On The Hoof DT were invited back this year to present to the current crop of equestrian students at Plumpton College following a successful presentation in 2022.  The visit itself was delayed a week thanks to Storm Debi.

It was an opportunity to talk about our two favourite subjects...Endurance Riding and horse fitness.  As students on the equestrian courses, they need to learn about a range of different horse sports especially some of the lesser known ones. It was with great pleasure that Maggie was able to talk about the sport she has been involved with for two decades, explaining about the rides, disctances covered, awards and levels gained.  She shed light on the opportunites that were available to all horse riders from the Grassroots to the International level. As she explained, Endurance Riding can go hand in hand with many of the other equestrian disciplines as, at the lower levels especially, it can provide base fitness, spookbusting - your horse has to be able to go nicely in traffic, open fields and closed woodland and it's great for schooling. Turn on the forehand to open that gate anyone?!

Of course a visit to the Southdowns National Park wouldn't be complete without going for a dog walk, so Milo, Basil and Luna had a great run around at the Jack and Jill Windmills, whilst Maggie enjoyed the views!

Our intrepid virtual treasure hunters had a lot of fun over Halloween and Bonfire Night weekends. Given 10 clues and an apple boobing challenge, there was great hilarity in the private group as people interpreted the answers in their own special way. Not only did several have a go at the apple bobbing challenge (some with ponies helping!) there was also some pretty special fancy dress thrown in the mix!

All those who found at least one clue recieved a suitable spooky halloween rosette and Bethany is now the proud owner of an On The Hoof DT drawstring canvas bag having been the winner of the prize draw.

Great fun was had by our, more than 40, riders and horses!

Thanks to LRG Photography for attending our rides and taking such lovely photos.

Organiser's Report

From an organiser’s point of view it was an amazing day!  After a nail biting night and early morning drive around, I decided it was OK to go ahead. Despite the freezing cold, the approaching roads were fine and the tracks, though hard, were rideable – the sun rose and rose and rose; it was an absolutely beautiful day to ride around the Surrey Hills finding Target Points, answering questions and collecting “sweety and minty” treasures.  Only a handful of the 35 entrants were unable to make it.

My thanks of course must go to my amazing helpers:

Melanie Bailey

Joanne Archer

Suz Crichton-Stuart

Graham & Emma Pattinson

Roger Pattinson

David & Freya Davis

Violet Mae Murch & Kaleb

Karen Fullbrook

Mark Bennett

Michelle Tanaka

I think we all know how wonderful helpers are but “really” these guys were fabulous , so thank you. All helpers received a £10 Training Voucher  and were of course included in the Hot Soup, Roll and CAKE at the prize giving.

Waverley Council gave us the licence to go ahead and the Ranger for Blackheath Common provided some of the questions. The locals were more than understanding about us using the car park and everyone en route was merely intrigued as to the contents of the assortment of Christmas Stockings and Hats hanging in random places around Blackheath Common, St Martha’s and Newlands Corner.  BIG well done to all competitors too .... The car park was void of any evidence of our being there for the day. THANK YOU!

Every competitor received a 5kg tub of Herbal Treats kindly and generously donated by  Falcon Equine Feeds (http://www.falconequinefeeds.co.uk), whilst placing prizes were provided by On the Hoof, comprising of Hi Viz Hats, Morf’s (Buffs), key rings, chocolates and other goodies. Prize giving commenced once everyone had finished and was accompanied by Hot Tomato soup (homemade) , Rolls and A fantastic Reindeer Cake, provided by There is Nothing Quite Like Cake (www.theresnothingquitelikecake.com).

Results

Short Class

1st  Emma Chapman & Maisie ( Maisie also wore an amazing hat for most of the ride)

2nd Emma Moffat and Ben, Lettie Moffat and Sky & Joanne Lunn

Lettie Moffat, won the Fancy Dress in this class too. Do look at the photos to find them; her pony looked delightful complete with Santa Cape and boots!

Long Class

1st Shelley Bates & Sadhira/ Caroline Long & Daisy/Lynn Barrett and Cheyenne

2nd  Rebecca Kinnarney & Rigel/Sarah Robins & Ellie

3nd Amanda Hamley & Lady/Gemma Green &  Tavish  

Shelley Bates and Sadhira won the fancy dress in this class; Sadhira looking fetching with Red Baubles in her mane and red tinsel in her tail, ridden by father Christmas herself.

Isabelle Goodburn won best overall Junior.

Target Point : B4 was our “find the photographer” and most people did! Karen Fulbrook did an amazing job in the cold, her wonderful photographs are available to all competitors. Karen gave her time and expertise for free and we’d be very grateful if, when you download these photos, you could make a donation using the PayPal button below. Karen’s chosen charity is WaterAid and all proceeds will be collected and sent on to them. We will be updating you with the total money raised for WaterAid.

The All the Wild Horses Film won super big at the Equus Film Festival NYC!

Best Equestrian Feature Film, Best Director and Best Of Festival. 

ALL THE WILD HORSES follows international riders from around the world as they compete in the Mongol Derby in Mongolia, the longest and toughest horse race on the planet.
 
In this race across one thousand kilometers of Mongolian steppe the riders are on their own, navigating from horse station to horse station where they change horses every forty kilometers. They battle dehydration, hypothermia, exhaustion, extreme weather, swollen rivers and wild dogs. 

They stay the nights out in the wild or with nomad families. One wrong horse and they can get bucked off, lose their mount or suffer serious injuries.

This is their epic story.

We are really thrilled to have been a part of this beautiful film. Huge congratulations to all involved on the well deserved accolades!

http://allthewildhorsesmovie.com/index.html