Written by Sue Turner

Finally got to do my first ever ARCA challenge. I have wanted to enter a challenge since joining Horsemens a few years ago but for one reason or another, haven’t managed to get there, until now. Luckily for me I was able to take one of the trusty little RDA ponies, Flash who is such a reliable fellow and if any pony would give me confidence, it would be him.

So naturally I was excited but soooo nervous – would my pony get out and run all around the place like he had done at the rallies? Would I fall off in front of everyone AGAIN?Anything could happen!!

After arriving, I tied Flash up in his yard, just to be on the safe side – this pony wasn’t going to escape this time! Warming up, we trotted only over the jumps to make sure he wouldn’t canter and get super excited when jumping.. It worked and his jumping round was great, popping over nicely and not going into canter. Go Flash.

Then the flatwork which we hadn’t practiced at all and Flash soon realized he was on his own in a big open space without mates! Fortunately, the incessant calling out didn’t seem to distract too much from our course and even the final judge wasn’t too perturbed by Flash calling out and not standing still!

So in the end, nothing bad happened and what started out as somewhat terrifying actually turned into something wonderful. We had a fantastic day and it was so nice being with all the Horsemens members and participating on behalf of the club. Flash thoroughly enjoyed his outing and we came first in our class. The best bit was Frana allowing me to take the trophy home - I have been showing it off ever since. She might not actually get it back!