream and jam to vanish, although the tea was replaced by gallons of juice.

Boulters of Banwell, who have been a great supporter of the riding club provided some prizes for the most sponsorship, which was in 3 groups, 12yrs and under, won by Izzy Staddon, 13 to 17, won by Sophie Passey, both from my yard and over 17s' which was won by BKRC member Lynn Skinner, who's partner Andy was the one on his bike! Everyone got a nice red ILPH rosette and there were sweets all round for the kids, although I saw a few adults tucking in, who said we never eat sweets normally! The ILPH benefit from a huge total of £270.70p which I think is a fantastic amount, included in this was £35 from Stephanie Wilkinson, who raised the money for the ride last year, which had to be cancelled due to a case of strangles in the area, so not able to come this year she kindly gave last years money. So, a big Thank You to all who came, to Trevor, Michael and Alister for letting us use their land, to Celia Lewis of Boulters for help with the prize and to Claire, Andy and Sarah for helping it to run smoothly. See you all next year, don't forget to look in the next ILPH magazine for a report and photos of the ride.

The weather decided to not play ball and we had a very wet day. However, some of us aren't put off easy when there is food and drink involved, so myself and Richard joined Jayne Tippets and her friend, who's name I have forgotten so sorry, and Sue Pugh, a past member of Brent Knoll, Bev and eventually Tony her hubby, to tackle the food on behalf of BKRC! Bevs little dog Sonic was very sonic giving everyone a welcome which lasted a while!

Bev had been busy with food and due to the weather had to bring George in to do the cooking, by George I mean the Goeorge Forman grill , not Bevs horse! We had a great selection of burgers, lamb and sausage all this was expertly cooked by George, with a little help from Bev and the table groaned under the weight of various salads and bread. There was a lovely selection of pudds and as usual my other half Richard made sure they all got attention, although I'm not sure if it was the food or the horsey talk that eventually sent him to sleep! The wine was very nice and went down very well with those who had a chauffer, mine was dozing ready for the long drive home!

The talk was varied to start but did as usual, drift of to horses, which might have coincided with finishing eating, but not drinking we kept that going until after 10.30 Those of you who didn't make it, missed out on a very pleasent evening of food, drink and a bit of a gossip!