Cambridgeshire Hunt Pony Club

District Commissioner's notes

Event Catering

After our enormously successful Combined Training Competition, we are pleased that Mayne Event Catering have agreed to be our official event caterers - we hope to have many more competitions - and to have the facility of their burger van! The food is excellent - sausages, chips, burgers,and lots more - all well cooked - and the staff are helpful and interested in our pony club branch. back to top

Road Safety

We are very sad to announce that Megan Neville's pony, Jack, was put down after a road accident on Thursday 1 April. Meg and Will Anthony were out riding, and very luckily they are unharmed, but, of course very upset. They both wanted all members to know, and they are being very brave, and hoping some good will come out of this. They were both wearing hi-viz clothing, and are continuing to take their riding and road safety courses. Meg's family wished me to send out this message, and to reiterate how very dangerous our roads are for horses and ponies, and to urge everyone to continue to be vigilant. I know you will all support Meg and Will.
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Hunting

We wish all the hunt supporters the best of luck and our support in their quest for hunting proper to be reinstated. We were founded by the hunt, and remain supporters of legal hunting. I am pleased to tell you that the Branch Committee has decided to make a modest annual donation to our hunt out of Branch funds - this was a practice we have always traditionally followed in the past, and we are to reintroduce it.

Dressage

Many thanks to Georgie Horrell for a year of inspiration and her hard work in running our Winter League, Trailblazers, and Dengie, culminating in our branch hosting the Area Competition. Georgie is now handing over to Tracyann Neville, but will still be around to help and advise. Tracyann asks everyone to bear with her, as she is new to the committee! She will be helped by Georgie, and by Maley Lloyd. Between them, I am sure we can follow Georgie's lead in putting dressage clearly on the map for us!

Clothing

If you would like to buy a Pony Club sweatshirt, polo shirt, or any other item of clothing, we now have a direct link to Bee Embroidery who stock our clothing with CHPC logo. Our colours are navy blue for sweatshirts and rugby shirts, and pale blue for long and short sleeved polo shirts, with pale blue stitching. This is our branch 'uniform' and - if you are in a team - it looks very smart if you all match! There is also a possibility of buying shirts with a Tet logo. Jackets can be embroidered with your name - though it is not allowed to compete with the name on a cross-country shirt. We recommend a large size for the latter, to go over a back protector. click here for link

Mrs T - DC Elect!

It will give me great pleasure to hand over the reins to Mrs Tydeman on 1 July. Sue Tydeman owned and ran one of the best riding schools in the county, at the Windmill Stables, Barrington, where she was affectionately known as Mrs T. Her own son and daughter went all the way through pony club; her daughter Rowena attained her A-test, BHS II, and now is one of our greatly esteemed instructors; her son, Monty, played polo, and did all the other 'boyish' pony club pursuits! While running the Windmill, Sue became one of the regular team of instructors for our branch, working alongside Val Gingell (then Val Banks) who was at the time the branch Chief Instructor. When Val moved to become JRN selector, Sue served in the branch for five years as Chief Instructor, and retired from this only a few years ago to devote her time to family and grandchildren. She herself is a BHSII, has been an examiner for the BHS for some fifteen years, and is presently a B-test examiner.

I can think of no one better to take over a job which Jackie Hall did so well in her own special way. Jackie also came to the branch as someone with vast horse knowledge (as I have said before - what Jackie doesn't know about horses and about pony club - isn't worth knowing - and I stand by that!) - through being a parent of three very talented girls, then show-jumping manager, rally organiser, assistant to several DCs (including myself), responsible for teaching them the ropes, and then becoming DC herself.

SO - welcome Sue Tydeman! And the very best of luck!

It is with regret that I have to tell you that Jackie will not be returning to take up the role of DC at Easter. We cannot thank her enough for what she has done for the Branch over the last seventeen years, and we would like suggestions for how we can mark our gratitude. We hope that the Branch will move forward in a new way, and we do have lots of exciting activities planned.

In the meantime, please feel free to contact me at any time by email or phone if you have any problems or questions at all. See Contacts.

Susan Beer (Acting DC)

Photos

It is lovely to have pictures of the members on the website - do keep sending them in! However, we do assume that you have given permission for this, if you send us the pics. If you do not wish your child's picture to appear on the website, please let us know. (See disclaimer on Gallery page)

Hats

You will see from the Pony Club dress code (top of Calendar page) that hats with peaks are no longer allowed for cross-country riding. So, if you can only afford one riding hat (which is most of us these days!) do please buy a skull cap. You can always dress it up with a velvet cover with a peak for dressage and showjumping! We also have a new Branch rule that medical armbands will only be worn on the arm (not the leg) in line with British Eventing and Riding Club rules. This is simply common sense - if a rider has a leg trapped, for instance, the details would not be visible.