Two fantastic days were enjoyed by Flint and Denbigh Pony Club and neighbouring branch members who competed in the Flint and Denbigh Pony Club Tetrathlon and Hunter Trial at Plas Dolben on the 17th and 18th September 2011. The cross country phase was held on the Saturday, with a lot of our members competing for the first time and demonstrating excellent cross country riding and confidence, which was a pleasure to witness while I was fence judging.
Sunday started with the Pre-Mini’s and their bean bag throwing. Ted Evans demonstrated an excellent technique to lead after this phase. While the older children did their shoot in Iona’s top barn the Pre-Mini’s rode their ponies around a small working hunter type course which included a slip rail, Scarlett Owen rode her pony Timmy off the lead rein first time to finish on a clear.
The next phase was the RUN!
All the children went down to the start … the atmosphere was awesome with everyone supporting each other and cheering the runners on as they ran round the challenging grass route. After the run we all piled into cars and headed off to Denbigh Swimming Pool, where the children raced the clock to swim as many meters as they could in their allotted time. The Pre- Mini’s had to swim for two minutes, Maisy Davies swam three lengths and 19m which was a fantastic effort from a seven year old and got her the medal for best swim. The atmosphere in the pool was electric with members from all Branches cheering and supporting each other, it made me feel very proud to be connected with the Pony Club.
After the Swim we returned back to Plas Dolben for the prize giving where individual and team placings were awarded to the competitors of each section.
On behalf of all the parents and children Emma McParland thanked Iona and Meg for all their hard work in organising and running the event and were presented with flowers and a bottle of wine as a way of saying THANK YOU.
A fantastic weekend which was friendly and supportive………if you haven’t had a go at Tetrathlon I definitely recommend it…….. Lots of thanks to Iona and Meg.
Laura Owen
