Waitemata Riding Club March 2013 Hoofbeats Inside this issue Upcoming Events ........................ 3 Le Trek ....................................... 4 Member Profile .......................... 8 Meet Nannette Caldwellader ..... 9 Above Photograph Courtesy of Christine Bird Photography Gaze Burt Sponsorship ............... 11 Renee’s latest story ................... 14 Prez Sez Please support our Sponsors Abercothi Equestrian Hi everyone, I hope you have man- ready this year – our Showjumping Abode of Beauty aged to make the most of the summer day and our first Dressage day of the as it’s already March and the temper- year had fantastic entries, which does Beachcroft Equestrian ature is dropping. I don’t know about mean lots of work and commitment you, but I don’t think it has been a from our dedicated organisers who do Crescent Equestrian Centre particularly hot summer – yes there a fabulous job. I would like to remind have definitely been days when it’s everyone that it would be much ap- Dunstan been really hot, but not as many as preciated by organisers of any of our Dunn and Strickland Contracting last year or the year before. It is defi- events if you offer to help, either set Limited nitely dry though, the ground is hard, up, clear up or on the day. We can’t the grass is drying off and the dam run these days without helpers and Equestrian Supply where we get all our livestock water volunteers, and at the end of a long Equine Osteopath from is getting really low. We could day running a show the last thing we definitely do with a bit of rain right want to do is spend ages clearing up, Feed Direct now. taking down arenas and jumps etc. Not only that, but we also ride FGR Reynolds I am finding it quite hard to believe and often our own horses end up Gaze Burt that we are already into March, and standing around all day from well be- that summer is on it’s way out … it fore the beginning of a day until well Health Chemist doesn’t feel like summer has been after everyone else has gone home long enough. I have noticed that it is while we do the clear-up. Every little La Cantina Wines getting darker a little earlier at night bit helps, so please offer a hand next New Zealand Horse and Pony Mag- also, which is a real indication that we time you are one of the last competi- azine are heading into Autumn. I never look tors at our days. forward to the change of times at day- Peryman Motors light savings, so plan to make the We have a busy calendar this year Placegetters most of my evenings between now with lots of great events, including a and then to get in as much riding as Le Trek day which should be fun. Our Premier Equestrian possible. calendar and all event information is on our website, so make sure you Saddle 4 You On the upside, HOY is just around the keep an eye on the Events page so Showcircuit corner and I’m sure many of you will you don’t miss out on entering. Next be heading down there for the great is our Showhunter day which is sched- Sue Pennington competition and shopping. I’m defi- uled for 30th March, and then our next nitely looking forward to going down Dressage day is April 13th. We hope to The Polish Room and supporting my friends who are see you at one of these great events! Veron Logistics competing. Happy Riding. Vetpro Speaking of competitions, we have Amber had a couple of really great days al- Zilco 2 UPCOMING EVENTS Show Hunter Day 1 - 30 March 2014—Huapai Pony Club Autumn Dressage Day 2 - 13 April 2014—Huapai Pony Club Le Trek - 27 April 2014—Venue TBC Autumn Dressage Day 3 - 10 May 2014—Woodhill Sands LATEST RESULTS Show Jumping Day 1 - http://www.wrc.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Show-Jumping-Day-1.pdf Autumn Dressage Day 1 - http://www.wrc.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Autumn-Dressage-Day-1.pdf 4 LE TREK As WRC are running a Le Trek event shortly we thought we will tell you a bit more about it. Le Trek - as the name suggests hails from France and is made up of three different phases. The phases are quite different and test calmness, boldness, willingness/trust and accuracy. The three phases are set out as below: Phase 1 – Orienteering or POR (Parcours d'Orientation et de Regularite) An orienteering course is set out (virtually the same as onfoot human orienteering) where- by clues are given to get the sites of the next site and clue. They can be done in groups or pairs. For a younger horse it may be a little less hectic/stressful to do it with a buddy. Then as you would expect points are given for all correct answers. Phase 2 – Control of Paces or CoP (Maitrise de Allures) There would be marker points at which specific gaits would need to be performed. e.g, two markers 30m apart would need to be trotted in 15 seconds then the same markers would need to be cantered between in the same time. A mark would be given for how well it was done (though points may be deducted if trotting is needed and some cantering is performed). It would never be done as a group canter or trot etc. Phase 3 – Obstacle Course or PTV (Parcours en Terrain Varie) A variety of different obstacles would be set out. Usually 10 or so and would be marked say out of ten and every mistake would have a point deducted. Obstacles could be; walk- ing over a jump fill, opening and/or closing a gate, walking through a skinny set of poles on the ground, walking through a tight pole formation, up/down a bank, getting on/off with- out the horse moving a foot/tail/head and the list goes on. Points would be deducted for touching poles and knocking things over etc. As an Equine pursuit it is not big in NZ, but is surprising as it is lots of fun. The venue needs to be safe and inviting/calming for horses. The great thing about Le Trek is that it's good for all horses, it has no discipline bias. If you're into Eventing, Dres- sage, Western, pure SJ or SH or a happy hacker (to name only a few equine pursuits) it helps our equines see and experience new things. My philosophy is that we should do lots of cross-training. Though I don't think we should go to the extreme of scaring ourselves every time we ride, it should be more like pushing the comfort zone. Scaring ourselves will quite possibly scare our steed (not ideal and um why??) and most likely anyone else in close proximity too. To aim towards giving our mounts a successful experience is what it's about. Even if it means doing it initially inhand/on the ground is okay. As Shelley from Abercothi says 'putting more cookies in the jar' has got to be a good thing, plus having fun is our ultimate goal. Le Trek UK also have a website (www.letrekuk.com) with a little more info too. SHOW HUNTER Show Hunter is the breeding ground of our stars of the future, both riders and horses. It is a jumping disci- pline, jumped over a course of a maximum of ten fences. Show Hunter is judged on balance, style and rhythm. The main reasons for promoting Show Hunter in New Zealand is to develop better schooled, smoother, safer jumping, more balanced and confident horses. It is the ideal arena for young or green horses to experience competition. To provide a competitive arena for less experienced riders or riders who are coming back into the sport after a break from competitive riding. It helps to develop smoother, balanced, sympathetic analytical riders and trainers. It gives more experienced riders the opportunity to com- pete and improve their riding skills without over stressing their horses. The Show Hunter horse should wear the minimal amount of tack and be well groomed and well turned out. The judging of Show Hunters is a positive procedure emphasising style, manners of the horse and a quiet smooth way of covering the ground and jumping out of an even stride. The horse should arrive at each fence on a smooth flowing stride without noticeable adjustment from the rider. The horses knees should be tidy and above the horizontal from elbow to knee. The horse should show a proper bascule - head down, neck rounded into loose (not stiff) shoulders with the back following the arc of the jump and the hindquar- ters tipping generously to follow the same arc and the hind legs trailing tidily be- hind. Then moving off from the jump in a kind and steady pace. A good Show Hunter round should look like it was a quiet, relaxed, pleasure ride for both the horse and rider, with no signs of tenseness or insecurity. Show Hunter New Zealand has Horse of the Year titles for Open Horse, Open Pony Cat- egory's A, B & C, Junior Hunter and Amateur Hunter. Show Hunter New Zealand also runs a `High Points series' this competition runs through out New Zealand to find the highest pointed Show Hunter of the season this includes Open Horse, Junior Hunter, Amateur Hunter & Open Pony Hunter. http://www.nzequestrian.org.nz/Article.aspx?ID=2879 EQUIPMENT FOR SHOW HUNTER Allowed A correctly fitted cavesson noseband Spurs: Including Spurs with a Smooth Moving Ball.