Written by Alide Fear

The last challenge of the year was dressage – the sedate leg after the hickstead and hunter trials! Getting the entries in was the first hurdle! Now that we have global entries under our belts, we had to navigate printing the entry forms, filling it in and scanning back A few of us managed; alas, others were so 21challenged that only a handful plus a few got our entries in in time! I was joined by Sharon, Ali, Karyn, Suzie, Michelle and Amberley in this final challenge for 2018.

The next challenge was getting the freestyle organised, in costume. No wonder those in the know kept saying, “This is going to take sooo long...” And me thinking “This will be a piece of cake” - it did take sooo long and, no, it was not a piece of cake! ☹ Not only did you have to work out an original routine, that included all the mandatory moves, and that penalises you for using incorrect moves. You then had to make sure it fit the allocated time allowed, and then, you had to do the music. I was seriously challenged..... even after the expert talk from Deb Spencer! At the same time, Sharon organised the best presented, with Ali and I – 1001 messages later, we were set.

Saturday morning dawned, cold but sunny! Perfect riding weather! All the Horsemens girls parked close together and what a fun day it turned out to be! What a privilege to be part of such a great group of girls, the support and encouragement amongst the team there was phenomenal. Special thanks again to Caz, who drove all the way up to Gidge, helped plait Chiquita’s tail amongst many other things, then headed back down the hill to collect her pony and come back up the hill again to compete. Frana manned the music for the Freestyles, all day...... and didn’t even compete. Sue Turner, Nicole and Sandy also came up to support the girls – so much appreciated.Apologies if I missed anyone else that came

up!

The day started with Best Presented. Sharon was eager to put her recurring second place at rest – we all had super matching gear, except, and apologies again Sharon – my shirt did not match!!!!! However, the ponies were good and the day started with a second place for Horsemens (again!) in the best presented.

The day continued with wonderful achievements by all who attended. Sharon did extremely well with first placings, Suzie and Michelle were absolutely awesome in their “How to train your dragon” costumes in the Pas de Deux, and Chiquita tolerated her Spanish outfit without too much complaining!

Thank you to Sharon, Ali, Karyn, Suzie, Michelle and Amberley, for joining me in riding to present our awesome club. Horsemens came away with a number of placings, and placed 4th in the overall handicapped section. But so much more important than that were the friendships that deepened, the relationships with our ponies and the roses smelt on our journeys with our dear four-legged companions.

Everyone of the riders are on our own individual journeys with our horses, we all had our own personal goals, challenges and dreams for our partnerships and being part of such a supportive, encouraging and fun club helps in every aspect of that journey. Thank you all!!!