News

Autumn and winter events added

We’ve just added details of all the events at Wellgrove for the autumn and winter, including:

• autumn half term Pony Club test prep and exams
• Pony Days
• November show day
• Christmas hacks, tinsel rides and opening times over the Christmas holidays

Wellgrove rider and horse in print

Regular Wellgrove rider Tony Brown-Griffin has been featured in two magazines this week – the September issue of Horse and Rider and the summer 2012 edition of Forward, the Guide Dogs for the Blind newsletter.

Tony is blind, and the articles focus both on her assistance dog Hetty and on her riding at Wellgrove Farm Stables – with some fantastic photos of her riding and jumping Apple!

You can download and read the Guide Dogs newsletter here, and September’s Horse and Rider is currently on newstands.

Loans and new website features

We’ve been updating the site recently and you’ll notice a few new things!

Our Loans page has been updated with details of all the horses and ponies available for one, two and four-day loans this year.

We’ve added several new horse and pony profiles to the Horses page, including our newcomers Delia and Indy, as well as Sparky, Marcus, Chalky and Mouse.

And you’ll also see Facebook, Twitter and Google+ buttons around the site – you can use these to share the Wellgrove website with your friends, and post your favourite horses and ponies to your Facebook walls!

Pony Days

Pony Days are available throughout the summer.

Give us a call to book in.

Gymkhana Games results

We went on despite the weather, so well done to all the participants who were very wet, and the audience who probably won the record for how many humans crammed into a summerhouse!

Fancy Dress

1. G Boorman and Penny
2. L Skilton and K Cashford and Wonder Dream and Pie-oh-Pah
3. K Muysken and R Robinson and Pumba and Mitmoo

Bucket Jumping

1. I Iaquainello and Socks
2. B Donmall and Sweep
3. S Whittome, F Iaquainello, L Sutton and Pie-oh-Pah, Babysham and Beano

Bucket Weaving

1. J Donmall and Socks
2. K Muysken and Pumba
3. E Brinson and Pringle Sandpiper
4. L Skilton and Ronald Reagan

Sweet Races (run in three heats)

1. K Briers and Cheap as Chips
2. L Skilton and Ronald Reagan
3. J Miller and Bobby Socks

Musical Chairs (run in two heats)

1. J Miller – Bobby Socks
2. G Boorman – Penny

1.  I Saker – Socks
2. M White – Ronald Reagan

Summer half-term events

• 4 June 2012 – closed
• 5 June 2012
• Pony Day (see below for details)
• Pony Club E and D tests (see notice board)
• 6 June 2012
• Pony Day (see below for details)
• Progressive Riding Tests for Pony Club achievers (see notice board)
• 11am: 1 1/2 hour hack (includes canter) – £30
• 7 June 2012
• Pony Day (see below for details)
• 2pm – Gymkhana Games – £4.50 per game (booking form required – download one here)
• Race 1: fancy dress (must wear hat and boots)
• Race 2: bucket elimination a) jump / b) bend
• Race 3: sweet
• Race 4: round the world
• Race 5: musical chairs
• 6 June 2012
• Pony Day (see below for details)

Special note

Pony Days are now priced as follows:

• Half day (10am – 2pm)
• Ride once: £20
• Ride twice: £27
• Full day (10am – 4pm)
• Ride once £28
• Ride twice £35

Easter and Summer events

We’ve just posted details of our Easter holiday courses and events and our famous Wellgrove Summer Camps.

Check the Events page for full details, or see the Summer Camps page to learn more or download a booking form.

Christmas loans

A variety of Wellgrove’s horses and ponies will be available for short-term loans during the week between Christmas and New Year (27 – 30 December).

This scheme could be an ideal Christmas gift to your friend. Ponies may be looked after for the morning between 8.30am and 2pm and ridden for 40 minutes in the school. It is expected that they will be mucked out, groomed and loved in this time period!

All riders taking part in this scheme must be members of the Pony Club at Wellgrove, on the Helper Scehem, proficient at walk, trot and canter, and have ridden the pony/horse  before.

The price of this loan is £12 per day, or three days for £30. Please contact Emma on 07887 777 191 for details, and booking is on a first-paid, first-served basis.

Horses and ponies available:

• Molly
• Foaly
• Penny
• Pumba
• Tom (not available on 30 December)
• Bobby (not available on 30 December)
• Connie (not available on 30 December)
• Blue
• Sweep
• Chippy
• Ronnie
• Beano
• Socks
• Babysham

David accepted to British Racing School

Congratulations to David Murphy upon being accepted to the British Racing School. David has been a keen member of our Pony Club and deserves this for all the hard work he has put in. See the Courier this week or next for a picture of David and our steed Wonder Dream (aka Tom).

Results for Summer Show

A really good turnout for this event with lots of first-timers having a taste of the different aspects of showing! We had speed with jumping against the clock, active games such as working round and over buckets, and serious showing. Thanks must go to the judges Annie, Laura and Megan and the pony preparers Megan G, Gemma and Fran for their help in allowing this to work so well.

Set one

Mini Mini Jumping

1st Amelia Rabbetts and Bobby Socks
2nd Red Robinson and Mitmoo
Freya Benton and Pumba
3rd Charlie Longley and Tuppence
4th Evie-Rose and Wonder Dream

Mini Jumping

1st Chelsie Ledger and Bobby Socks
2nd Francesca Iquaniello and Babysham
3rd Megan Grist and Cheap as Chips
4th Gemma Boorman and Sweep

Lead Rein Best Rider

1st Freya Benton and Pumba
2nd Mimi Vo and Ronald Reagan
3rd Charlie Longley and Tuppence
4th Dilly Palmer-Joy and Pringle Sandpiper

Best Rider

1st Chelsie Ledger and Bobby Socks
2nd Gemma Boorman and Sweep
3rd Isabella Iquaniello and Molly
4th Red Robinson and Mitmoo

Prettiest Mare

1st Olivia Pingault and Socks
2nd Francesca Iquaniello and Babysham
3rd Gemma Boorman and Sweep
4th Isabella Iquaniello and Molly

Most Handsome Gelding

1st Chelsie Ledger and Bobby Socks
2nd Mimi Vo and Ronald Reagan
3rd Amelia Rabbetts and Beano
4th Dilly Palmer-Joy and Pringle Sandpiper

Set two

Absolute Novice Show Jumping

1st Tally Willoughby and Socks
2nd Manon Hughes and Mitmoo
3rd Laura Moody and Ronald Reagan
4th Jess Donmall and Pumba

Novice Show Jumping

1st Amy Tate and Babysham
2nd Lucy Barwell and Moat View Miss Chief
3rd Lucy Landymore and Pie-oh-Pah
4th Alice Crawford and Bobby Socks

Bucket Weaving

1st Tally Willoughby and Socks
2nd Manon Hughes and Mitmoo
3rd Jess Donmall and Pumba
4th Emma White and Beano

Bucket Elimination

1st Lucy Barwell and Moat View Miss Chief
2nd Amy Tate and Babysham
3rd Lucy Landymore and Pie-oh-Pah
4th Merry Coton and Molly

Riding Club Horse

1st Lucy Barwell and Moat View Miss Chief
2nd Alice Crawford and Bobby Socks
3rd Lucy Landymore and Pie-oh-Pah
4th Emma White and Beano

Set three

Intermediate Show Jumping

1st Jessica Miller and Babysham
2nd Fran Robbs de la Hoyde and Moat View Miss Chief
3rd Alice Crawford and Bobby Socks
4th Gemma Boorman and Sweep

Working Hunter

1st Alice Crawford and Bobby Socks
2nd Fran Robbs de la Hoyde and Moat View Miss Chief
3rd Gemma Boorman and Sweep
4th Alisha Thomson and Molly

Dressage Prelim 1

1st Alisha Thomson and Molly
2nd Alice Crawford and Bobby Socks
3rd Jessica Miller and Babysham
4th Gemma Boorman and Sweep

Results for One-Day Event

We had perfect ground for this with the weather breaking the night after! All riders did really well, all remembering their dressage tests and managing to get through the three elements in one piece!

Results

1st: Alice Crawford and Apple
2nd Alisha Thomson and Pie-oh-Pah
3rd Gemma Boorman and Pie-oh-Pah
4th Sophie Whittome and Wonder Dream
5th Jessica Miller and Beano
6th Lydia Woodcock and Babysham
7th Bella Donmall and Beano
8th Amy Tate and Molly
9th Lucy Landymore and Socks
10th Tom Conlon and Cheap as Chips

Wellgrove approved as BHS riding school

On 21 September we met with a very interesting man named Alan Bignell, who came to assess Wellgrove for its suitability as a candidate for British Horse Society (BHS) approval as a riding school and livery yard.

Alan provided us with lots of help and advice, and also talked about his amazing career which – from what we can gather – has been spent completely surrounded by horses! He had worked (very high up) as a mounted policeman and had lots of good tales to tell!

Needless to say, the yard passed muster, and will now be incluided in the BHS approvals scheem as both a riding school and livery yard.

Emma has a few new bits of paperwork to catch up on and has bought a laminator, so you will probably see a few new notices around the place!

Summer camp availability and Pony Club lessons

Our third residential pony camp of the summer (22-24 August 2011) is now fully booked. We still have a few spaces left on the camps on 1-3 August and 8-10 August.

Also, after this week there will be no more Pony Club lessons until September as we focus on our camps and courses!

Only 5 places left on summer camps

We only have five places left on each of our residential summer camps, so if you want to attend one of them please get your reservation and deposit in as soon as possible!

Summer camps booking up fast

Places on our two Summer Camps are being booked up very fast. If you want to attend one of the camps, please get your booking form and deposit back to us as soon as possible to avoid missing out on a place!

Camps take place on:

• 1-3 August 2011
• 8-10 August 2011
• 22-24 August 2011

Go to the Summer Camps page for more details and to download a booking form >>

Easter events and Pony Club spaces

We’ve just posted details of all the Easter events at Wellgrove in the events calendar, but here’s a quick summary:

• 5 April – achievement badge training for Pony Club members from 12pm-4pm. £15 to include half-hour lesson (rugs and bandages)
• 12 April – achievement badge training for Pony Club members from 12pm-4pm. £15 to include half-hour lesson (rugs and bandages)
• 14 April – Mini Easter hack from 10.30am. Half-hour lead rein or assisted hack, £12.
• 14 April – Easter hack, 11am-12pm. Walk, trot and canter, £25

• 18 April – Mini Easter hack from 10.30am. Half-hour lead rein or assisted hack, £12.
• 18 April – Easter hack, 11am-12pm. Walk, trot and canter, £25
• 19-21 April – Easter course, 10am-4pm for three days, £65 NO PLACES LEFT ON THIS COURSE
• 20 April – Mini Easter hack from 10.30am. Half-hour lead rein or assisted hack, £12.
• 20 April – Easter hack, 11am-12pm. Walk, trot and canter, £25
• 22 April – Clear Round Showjumping, 12pm-4pm. Entry by Wellgrove Farm competition booking form (please download, print and complete) only. £5 per round.
• 26 April – Mini Easter hack from 10.30am. Half-hour lead rein or assisted hack, £12.
• 26 April – Easter hack, 11am-12pm. Walk, trot and canter, £25
• 26-28 April – Easter course, 10am-4pm for three days, £65

Special note

There are still a few spaces on our regular Pony Club meeting days at £13 per meeting.

• Tuesdays 4pm-5pm – four fortnightly beginner spaces and two weekly spaces
• Tuesdays 5pm-6pm – intermediate and advanced spaces available
• Fridays 4pm-5pm – one beginner space available
• Saturdays 1pm-2pm – three spaces available for mini-achievers only
• Sundays 11.30am-12.30pm – one space available

Trilby

As many of you know, Wellgrove’s iconic schoolmaster Trilby passed away in February. He will be sadly missed.

Trilby’s profile will remain here on the Wellgrove website, and if you have any special stories or memories of Trilby, please feel free to post them on his page.

Go to Trilby’s profile >>

Easter and Summer camp dates

We’ve just announced the dates for 2011’s Easter and Summer pony camps.

There will be two non-residential camps at Easter, 19-21 April and 26-28 April. These will run from 10am to 4pm each day.

Our residential Summer camps will run on 1-3 August, 8-10 August and 22-24 August.

There will also be a one-day camp for our younger riders and their parents on 12 August.

More information coming soon!

Wellgrove gallery now live

Go and check out our new photo gallery for some fantastic archive photos of Wellgrove’s horses, including Bart, Sweep and Aero as foals. There’s also a dedicated Mickey and Rainbow gallery where you can see the transformation our new foal has made from a fuzzy, wonky orange thing through a moth-eaten, patchy brindle thing to the handsome auburn hairy thing he is now!

More photos coming soon!

New surface, new horse, and new profiles!

We’ve now finished work putting the new surface on the sand school – no more puddles! Come and try it!

We’ve also bought a new horse for the riding school – a 15hh, 6-year-old, grey show cob gelding who goes by the name of Tom. He’ll be arriving soon and we hope he’ll be a good addition to the troupe.

Finally, we’ve completed horse profiles for Maggie, Aero, Frank, George, Vinny, Spider, Rainbow and Mickey – go and read them on the horses page.

New website for Wellgrove!

As you might have noticed, Wellgrove has a new website where you’ll be able to find out about all the latest news, upcoming events, Pony Club achievements, pony camps and much more.

There are also profiles of all our horses (a few are ‘coming soon!’) and in time there’ll also be a gallery of photos from our camps and events, as well as of Rainbow’s foal Micky.

You can leave your comments on news stories and horse profiles, so let us know what you think of the new site!