Jessica and Hala's Endurance Achievement

Jessica Jeffery (and her father, Brian) took part in the Spooners Kestrel ride in early February 2010 ­ and finished it in exactly 2 hours (12.5 kmph). Amazingly, her horse, Hala's heart rate had actually gone down from the start of the ride (she thought she was going hunting two days on the trot so was a bit excited to start with).

The fantastic time and heart rate means Jessica is already 1/3 of the way to qualifying for the PC long distance championships. In fact, she may need to move up to intermediate or open as she did it so quickly and efficiently that she is in danger of being eliminated for being too fit for that level.
But this was her first endurance competition, so it's a steep learning curve!

Brian and Jessica commented on how well organised it was and how friendly and helpful everyone was to them in their first competition. If anyone else is interested in Endurance, let us know. It would be lovely to think we might be able to get a team together.

Charlie Rowe's Success at the Dengie Final 2009

Charlie Rowe made history in the Spring of 2009, being the first person ever to qualify two horses for the Dengie Show jumping final in the same year. The final took place at Moreton Morrell in Warwickshire in March, and when she arrived with her two horses, Shanto and Deena, there was a nasty moment when the organisers said they weren’t sure she would be allowed to compete on both of them. But both horses had qualified through the preliminary rounds, and then at the regional finals, and, quite rightly, she was allowed to ride both of them in the final.

The format of the final was two rounds, followed by a third jump-off round for those who had gone clear in both of the preliminary rounds. Deena went clear in the first round, but had two poles down in the second round. Shanto went clear in both of the preliminary rounds, so went through to the jump-off, in which he had a third clear round, and came 7th overall. This was a really massive achievement, hearty congratulations to Charlie.

Charlie has set herself an even bigger challenge for 2010 – to take and pass her Pony Club A Test. This is in two parts, the AH test (A Test Horse and Pony Care), and the A Test for riding, and the standard is incredibly high – in 2008, 27 people took it, but only 9 people passed both parts and got their full A test. We wish Charlie lots of luck