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We took two teams to the Pony Club Championships for the first time this year. The competition ran at the end of August
for five days, and our teams competed in polocrosse and Centre Equitation.
The Centre Equitation team was made up of Alexa Holland and Alice Evans riding Tucker in the under 13s section, and
Claudia Ryan and Kristen Holland riding Benny in the 13 and over section. This is the second year of Equitation at
the Championships, and it is only for Centre members on riding school ponies. Each competitor has to ride a dressage test
and jump a round of fences, where they are marked out of ten for each fence and for their riding overall.
 
All four rode well for their first competition away from home, although sadly Tucker decided that jumping in the arena was very scary. Despite
this we came a creditable 12th, with Claudia fourth and Kristen fourteenth
as individuals out of FORTY riders! Alexa rode a beautiful dressage test
to be fourth in her dressage section (again out of 40), and Alice gave us a very determined jumping
round. Well done to all four, and a big thank you to our excellent grooms Jenny Flynn and Kate Evans, who worked tirelessly
running between arenas and holding ponies.
 
The polocrosse competition lasted for two days, so both the people and the ponies had to camp overnight!
Our team was made up of Jamie Duffill and Lockie at number 1, Claire Walsh and Spice at number 2 and Amy
Galvin and Flint at number 3. They played four games over the two days, coming eighth in the competition and
second in the tack and turnout. On the morning of the second day we also got to take part in the parade of teams. Over 100 horses paraded round the field led by the umpires, and each team was cheered as they were announced. What started as a leisurely walk soon became
a trot and then a canter three abreast. Quite a sight with that many horses, but Flint, Lockie and Spice behaved perfectly and stayed next to each other in line.
The competition was a real eye-opener, as this was our first match on a full size grass pitch,
playing against branch teams on their own horses. The riders and ponies coped well, scoring several goals and learning as much in two days as they had done in a
year previously. Claire has only been playing for two months, and Flint was a last minute addition to the team after a two week crash course with Sarah and Anna to
introduce him to the game! We had some great supporters in the form of the Coachmans team (the only other centre playing)
and the teams from Northern Ireland. As always, Barry from Coachmans was brilliant, and came to shout advice from the sidelines for every game we played. We
were very happy to cheer them on during the final play-offs where the Mid Antrim came second and Coachmans came third!
The biggest challenge was adapting to riding most of the time at a flat out gallop, which Lockie and
Flint both enjoyed greatly!
 
Well done to both our teams. You were excellent ambassadors for MRS and we can't wait to go again next year! A big thank you from all of us to Lucy Goler for
organising the Centre competition, and to David Brookes and Hannah Clack, organisers of the polocrosse. We had a brilliant time!
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