Pressure is on for squad members seeking selection

The venue provided a brilliant setting with fantastic facilities and corralling for the horses. Unfortunately the weather was typically British - but this did not deter the group of 22 riders who attended from enthusiastically getting involved in various activities, from a simulated 20 mile race ride, to a talk on dealing with difficult horses.

Sue Broughton, the team's Chef de'Quipe, stressed the importance of the weekend to the squad, as the countdown has commenced to the British Young Riders World Championships, which are to take place in Bahrain at the end of the year. She said the weekend would give her an opportunity to have another look at the horses and their riders, see if targets had been met and progress had been made following December's training event.

Other members of the squad's management team, including the team vet Derek Grantham, joined Sue during the weekend, which certainly put the pressure on the riders who are looking for selection onto the Bahrain team.

Saturday saw all squad members, including parents, work in teams looking at things like team PR, sponsorship, and successful crewing techniques.

Sunday saw the simulated race ride with the squad being split into four teams, which had to race two, ten-mile loops at a speed of no more than 16kph. A simulated vet gate took place between the two loops and at the end of the ride, with Derek Grantham vetting all horses and looking for pulse recoveries to 64bpm or under as quickly as possible.

This was a particularly successful day for Amy and Michael, as both their horses completed at the said speed and presented to the vet with the required pulse rates immediately on coming into the vet gates. They hoped this would be a good sign for future races. Michael has competed once this season at Claxby, Lincs, where he attained a grade 1 over 30kms and both he and Amy were due to take part in the 40k class at Ullswater.

Monday saw the squad participate in a ridden lesson with one of the proprietors of Horseworks. They also had a session on dealing with difficult horses with Debbie Glannon and Lucy Spooner talked to the group about rider fitness. Zoe Lindop spoke to riders individually and provided advice regarding the various types of tack and how it fitted each horse. Zoe also stressed the importance of schooling their horses and what the group should be looking for. Finally Jo Bower from Creature Comforts gave a very informative talk regarding feeding. Sue Broughton spoke to riders individually during the weekend, and discussed with them their plans for the season. Once again, she stressed how their progress would be monitored, but more importantly, gave a message to everyone that they were not to do too much with their horses as it is a long season.

The next Young Rider Squad training will be held following the Dukeries ride in Nottinghamshire in May, when the heat really will be on for shortlisting for Bahrain.

Change of date pays off as group kicks off season with training ride

THE Durham and Teesside Group of EGB kicked off its 2005 season with its 17km Tanfield training ride, which was put back a week in the hope of some improvement in the inclement weather.

Luckily the change of plan paid off and the day dawned bright and sunny. Of the 28 riders, 26 completed the ride in the allotted time (between 8kph - 2hrs 8mins and 12kph - 1 hr 25mins), and with the ride consisting mainly of disused railway tracks and fields, this gave way for some fast going. A few riders came back with times just over the minimum allowed, while others took their time and enjoyed the scenery and the along awaited for sunshine. Considering that the weather had not been too kind prior to the ride, the ground held up very well and was generally reasonably firm.

It was evident at Tanfield that most riders had brought their mounts as part of their training programme for the forthcoming season. Training rides are also extremely good fun and an excellent way of enjoying some lovely scenery as well as being given the opportunity to ride in places you wouldn't normally be allowed to. They are not competitive, but by completing them allow the rider and the horse to amalgamate kilometers, which in turn go towards group trophies and awards at the end of the season.

100 turn out for valleys event

THE Durham and Teesside Group of Endurance GB held its first ride of the 2005 season at Broom Park, Durham - known as the Durham Valleys ride - at the end of March.

Four classes attracted nearly 100 riders - the 65km graded ride and set speed ride, the 40km graded ride and set speed ride, the 40km novice graded ride and set speed ride and a 28km pleasure ride.

Organisers were Anne Turnball and Jaquie Brash. Riders on the trail were all of the same opinion that the event was excellent and very well managed.

This ride was the first of the season for me and my new horse Red, and with the terrain being mainly along the railway walks, bridleways and a few country lanes it was a superb way to introduce him to the world of endurance riding.

The weather was doubtful yet again with all the rain previous to the ride, but thankfully the morning of the ride the weather gave us a break, at least for a short while. Early morning fog on the tops mixed with drizzle did eventually clear, but the heavens opened during the afternoon, with wind and driving rain.

The road stewards did a fantastic job making sure that all the horses crossed safely, as the ride had to traverse the major A690.

Anne Turnball said: "I would like to thank everyone for all their help and efforts that made the day the success that it was. It ran smoother than ever before due to them. Apart from the weather we had a great day.

"This year marker vandals yet again destroyed the course markers, which six of us laid out, so I went out early in the morning to rectify the damage done so that riders didn't get lost.

"For the 65km ride we had riders who travelled long distances from places like Cambridge and Scotland, and we had double the entries this year, it was brilliant," she added.

Lee-Ann Knight and Ashraf were gifted a rug donated by the group for being the leading rider on the points system of the new French formula, not for a best condition (BC) award as rumoured. This system is not designed to choose the horse in BC; there are very strict rules about horses eligible for this BC award, with a complicated points system and the views of the veterinarians that include trot-ups not only in a straight line, but in figure of eights to assess gait and suppleness. Not only that but a BC contender is not allowed to leave the venue until BC had been judged, if they do they forfeit the entry into the award. At this ride there was no BC award.

The two veterinarians for the day both came from Hexham, George Young from Young, Proctor and Wainwright and Colin Mitchell from the Roger Scott Associates practise. They handled the vetting very well with such a large number of horses for only two vets to examine. The trot up lanes were situated away from the horse boxes and car park and the ground was flat grass, perfect for the horses.

I came away from the day having thoroughly enjoyed myself, and for my horse this was the perfect venue for a youngster to start his endurance career and I shall look forward to the next ride there eagerly.

Two days give good time

THE EGB Northumberland and Tyneside branch held its first training and pleasure ride in March.

Due to the large number of entries the Harwood Forest ride was run over two full days. Riders who set off on the Saturday had warm and sunny weather - even a little too warm for the horses who had not been clipped, with Sunday being dry and cool and in some ways better riding weather. All riders made good time. With lovely tracks and no gates, some had to be careful that their times were not too fast and had to walk the last bit to avoid elimination.

About a third of the riders were non-EGB members. Organisers and the group hope that they have got a taste for Endurance riding. The group's next ride is at Kielder Forest on May 8 with a 29km pleasure ride as well as longer distance competitive rides.

For details visit www.egbnorthumberland.co.uk

New finance director named

THE management committee of Endurance GB, the national governing body for long distance horse riding, is pleased to announce the co-option onto the committee of John Yeoman as the organisation's new director of finance.

He fills the vacancy left by the resignation of Maurice Whiteley.

Mr Yeoman is managing director of the family firm, Foster Yeoman Ltd, a quarrying company based at Marston House, near Shepton Mallett, in Somerset. His interest in endurance riding began when he supported his wife, Christine, as a member of her back-up crew, following her on rides in the south of England, Wales and across the continent, where she competes at all levels.

Mr Yeoman, 44, recently took up endurance riding himself and is planning to tackle his first 50k ride at Cerne Abbas in May, although his main interest is polo. He plays at Taunton Polo Club where he is currently chairman.

Although not an accountant, Mr Yeoman feels that his more than 20 years in the family business will provide the experience required for the role of financial director and has already, in an open letter to members published on the EGB website - www.endurancegb.co.uk - laid out his immediate plans for the rest of the current financial year.

Wendy Dunham, chairman of EGB, said: "I am very pleased that John has joined us at EGB and the management committee looks forward to working with him to secure the financial future of the organisation.

Published: 06/05/2005