Our instructors -
We thank Claire Dodson for the wonderful job she has done as Chief Instructor. Claire has, reluctantly, had to stand down from the post - she is expecting a baby in May! This, and the demands of her livery yard, made her feel that she could no longer carry on giving the position of Chief Instructor her full attention. Claire is a perfectionist, and gives one hundred per cent to everything she does! We will miss her in this role, but we are delighted that she will continue to teach for us, and we will continue to use Moats Way as a venue for rallies and trainings (see below). She, along with all of us, offer our welcome, support, and best wishes to Ria. Ria Jeffery is our new Chief Instructor - we welcome her! Ria Jeffery was born into a family expert in horsemanship – her father is Whip for the Tetcott Hunt in her native Cornwall. Ria studied at Duchy College in Cornwall, where she was head girl, achieving an Advanced Modern Apprenticeship in Horse Care. She holds a Foundation Degree in Equine Sports Performance, and the BHSAI. While in Cornwall, Ria opened a livery yard, where she bred and produced sports horses. Having worked at the National Stud, she adds her experience of thoroughbred yearlings to her expertise. Ria has taught at seven different branches of the Pony Club – in England and in Ireland ! For the last seven years, she has run the Tetcott & South Tetcott Pony Club Camp – and their loss is our gain! Ria enjoys breaking and schooling young horses, hunting, showing, cross-country riding, and teaching. As well as working for the College of West Anglia as an Equine Assessor and Internal Verifier, she is presently studying for the Certificate in the Lifelong Teaching Sector.
Katie Barrett
Lindsay Cook is our branch Riding and Road Safety Trainer - we are very lucky, as she has also been the BHS Riding and Road Safety Trainer and Examiner for as many years as any of us can remember! She has a string of letters after her name - BHS II, ABRS Grooms' Dip, Nat Cert in Agriculture,
Cert Ed, Prof Cert in Adult and Continuing Education ... and has spent her working life with horses, agriculture, and teaching. Lindsay's interests are hunting, racing, breeding, showing - and she now only rides occasionally - aiming, as she says, for a weekly hack! Having worked in the USA for a year on farms and ranches, as well as teaching in summer camps, Lindsay experienced a very different horse culture out there. In her spare time, she enjoys knitting and gardening!
Rowena Gardiner (neeTydeman) was a member of the Cambridgeshire Pony Club, representing the branch in all disciplines, and now holds her BHSII, Pony Club A-test, and a BSc in Equine Science. She has competed in Intermediate horse trials, Medium Dressage, and Midway Show-jumping. Rowena is soon to be moving to live in Spain - we hope she will be able to teach again for us on her return!
Vicky Impey Angela Jones Sarah Maddison is a BHS
Registered Freelance Instructor who also teaches part time at Barnards
Farm Riding Centre, Debden. She has taught varying abilities and ages
of clients from 5 to 76, from novice up to those learning lateral work.
Sarah has taught children with a range of special needs, both
educational and physical, has run ‘pony days’ for up to 21 children,
and 3-day courses for children and teenagers. When working at Sawston
Riding School, Sarah introduced and organised the ABRS Weekly Rider
Equitation and Stable Management Tests and the yard won the trophy
shield for the most tests taken during 2003/4. She also planned and
lectured on vocational courses as part of the Outreach Programme in
conjunction with the College of West Anglia.
Katie Partrick holds her BHSII and trained for three years with John Lanni at Arena UK in Grantham. Katie has showjumped at BSJA level since she was a teenager, represented England in the Under-21 Young Riders’ Team in 1995 and, in the same year, jumped at the Horse of the Year Show in the Under-18 National Final. She now teaches as a freelance for several Pony Clubs and Riding Clubs, and regularly competes at Foxhunter BSJA and Novice British Eventing.
Helen Prigmore is our Mounted Games trainer.
Kate Sutton
Lorraine Webster-Ward
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Sarah Anderson Studied
at Bishop Burton College for a foundation degree in Equine Management
and Science, and also holds her AI and is BHS registered. From being a
youngster until the age of 18, she was a member of the Braes of Derwent
Hunt South branch of the Pony Club, where she took all the tests up to
B+. As well as teaching freelance, she now competes at PN and Novice
level British Eventing. 
Sarah Jane
Backhouse is our Gosling Cup Trainer. Sarah Jane holds
her BHSAI, and enjoys competing and working with young horses. Having
gained experience working at a number of different yards, including
international competition yards, Sarah Jane graduated from Aberystwyth
University with a degree in Equine Science. She then worked at the
Animal Health Trust in Newmarket, where she was involved in blood
analysis for Wetherbys. She now works as a freelance instructor,
teaching all levels of children and adults, and her special interests
are flatwork and cross-country. 
Hannah Barrett has been a member of the
Cambridgeshire Hunt Pony Club since the age of 12, regularly competing
in PC teams and gaining her B-test. Hannah has a BSc (Hons) in Equine
Science and after graduating she joined the Queen’s Veterinary School
Hospital in Cambridge, where she worked alongside some of the top vets
in the country and assisted with the treatments of some of the
country’s leading event horses. Hannah currently lectures in Animal
Care and Equine Studies at the College of West Anglia and has a small
number of local private clients. She particularly enjoys teaching the
younger members of pony club as she finds them rewarding and good fun! 
Bronwen
Bray began her riding career as a member of the Warwickshire
Hunt Pony Club, competing in Prince Philip Cup and Senior Horse Trials
teams. She attained her BHSII in 1997 and in 1999 was awarded a MSc
degree in Equine Science from Aberystwyth University. She has worked in
a variety of different stables, including riding schools, point to
point, hunting, and training yards. For many years, Bronwen has been a
lecturer at Oaklands College, Hertfordshire, teaching students to BHS
and NVQ levels. Latterly, she has been an Advanced Practitioner
for the College - advising, training and assessing on how to improve
learning and teaching methods. She has competed in Novice Horse Trials
and Elementary Level Dressage. Bronwen’s real passion is teaching at
all levels. 
Sandra Garner has taught at our Pony Club for
some twenty five years, having been a member herself as a child. She
was herself taught by Liz Pickard, who examined her for Pony Club
Tests! Her special interest is in teaching and nurturing our younger
members, for it is there that she thinks the foundations of riding are
laid. ‘At this tender age, we can encourage children to carry on
riding, or we can put them off for life,’ she says. She is a regular
and popular instructor at rallies and at our Junior Camp, and many of
our members who have gone on to be excellent riders have passed through
her hands and have cause to be grateful for her expertise and vast
experience. 
Val Gingell is our Eventing Trainer. An accredited Event Coach and BHSII, she needs no introduction to many of you - for 12 years, Val was Chief Instructor with this Branch, and now she is the regional JRN selector. Val herself was a member of the Cambridgeshire Branch from a young age, riding small, hairy Welsh ponies. She competed as a team member in mounted games, show jumping, and, of course eventing (she says that 'pure dressage' hadn't been thought of!) With her 15.2 pony club horse, Val competed successfully in the Junior European Championships, and at Burghley and Badminton. Based at Yew Tree Farm, Harlton - which is still now our own 'home' venue thanks to the generosity of the Banks family - Val has produced several event horses to Advanced level, and has since been involved in training event riders and horses from Junior level to 4*. She says that the main influences in her life have been her pony club Chief Instructor, Liz Pickard (now our President - see 
Sarah Millard holds the BHSAI as well as the
Pony Club A-test. She competed as a member of the Cambridgeshire Hunt
Pony Club for many years, representing the branch at Area Level in
Dressage, SJ, Horse Trials and Tetrathlon, and at the National
Championships at Dressage and Tetrathlon. Sarah runs her own Training
and Livery yard, and her first love is Eventing. She has competed to
CCI 2*and CIC 3*** level. She is presently campaigning home-bred horses
from Intro to Advanced and also competes several horses for other
people. Sarah continues to teach as a freelance for our branch,
where she still feels her roots lie! However, she now lives in Oxfordshire, but still teaches for us from time to time.
Samantha Morgan studied
at Milton College, where she attained her National Diploma in Horse
Management, and BHS Stage 3. She was a member of Littleport PC until
the age of 19, where she took and passed her Pony Club A HandP Care. am
has recently taken over a private livery yard. She particularly enjoys
riding and training young and tricky horses, mainly competing in local,
dressage and SJ competitions on young horses. 
Frances Murray joined the Cambridgeshire Hunt
PC at the age of fourteen and went on to do her tests up to ‘A’ test
Horse and Pony Care. She enjoyed competing at local events, carriage
driving and hunting. After graduating from the Royal Agricultural
College with a degree in Equine and Agricultural Business Management,
Frances went to train at Talland. She then qualified as a BHSAI, started
teaching, and is now a full-time instructor at a riding centre as well
as teaching at Pony Club rallies, lessons and camps.
Belinda Neill is our Showjumping Trainer. She
herself has showjumped to a high level, riding at Hickstead as a
Junior, competing successfully in Working Hunter, Under 21s, Young
Riders, and as an adult at Grade A Showjumping. She has since taught
generations of children to jump over coloured poles by using exercises
and gridwork, and always, as she says 'making it fun'. Her own
children, Paige and Ryan, both of whom competed at Wembley, as well as
jumping for the British Junior Teams, were taught by her. Many of the
pony club mums and grandmothers, as well as professional riders, will
have been taught to showjump by Belinda!
Emma Pilsworth, who
was a member of Cambridgeshire Hunt Pony Club for some 15 years, now
holds her BHSAI. She has worked as head travelling groom for a top
local event rider, taking her to Badminton, Burghley, Bramham,
Punchestown - and many more - culminating in the World Games in the
Hague, where Britain won Gold, and also to the Open European
Championships, where Britain won team Gold. Emma particularly enjoys
riding problem horses and youngsters, and gets her greatest
satisfaction from seeing someone she has taught doing well and
improving. 
Hettie Sclater began riding as a very small child,
and became a member of the Waveney Harriers Pony Club at the age of
six. She competed in all the pony club teams, including dressage, show
jumping and eventing, where her main interest lies. Hettie passed her
B-test at 16 years old and immediately started teaching and eventing,
taking her horses to Intermediate level. She has also point-to-pointed
and been an active member of the Waveney Harriers Hunt. She has taught
in the Waveney Harriers Pony Club for seven years, as well as teaching
many private clients. Hettie loves working with children and sharing
her passion for and knowledge of horses with them. She has three
children of her own and, now the youngest is getting a little older,
she plans to start eventing again.
Lucy Tuck began riding
at the age of three, and was a member of the Soham pony club until she
was 21! During that time, she qualified for the Pony Club Championships
in all the disciplines - Team Showjumping, Eventing, Mounted Games,
individual Dressage. In doing this, she has ridden at Hickstead,
Burghley, Weston Park, Sansaw, and at Wembley in the Prince Philip Cup
team, so she is very well-qualified to advise and teach in all areas!
After Pony Club, Lucy had years of experience working in top eventing
yards as well as competing herself in British Eventing. Not content
with this, Lucy also holds the Association of British Riding Schools
Initial Teaching Certificate. Now that she is a pony club 'mum' as well
(her children are members of Soham) she is hoping to do more teaching
for us! Lucy enjoys teaching all ages - from younger children to
teenagers.