Saturday 27 November 2010

Snow.... and some sad news

Wow, after posting about the gales, we should have expected nothing less than snow....... and lots of it! It started on Wednesday, with most of our evening riders failing to get for their lesson because the roads were at a standstill. Whilst Thursday wasn't too bad, the snow on Friday got ridiculous!
It started on the Friday morning, and just kept thumping down. By lunchtime on Friday there was at least 6 inches of the white stuff and it kept going. Unfortunately, we had to cancel lessons on Saturday because we just couldn't risk taking the school horses in over the ice, and we're keeping our fingers crossed for the rest of the weekend.
We also had some sad news this week. Ed, who is one of our most popular livery horses, was put to sleep. Ed had been at Oldfold for over three years, since he was bought by Tracy (one of our directors). He had spent the last year on loan to Laura (who works in reception) and was one of the nicest horses we have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Ed spent his older teens with us, having been in the North East for the majority of his life and being very successful in his two previous homes. He was a horse in a million, who taught so many people so many things - he was dearly loved by everyone on the yard, but in particular Tracy, Laura and Fay who had so much fun with him. He will be dearly missed, but we're just glad that he had a nice peaceful, dignified ending as he so deserved.

Wednesday 17 November 2010

Windy weather

We've had a bit of a time of it with crazy gales recently! We had to cancel some lessons last Monday and then cancelled nearly all lessons this Wednesday.
Many of our members cannot understand why we cancel when there is severe wind, but its a safety issue - we want all our members to have fun, but sometimes when it gets really windy outside, we decide that its safer on both the staff and members to cancel. Our horses and ponies, although very quiet and well behaved, can be unpredictable when its really windy due to the noise and things blowing about. For our smaller, more novice members, we worry that the ponies spooking in the wind may make them lose their balance and come off - whilst they are very unlikely to hurt themselves, it doesnt' help their confidence.
For our more advanced lessons, it can also be a problem as the more advanced horses tend to be a bit more "flighty" in these situations. Whilst we are happy that our advanced members are more than capable of coping with windy weather, it can be pretty detrimental to a horses confidence to work in a group situation when things are a bit loud and windy - there is also the issue that the riders often cannot hear the instructor.
We are lucky in that having an indoor school, we can keep going in most weather conditions, but please be understanding that if we cancel your lesson due to the weather, it really is for your own benefit and safety!

Thursday 11 November 2010

Website is Live (and other updates)

Our website is now fully functional and online for everyone to see. If you would like to receive monthly newsletters, go online and sign up for it. We think the website is great and that Kim has done a brilliant job with it - Thanks Kim!
We've tried to make the website in a way that makes it appealing to both our junior and senior club members, and there is loads of information on it about the club, including great photos and info on all the horses and ponies.

Other news is that the vet had a look at Rafiki the other day, and was happy with how sound she is. She looks really good, and is moving better than she has for a long time. We're really pleased at her progress, and hope to write up her case on the website soon for everyone to read and learn about. The only problem now is her weight - she still refuses to lose anything despite being fed very little and obviously her weight is not helping her back leg problems when she is carrying so much extra belly!

We are also about to put in another order for hoodies (with the club logo on them) so anyone who wants one needs to pick up an order form and complete it (in reception).

Wednesday 3 November 2010

what a great AGM

We had a brilliant AGM last night, with over 50 members attending, which we were delighted with. We had a brief talk on the accounts by Sally, then a ridden demo by Sally and Martin, then a website talk by Kim.
Dixie and Hagrid really enjoyed their display - showing all the members how happy they are to go forward if ridden correctly. Hopefully lots of our members have picked up tips on how to make Dixie and Hagrid happy ponies when they are riding them!
The website looks brilliant and goes live online on Friday - how exciting! It looked really good projected onto the wall of the school and all the photos of the horses and ponies up there.
well done to everyone who worked hard to make the AGM a success.

Monday 1 November 2010

New Website

Hi Everyone!
Murphy here - I'm very excited as the new website goes live tomorrow, and rumour has it that there are loads of very cute pictures of us horses and ponies!
If you want to be one of the first to have a look at the website, go to:
www.aberdeenridingclub.com

We are having our AGM tomorrow night (Tuesday), where we will go through the year end accounts, are doing a demo on "how to ride Hagrid and Dixie" and then launching the website.
We hope to see loads of our members there asking questions and giving suggestions.

Other news is:
Rafiki is now sound and up to doing canter work.
Belinda and Melody are back out in their field following Belindas cut leg.
Apache, Abbey, Bluebell and Blaze are all settling in well to the farm.
Our liveries did really well at a recent team showjumping competition coming 2nd in the 75cm, 1st in the 90 cm and 1st in the 1metre class. Well done guys! A big thankyou goes to Julie Bultitude for organising it and making sure that everyone knew when to jump and where to jump!

Right, thats all from me for today - everyone is so busy getting ready for the AGM. We'll write some more tomorrow!
Murphy xxxxxx