We ran our first show jumping event of the year on Sunday 3 May at Bluegate Hall Farm, Gt Bardfield. The schedule has been revamped and we have taken on board the feedback we received from those members who returned the questionnaire regarding events at the end of 2008.
With two rings running, a horse ring and a pony ring the competitors started rolling in, and kept on coming. Starting with a clear round class is always difficult as everyone waits until the last 10 minutes of the hour to take their turn, however with a lot of cajoling we managed to start the main classes only 15 minutes late. Another new class – the Minimus proved a very popular class and we had the horse and pony rings running almost simultaneously for the next few classes.
As the jumps got bigger the number of entrants began to dwindle, which wasn’t a surprise as the ground was incredibly hard, though with very good grass cover which prevented the horses and ponies from slipping and provided a bit of shock absorbance. By 3pm we had reached the last class of the day – the Open, as we only had a few competitors brave enough to attempt the 3’3” / 3’6” class it was agreed between organisers and competitors to amalgamate the pony and horse sections, culminating in only 2 clears going forward to the jump off.
The most miraculous thing happened as the last horse jumped the final fence, all the jumps were loaded onto the trailer within 11 minutes and that is with grateful thanks to all those that supported the last class who all descended upon the arena like locusts and helped clear the field. It was a great relief as it had taken a handful of us over 3hrs to set them all up.
Thank you to everyone who helped to run what was a very successful day indeed, the secretary, judges, stewards and course builders/clearers. |
back
club rules
results
