It is the start of a new year and it is wet!

March 2024-

It is the start of a new year and it is wet! As I write I am looking at flooded meadows with water in places I’m sure it’s never been before. Hopefully the rain will stop soon and we can have some civilised weather - enough rain (preferably at night) to give us great going and the right amount of grass, and sunshine (but not too hot!) to ride in. Oh, and perfect farming weather too. Well, we can hope…..

Last year was a great year for the club, with many teams and individuals going to championships and getting placed. Sashes galore! At the awards night for Area 5 we were delighted with our placing of overall 3rd for the club. It’s not only a very big area, but very competitive, so that is a wonderful result for such a small club. It didn’t stop there - Charlie Lee was first in the SJ and 5th overall and Sarah Higgs was 3rd overall. To have two members in the top five in the entire area is just amazing! Well done to them and everyone else who has represented us. Team managers of course deserve huge thanks - Jane and Sarah have now taken a well deserved rest, to be replaced by Michele and Heather. Please do all you can to make their lives easy!

On the subject of making lives easy for club officers - BACS payments for rallies. To explain the situation: for each incoming transaction on the statement there are three lines. The first starts with the name of the person paying. This is usually, (but not always!), the member concerned. This is followed by the reference, if given. If no reference, the name appears again. All characters are run together. The next line comprises 18 random digits / letters, followed by what I presume is the sort code (disguised, as no dashes between the pairs of digits), followed by a 10 (why, I have no idea). So 26 digits. The third line is the date and time you paid. Please, please put a reference of the date and the instructor (initials fine), or the date and competition if a team. We undoubtedly have some repeat offenders - some with no reference, some who put ‘lesson’. It is totally unfair to expect Mandy to have to pour over these entries and spend lots of time trying to second guess who may have paid and for what.

On a happier note, Emily of eequine.co.uk is returning with Millie, her mechanical horse. Last time we all thoroughly enjoyed our sessions and all felt improvement in our riding afterwards. This will be on Saturday 27th April at the wonderful venue of Stud Farm (thank you Laura and Sam). Cost for participants is £30 to Buckingham members and £40 to non-members. Refreshments will be available and non-‘riders’ will be very welcome – it is a good spectator sport and last time was a very sociable day.

During the last couple of weeks we have seen examples of the highs and lows of owning horses. Two of us have recently lost lovely old horses, both having been absolute stars in their day. Mine was very happy and looking fantastic - then irreparable colic and the inevitable - a huge shock.

Then the highs - one of our members put on FB how delighted she was with her great performance at a SJ team competition. Her horse hasn’t always been the easiest and the satisfaction she had on that day was just reward for her perseverance and shone through her post. I’m inordinately happy when my young horse suddenly grasps how to open gates. Days like these make it all worthwhile!

So please - stay healthy - both you and your horses and I look forward to seeing you at rallies, teams and social events

Sue