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BEC Rallies |
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We apologise for the lack of recent rally reports. Due to changes in how our rallies run this has meant reports were forgotten! We will begin our rally reports again from October 8, 2011!!
February Rally - CANCELLED DUE TO MASSIVE FLOODING - FEB 5
January Rally - TRAIL RIDE THROUGH BUNYIP STATE FOREST HUGE thank you to Rachel for organising this for our riders. A group of 9 riders met on a VERY hot January 8th for a ride through Bunyip State Forest. A lovely gentle ride was had by all members and thanks go to all who came along. :)
December Rally - CHRISTMAS GYMKHANA AND BREAK UP!!! Well the Christmas rally was an absolute hoot, with everyone making such an effort to make the day as fun and as enjoyable as could be!! Most riders went home with a ribbon or five and everyone had a big smile on their face. The weather was stunning if a little toasty but the smiles shone brightest! Here are some of the photos from the day.
November Rally - TTT Dressage Prep, Dressage, Western, Cross Country and Horsemanship! Our November rally was a huge success with many lessons, and some great new instructors in Liz Keating (western) and Narelle McFee (also a member, taking Cross Country). Weather was kind to us and we all gained a great deal of new information! Pam Hall took a staggering 5 lesson groups and sat with our TTT team members to go through their tests in theory and gave them some great advice. We are all very much looking forward to TTT Dressage and hope the weather is as kind!! Some great pictures from our November rally!!
October Rally - October 2 - Dressage and Jumping - TTT Showjumping final go round! Well finally a glimmer of hope, a not so rainy and soggy start to the rally! Despite Nicci forgetting the camera again we had a wonderful, back to basics rally with sunshine and over 20 riders for the first time since April getting out and about on their horse. We had Pam Hall who did a brilliant job with FIVE groups of Dressage and the compliments didn't stop all day! For those competing at TTT Showjumping there was set up some jumps to have a go at and most took advantage, with our two Level 3 beauties Wendy and Megan helping each other out over lunch and accidently putting the rails up closer to Level 2 height! Oops! But we think both Wally and Magoo enjoyed it! Nicci and Charmaine had a walk out on cross country past where vandals have pulled down new trees and broken the tea trees. VERY sad that people can be so destructive on grounds so important to not only the user groups but local animals and plants. At lunch we had a great spread and sat out in the sunshine and chatted like before the rain spoiled the fun! We can't wait for more enjoyable rallies like this one!
September Rally - September 4 POSTPONED to September 18 Our September rally was a little chaotic with wet weather AGAIN causing grief for many riders but we got through it and many riders were level assessed. Emily's car had a tragic death which meant the afternoon sessions were empty but for Laura who managed to get an hour private lesson with Nina! Onwards and upwards, we now look forward to a hopefully sunny rally in October!
August Rally - August 7 - Show Preparation Theme CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER
July Rally - July 3 - THE MINI ONE DAY EVENT!!! For something a bit different, our members voted on having a Mini One Day Event theme for the July rally. It was wet and cold leading up to the day but for our lucky group of 13 riders the sun poked it's head through the clouds and we had a successful day with barely anyone getting too wet. The rally started out with Dressage. For the Purple Group this meant that Nina Clarke took them for a lesson and then they plotted out a Dressage workout which required each member to perform a series of basic movements at walk, trot and halt. The three ladies in the group, Lee, Jenny and Steph did an awesome job and all three have come so far since their first rallies, it is just amazing to see.
For the two Novice Groups they had to perform a Grade 4 or 5 Dressage test first, and then once marked and scored they had a lesson with Nina. The first group, Novice 1 consisted of Emily, Elise and Kristen. All three did very well although we had some nervous moments with all three horses, the girls were all smiling at the end of their lesson. The next group, Novice 2 was Bianca, Penny and Teri and wow did these lovely ladies do a super job. It was also exciting to welcome Elise, Bianca and Penny to the club and all three did exceptionally well.
Our last Dressage group to go was Intermediate which was Airlie, Jim and Rhiannon. All three did great jobs and had a wonderful lesson with Nina. We were particularly impressed with how much Airlie and Jim were challenging each other although later in the day this banter would knock points off their scores for sportsmanship! Hahaha.
The Cross Country went very well for all members who participated and it was wonderful to see so many nervous or inexperienced jumpers having a go. The Cross Country had 6 jumps in all, and was set up like a Hickstead. All riders did all elements although for our Intermediate group this was done with a little more gusto! What a great example to set for the nervous riders, having a great go!!
The Show Jumping also went well, with 7 obstacles including an oxer and a combination fence. We couldn't have been more proud of everyone having a go. A big mention to Penny who did such a wonderful job, overcoming her and her horse's nerves to have their first jump. Well done and that is what it is all about!
The day ended well with prizes given out to the following riders on their overall performance through the day. Purple Group: Jenny Middleton Novice Groups: Terri Wade Intermediate Group: Rhiannon Dunn Sportsperson Award: Penny Walters Group Winner: Novice 2 - Terri, Bianca and Penny I would also like to give special thanks to all the wonderful members who came to watch and who brought food for lunch. And a big thank you to John for cooking the BBQ. I would also as always like to thank Jim and Lee Fraser for helping me out with last minute emergencies as usual. Thank you!!! - Nicci Foster, BEC President Oh and we had to put up these two photos... just captured at the right time!!!!
June Rally - June 5, 2010 For the June rally we had three lovely instructors, Annie Kesterton, Louise Hocken and Kate Fremlin. This opportunity gave the riders the ability to try horsemanship, dressage and cross country. And boy did our riders do well! We had a rocky start to the rally with instructors having issues and riders having problems but it ended in a great day of fun and learning. We also had a moment that reminded me of how unique our club is... When Steph became the only member of her Novice group to have a horsemanship lesson with Annie in the afternoon the pair spent their one on one time in getting over a big issue - floating! Not many riding clubs will give you a one on one lesson on floating and this was great to see. We enjoyed watching our riders develop further and it is a thrill to see so many positive, happy faces growing more confident every day. May Rally - May 1, 2010 Well we all thought that our May rally was going to be a wet one but once again the sun stayed out for the whole day. Us BEC members are starting to think our grounds are ALWAYS sunny! For our May rally we invited Annie Kesterton back who took Purple and Novice groups and we had a new face teaching 4 hours (!!), Naomi Mays who took Novice and Inter Jumping and Dressage. And boy did we have some keen members - and some slightly nervous members trying out jumping! Our May rally was a quicker rally than usual but we all still enjoyed a lovely spread at lunch, lessons ran smoothly and everyone had a great day. A highlight for me was watching Terri and her gorgeous horse tackle the jumping which they did with enthusiasm and ease! It certainly was great to see our groups grow and get braver and braver and for the day to end again with smiles and courage from all. We can't wait for the June rally!
Easter - April 3, 2010 Well what a wonderful rally our Easter Rally was! We had so many fabulous comments on David and Sandi's brilliant lessons that we will be hosting a clinic by the pair in July - Keep checking our Calender Page for those dates! Our Purple Group had an absolute ball with Sandi and some of our newer members had tremendous breakthroughs in these lessons. David was handing out tips left right and center and the difference in some of the member's horses were heart warming and to see so many of the members with huge smiles was what makes our job of organising the rallies worthwhile! What a wonderful day we all had. At lunch time Antoinette from Hi Form (Nicci's mum) gave a feeding and nutrition talk which was very well received and after lunch we had a wonderful Easter Egg Hunt and even though the eggs were melted a fraction from the unexpected sunshine, everyone had a ball. Emily and Jim were the only contenders for the Egg Race and although Jim won in the shortest time, he graciously gave his prize to Emily who did a wonderful job!! So all in all, a great rally and we will definitely stick with the Easter theme in 2011! Thank you for all participating and making the day so great. Our First Rally - March 6, 2010 Our first ever rally went off without a hitch (well discounting the rodeo style of two members' horses and our Secretary accidently driving off with the cash for the instructors!!!!). We had some major breakthroughs - myself included, riding my stallion Mega for the first time ever in public and he himself having not been ridden for 8 months behaved admirably. My favourite moment was Lee Fraser who looked green before climbing aboard her amazingly quiet and lovely Appy. By the end of the lesson with Annie Kesterton, our lower levels instructor for the day, Lee had the biggest smile on her face and the relief was palpable. It was for this reason our Purple Group was formed. What a wonderful day for those who haven't been out riding in public before!!
Annie Kesterton was a big hit, and we had so many wonderful comments about the fact that her teaching was unique and new and challenged the riders. Annie was assisting the riders in gaining control and confidence through simple excercises. Louise Hocken took our higher level riders and we were thrilled with her teaching methods and all of her students had just great remarks afterwards, particularly in regards to her lesson plan and ability to teach a larger group. Her morning group was bigger than expected with a few changes on the morning but she coped very well even when two horses had a bit of a throwdown in the first five minutes! We had a wonderful lunch, provided by various members, and some sparkly drinks. Best of all, we all missed the horrendous storm that hit Bunyip, 5 minutes after I had laughed at Mega almost trotting up the tailgate and on to the float! I was VERY relieved to get home and horses fed that evening! We have taken some comments and have some work to do on groups, on the day's structure and on lesson times but we feel very relieved and satisfied with the first rally and can't wait to see the club and all of it's wonderful members progress. Thank you for all making it such a wonderful day - Nicci Foster, BEC President
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