Zetland Hunt Branch of the Pony Club held their senior one day event at Great Burdon Farm on June 20, 2004, with kind permission of Mr and Mrs Stewart Dent who provided the dressage, showjumping and cross country facilities.

There were more than 130 entries for the day for both the individual and team events. The Pony Club entries included the Hurworth, South Durham, Braes, Cleveland, York and Ainsty, South Northumberland, Bedale & West of Yore, East Cleveland and South Durham.

The day started early with fine sunshine, but as the afternoon wore on the weather turned to heavy rain for short periods of time. The ground became a little slippy on the surface causing a few hiccups for some riders, but for the most the event went very smoothly, ending the day at about 4.30pm.

The event once again proved that the course at Great Burdon Farm makes a first class venue for all levels.

Results

Members Individual Section A: 1 Chloe Straker on Yogi. 2 Laura Thomas on Scotts Grey. 3 Jill Archibald on Jilly. Member Teams Section B: 1 Jaquetta Straker on Gimo. 2 Chloe Straker on Bracken. 3 Zara Willis on Bay Buccaneer. Seniors & Open:1 Jennifer Tweddall on Corribeg. 2 Ian Pearson on Coosheen Gold Crest. Intermediate Individual Section A: 1 Libby Soley on High Ho Haley. 2 Emma Yarrow on Jack Of Diamonds. 3 Chloe Burns on Archie. Intermediate Teams Section B: 1 Zetland Blue: (Stef Weddell on Ask Archie, Lynsey Pearson on Little Sir Ivor, Georgina McIntyre on Sherrett & Nicky Ainsley on Jim). 2 Cleveland Red: (Emily Jones, Ali Makin, Gina Allison & lucy Kendrew). 3 South Durham: (Fayre McDermaid on Solents Choice, Richard Smith on Bourbon, Anna Dawson on Matley Merlin & Jodie Collin on Willow). Open Novice & Triers: 1 Claire Pearson on Nickel Challenger. 2 Julia Hather on Horis. 3 Shelia Wade on Spice.

Pony Club polo is fun and here to stay

I am dangerously close to becoming a Pony Club dad, unless my two daughters give up ponies (unlikely). I have accepted that I am bound and committed to putting something back into the pony club. I ought to help out in some way because as a child I grew up within the Pony Club structure, but I have to admit that I have a deep allergy to committees, I have no spare time and I am completely rubbish at organising things. So what I wonder, am I doing running polo for Bedale and West of Yore Pony Club?

I am not sure who suggested my involvement, it might even have been me! My working day now includes being interrupted by making phone calls to other parents, Pony Club officials and to equipment suppliers,I am equally detained by back copies of the Polo Times. Now the genie is well and truly out of the bottle - children, some as young as six, are playing polo in our branch for the first time in two decades.

My own children's ponies are pretty relaxed about Polo, having been exposed regularly to the usual summer activities of instruction and rallies. Polo is a breeze. They only have to walk, trot and canter and don't have to jump anything. From now on, both will be known as 'fluffies', a polo expression that applies to hairy little ponies played by the youngest children.

In April 2004, we had our first demonstration. Thirty children assembled in a marquee for 2 o'clock at Richmond Equestrian Centre, which, next year, intends to form its own polo club for adults as well as children.

I had already introduced myself to the instructors two butterscotch-tanned Argentinean team mates, resting in the cab of a profanely expensive horsebox so all I needed were the two other players, Andrew Forman, Beverley Polo Club's chairman, and his coach, Paul Piddington to show.

Then we hear rotor blades. 'Here he is' jokes one cynical parent. 'Well, it is him, actually' I reply, with a fixed grin. Out of the overcast afternoon sky, a blue helicopter circles above us before landing in a field a short distance away. How cool is that? No instructor has ever arrived before at one of our rallies by helicopter. It wet our appetites.

In June, training switched to Chapel Hill Farm, the home of Doreen Benson, a Bedale hunting farmer and grandmother of Holly Bourne-Arton, one of our keenest new players. Over three days Mike Hobday, a professional coach from Cirencester, taught 13 enthusiastic children basic skills and the rules.

Very few ponies got in a tizzy. Given that everything was happening in slow time, most seemed unaware of the cut-down sticks scrounged from dusty lofts - which their riders were soon swinging at the walk. New words entered their vocabulary like 'chukka',and expressions like 'hooking sticks' and 'riding off'.

Since then, 15-20 children practice at Chapel Hill at 10 o'clock on Sunday mornings and, yes, we have entered two teams for a tournament in Gloucestershire in late July. Mrs Benson's fine ground which is actually a field to be exact, is mown twice a week and our painted goal posts, or rather plastic drain pipes look superb and serve their purpose.

Polo, we sense, is here to stay and we hope players from other Pony Club branches in Yorkshire will pick up sticks and come and join us.

If you would like to have further imformation on the polo training days tel: 01677 460007

Published: 30/07/2004