Our first early morning start of the year took us to Southview for an indoor friendly competition. It was cold but very sunny, and we probably would have been warmer outside!
Senior team:
- Becky Sedcole (Ghanni),
- Sam Owen (Solo),
- Alys Williams (Honey),
- Alex Major (Midnight),
- Charlotte Williams (Pebbles)
We didn’t get off to a great start as Alys’s pony, Honey got a touch of colic after the first race. While the vet was called to look after her, orders had to be rearranged for the remaining races without her.
Despite a couple of mistakes, the four remaining riders and ponies did really well in their heats, winning 3 of their races and getting a couple of 2nd places. And Charlotte gave us all a laugh with her stunt riding in the Old Sock, as she vaulted straight over Pebbles!
At the end of the heats the team had finished 2nd out of 12 teams, to qualify for the ‘A’ final, and Honey was recovering nicely from her colic. The finals proved a little harder as any mistakes were much more costly, but the team still finished in 3rd place overall, and ended on a high by winning the Five Flag for the second time that day.
Junior team:
- Orlagh Toner (Jemma),
- Alex Owen (Cassie),
- Jacob Edghill (Lielie),
- Owen Williams (Poppy),
- Gwenan Roberts (Julianna)
The junior team were full of nerves and looked absolutely terrified going in for their first couple of races. There was a missed changeover in the Bending, and too much speed in the Two Mug, causing a couple of mistakes.
But slowly the nerves disappeared, they started to have fun, and gave their supporters a good laugh, like Owen letting go of his pony while correcting a mistake, and then having to run down the arena to catch her again!
They got off to a great start in the ‘B’ final, winning the Bending, but there were a few mistakes in the other races, so they got a string of 3rd places. They managed 2nd place in the Two Flag though, which was the last race of the day. So they finished 3rd in the ‘B’ final, but most importantly they all had a great day, and there were no tears and no falls!
So all in all, a very successful day at Southview to start our year. If he was still with us, Gwil would’ve been very proud of all his riders on what would have been his 58th birthday.
