|
30 November 2008 Show Report The North Coast Equestrian Club Christmas Hack show was this year held on November the thirtieth, at the Nana Glen Equestrian Ground. It was a wonderful event that over 70 horses and riders attended. Not all members rode with Carol Wright, Bettina Pitman and Carmel Duffy being stewards for the day. The judges were Colin Bennett, Bev Davis and Kathy Meharry who gave up their whole Sunday to lend their expertise. The event ran smoothly, thanks to the wonderful organisers, who also gave up their time and energy. The Pony Ring was judged by Kathy Meharry had an abundance of competitors. Trish Barrell and Mermaid were Champion of the Led Pony hack, with Isobell Muller and Ricky as reserve. Novice Pony Hack Champion was Amy Smith on LA Monte with Emily Inwood on Rosy coming a close reserve. Tracey Rose took the Ridden Pony Hack champion, followed by Taylor Hamilton riding Doug for Reserve Champion. Ring two, the light hack ring, judged by Bev Davis, also had high quality competitors. Michelle Hall on Yellow Meadow Raindance won both Champion Led Light Hack and Champion Novice Light Hack. Jennifer Laing was Reserve Champion led with Gotico Park Carlie and Barbara Jones on Handys Bold Image was awarded Reserve Champion Novice Light Hack. Barbara Jones and Handys Bold image continued their successful day by also getting Reserve Ridden Light Hack, to Sarah White who won Champion riding Shadow. Colin Bennett judged the Hack ring where Amie Harrison had a great day, taking led Reserve Champion Hack and Champion Novice Hack on her horse Freddy, as well has getting Champion Ridden Hack on Johnny. Vicky Sheppard also competed with her horse Nina Belle, winning Champion Led Hack and Reserve Champion Novice Hack. Hellen Campbell and the multi champion dressage horse Nova Cruz were awarded Reserve Champion Ridden Hack. The rider classes were then keenly contested, with the under 12 (junior rider), rider under 18 years and rider over 18 years divisions. The over eighteen years rider champion went to Hellen Campbell on Nova Cruz, with reserve Amie Harrison and Johnny. Under eighteens rider champion was Chelsea Dennis riding Bok with Siggi Walsh and Yarranoon Recoil as reserve. Junior champion rider went to Taylor Hamiltion on Doug and reserve was Chloe Dennis on Bonny. It was a successful day for all involved, and all competitors rode well against tough competition. But the final event of the day was just for enjoyment… Christmas Dress-up! This section saw horses dressed up in tinsel, Christmas baubles and Santa hats, while their riders slowly cooked in Santa suits or elf costumes. Angela Muller with Hobbit and Caitlen Higgins with Rose shared first place in the led division. While Ellanie Marinucci and Gemma Hutchinson dressed up Magic for a first place in the ridden division. The Annual General Meeting was held right after everything had been packed up. At this meeting the Annual
awards were handed out. The Korana Columbine Encouragement Award went to Stephanie Gardiner (junior) and Sue Wayland (senior).Kerrie Dennis won senior member and Junior member went to Sineidin Duffy. The Citizenship award was won by Carmel Duffy. Congratulations to everyone who rode on the day, and a really big thankyou to the organisers who did a great job! Sineidin Duffy
Top: Amie Harrison and Colin Bennett, Centre: Emily Inwood and Claryce Phillips, Bottom: Amy Dennis and Pretty In Pink
A Stewards View of the Hack ShowIt was a great day in the over 15 hands ring. Amie Harrison blitzed the day, showing us all what can be done with horses off the track if given enough time to enjoy paddock life. One of the horses who was only on his second outing worked beautifully. The day started with the led classes. All the horses in the best presented class looked fabulous and were a credit to the hours of work that their riders would have spent on them - quite a range of tail options and patterns! For the ridden classes Col, our judge, did a great job of maintaining a level playing field for the different classes. The difficulty of the work outs reflected the category, from maiden to best educated. Both Amie Harrison and Hellen Campbell found it hot work trying to compete with two horses. Even Hellen's brief rest at lunch time was cut short when the pairs event was brought forward and Alex Campbell needed a rapid saddle up by mum. It was worth it as both performed well. The pairs was a great spectator event and even better if you were close enough to hear some of the discussion taking place between the pairs. I think Megan Hyde and Deb Reiner won the most light hearted double as they tried to coordinate themselves - all with lots of laughter. As the age categories were called the oldies became very assertive and an executive decision was made to split the over 40's group into 40 to 45 yrs and over 45 yrs. The large numbers in these categories reflected that there are many of us getting older quickly. The Bridle Path category caused a lot of interest, initially because most of us didn't have a clue what it was. However in the spirit of the day most people joined in although a few riders looked a bit tentative about loosening the reins too much. It was just great seeing so many riders competing but also having some fun. Carol Wright
(I'll be looking for an over 55 class next time!)
|
