NEDTL

We were blessed with dry weather again for the last 2DE of the season. The cone course was a tight twisty course and no clear rounds were attained but Ginny Ashford and Laura Wray just had 1 ball down when most were getting cricket scores. Thank you to the dressage judges who supported 2 arenas and gave lovely feedback. The marathon was great as usual around Escrick Park with the ground being either tracks or grass, no mud thenk goodness. Some of the obstacles were tight and challenging which was a learning experience for competitors . Thank you to the stewards who were on them all day we could not compete without your help. Finally thank you to Melody and Emrys Jones for organising the event and the army of people that helped make the weekend an enjoyable one.

Remember everyone volunteers to run and help out at these events and the NEDTL Club is immensely grateful.

Well done to the winners of the classes who were awarded their Northern Champions trophies. Photos by courtesy of Donna Joyce.

The detailed results we normally publish for events cannot be shown at the moment for Newby Hall due to a technical hitch.

So here is a photo of the results as they were displayed on the notice board . Congratulations to Ginny Ashford and Laura Wray for getting double clears in the cones. Thank you to James and Kim Usher for organising another great event and this time the sun shone for us. A bit windy but it blew the cobwebs away.

Thank to everyone who helped out at the weekend from the course builders, the stable manager, the stewards, the scorers, dressage judges, event secretary and most of all the competitors. A grand weekend was had by all. See you all at Frickley.

Allerton 2024 will be remembered for the rain which caused a challenging marathon. Those competitors who took the challenge on said it was a proper marathon course, soft and claggy in places but the obstacles were great, especially the wonderful water obstacle. And some backsteppers took a high stance to try and not get wet, as seen by Neat Sharrock. Saturday was not too bad so the dressage and cones drove well. Bill Haddock certainly designed a challenging cones course.

There were 2 clear rounds in the cones from Laura Wray with her shetland VSE pair and Julie Lockey with her lovely pony. The Hogroast on Saturday evening was scrumptious and enjoyed by over 100 people.

It was followed by music and dancing. The results are on the results page. https://www.hdtforum.co.uk/scores/viewone.php?id=NEDTL-2024-07-13-Allerton_Park&club=NEDTL&yr=2024

 

It was a dry, sunny and very warm weekend for the Nidd event on the22nd&23rd June. Thank you to the event organisers Melody and Emrys Jones for a well run event and to Tommy Tomlinson as TD and Nicola Corby as Probationary TD. Event Secrecatry – Janet Leonard and Peter Carter; Safety Officer – Penny Hartley;First Aider – Matt Holden; Safeguarding Officer Amanda Axe; Dressage Judges – Mary Lunn and Angela Flangan; Scorers – Peter Carter and Nicola Gray And a big thank you to all the helpers and stewards, sorry I cannot name them all but without your help and time we could not run the event. It is greatly appreciated. And it was great to see all the competitors having fun in the sun so I hope we see you at the next event.

The results are on the results page https://www.nedtl.co.uk/events/results/

It was a fantastic weekend for NEDTL members and there was a great team camaraderie supporting competitors. It was a fantastic experience for those who have never been before. The organisers and stewards were all so helpful and friendly. It was a lovely atmosphere and I would recommend that if you have a chance of going take the opportunity, whether its as a competitor, steward or supporter. If you want to be a competitor then reach out and ask questions, the Club will be there to help you.

Congratulations to those who competed and please join me in a round of applause for them. The competition was strong and it was so close in the scores that if a competitor blinked at the wrong time they lost a point. The summary of the results are ;

Ruby Gray came 1st in Open Pony and Overall Supreme Champion

Leslee Wilkinson came 1st in Open Horse

Laura Wray came 1st in Open Small Pony and Small Pony Pairs

Charmian Haigh came 2nd in Novice Horse

Angela Smith came 2nd in Pony Team

Neat Sharrock came 3rd in Intermediate Horse

Steve Hoyle came 3rd in Veteran

George Wood came 4th In Veteran

Amy Griffiths came 4th in Intermediate Small Pony

Ginny Ashford came 10th in Intermediate Pony

Julie Lockey came 13th in Intermediate Pony

Amanda Axe came 16th in Novice Pony

Faye O’Hara came 17th in Novice Pony

The full detailed results can be found in the ICD website https://www.indoordriving.co.uk/viewresults.php?id=Championships-2024-04-19-Arena_UK&yr=2023-24

Melody Jones hosted a successful first Member’s Zoom meeting on 10th February 2024. We would like to thank everyone who joined and participated especially Tommy Thomlinson who helped clarify some of the BC rules. There were alot of topics covered so if you would like to see the minutes to bring yourself up-to-date please see the below document. We will let you know when the next Zoom meeting is scheduled so that you may join and participate.

The second competition of the indoor season took place at Askham Bryan College on 12th November. A good entry, which included no fewer than five drivers who are new to NEDTL events, led to some intense competition across the classes. We were also delighted to have a visit from the new Chairman of ICD, Hugh Scott Barrett, who is getting to know the people and events throughout the various regions. I think everyone was impressed by the fact that he rolled up his sleeves and spent the day helping out as an obstacle observer, putting balls back on and keeping his part of the arena clean! Above are some photos of the class winners.

Only three weeks after the last outdoor event, we were back indoors again for the first competition at Askham Bryan College. With a slightly smaller entry than usual, it was still interesting to see that more of our competitors than usual chose to tackle the ICD qualifying classes. No doubt the fact that the British Indoor Championships are being held much closer to home once more, at Arena UK near Grantham, has had something to do with this! Here are some photos of class winners.

The final two-day event of the 2022 outdoor season was held at Escrick Park on 24/25 September. The weather was kind, being sunny if a little on the chilly side but this made for excellent conditions for the horses on marathon day. But first of all, Saturday saw dressage judges being kept busy with a variety of tests to judge – and a variety of horses and ponies too, which ranged in size from Caroline Gill’s diminutive Shetland Sid, upto Alan McIndoe’s somewhat larger horse at around 17.2! However, best score of the day was put up by Leslee Wilkinson in the Open Horse class with a superb 29.28 penalties. Judy Hilditch was once again cones course designer and constructed another challenging yet flowing course, which allowed for competitors to be tested without needing to have a horse which was double-jointed through its spine! There were a total of five double clears during the day, making a small dent in the club’s stash of double clear rosettes! With the outcome of both the Northern Championships and the Club’s annual points league to be decided, competition was keen around the marathon. Speedy obstacle rounds were put up by most of the usual suspects, with fastest time of the day going to Scottish raider Joyce Simpson, which allowed her to win the Open Pony Class and be crowned Northern Champion in that category. An excellent, competitive but friendly weekend was had by all and we look forward to doing it all again next year. The results can be found at the top of this page and photos of class winners are above.

We had fabulous weather for last weekend’s Allerton Park – if a little too on the hot side for comfort from the horse’s point of view. However, the cool down area worked well as there was plenty of water available for dousing in order to bring temperatures and heart rate down. With 61 competitors across a range of both Regional and Club classes, organisers, stewards, judges and all the other miriad important people that go into running an event worked extremely hard in the heat. But without doubt, the park looked beautiful and with competitors coming from far and wide it had quite a ‘home international’ flavour! So thank you to everyone who supported the event, photos of class winners are above. An extra thank you to Martin Henfield and Maurice Wilson (no relation!) who spent all day taking pictures and very kindly have allowed us to use some of their images.

A good weekend of competition was held at the Nidd Hall Event on 11th/12th June. The weather was mostly kind to us, although we did have some rain showers and a chill wind, but mostly the skies were blue and the sun shone. Dressage Judges Jane Smith and Angela Flanagan were kept busy on Saturday with a mix of abilities presenting themselves for marking. Best dressage rosettes were awarded on Saturday evening as follows: Best Novice Dressage – Flo Goodbrand-Lloyd, Best Intermediate Dressage – Pam McArthur, Best Open Dressage – Leslee Wilkinson, Best Pairs Dressage – Ian Gilbert and Best Teams and Tandems – Margo Smith. The cones course once again had an influence on the placings, with not a single clear round achieved by any driver. Judy Hilditch’s courses, which are finding great favour with drivers, on this occasion was very open and flowing but whereas quite a number of competitors managed to do the time, accuracy seemed to be somewhat lacking! Sunday’s marathon consisted of three full phases for all classes except the Short Format, and finished in the lush parkland of the Estate. Some excellent times were recorded around the obstacles and best marathon rosettes were awarded as follows: Best Marathon Pony – Glenys Ellis, Best Marathon Horse – Leslee Wilkinson, Best Marathon Multiple – Ian Gilbert (pony pair). The lowest overall score of the whole competition was awarded to Julie Lockey. Many thanks to all our judges and stewards for their hard work throughout the weekend. Class winner photos are above.

This year saw the first two day event held at Feedale Farm. By courtesy of Terry and Elaine Mason, who had put in an incredible amount of work building some permanent obstacles and putting tracks in around their fields, competitors gathered to make maximum use of the facilities. Saturday’s dressage saw some good scores in front of judges Mary Lunn and Angela Flanagan, with Leslee Wilkinson gaining the best score of the day with 31.89 in the Open Horse. Cones were held at the top of Feedale Farm’s undulating land, affording a spectacular view of the Yorkshire countryside all around. Judy Hilditch’s flowing cones course made full use of the generous space available and saw a reasonable sprinkling of rounds within the time and rounds with no balls down, but only three double clears! These went to John Wilkinson (Open Horse), Ruby Gray (Novice Pony) and Gary Pigney (Intermediate Horse). Sunday’s marathon saw competitors being set off at 10 minute intervals, to allow for extra spacing around the obstacles. This led to a somewhat relaxed day for the scorers as the arrival of obstacle and section times was also nicely spaced out! There were some very good times around the obstacles with particular ‘nip-and-tuck’ results in both the Open Horse and the Open Pony classes. Overall results for the event can be found at the top of this page but special awards were given out as follows: Best Novice Dressage – Neat Sharrock (44.40), Best Intermediate Dressage – Ginny Ashford (58.35) Best Open Dressage – Leslee Wilkinson (31.89), Best Dressage Teams and Tandems – Pat Cooper (56.71) Best Marathon, Pony – Sue Corlett, Best Marathon, Horse – John Wilkinson, Best Marathon, Multiple – Pat Cooper. Lowest Overall Score – Leslee Wilkinson. Russells UK.com, who kindly provided a trailer for the scorers to use at Feedale Farm, also donated two ‘goodie-bags’, which we were delighted to award to two drivers who were making their competitive debut at Feedale Farm. These were presented to Flo Goodbrand-Lloyd (Novice Pony) and Alix Wardell (Short Format) by venue owner Terry Mason and club Chairman Alwin Harrison. Class winners as above.

The Arena Challenge took place at Manor Grange on 8^th May with the usual good weather we have mostly come to enjoy there.  Dressage and cones were held in the large arena, with drivers progressing straight from one phase to the other.  Despite quite a twisty cones course which tested more than a few memories, there were few penalties in terms of balls down – and even two double clears!   The obstacle phase took place in the smaller of the two arenas and on this occasion, took the form of a world cup competition, with cones included.  Competitors drove two separate rounds, each comprising of two obstacles and six pairs of cones.  Lowest overall score of the day went to Julie Lockey in the Novice Pony class, closely followed by John Wilkinson in the Open Horse.  We were also delighted to welcome two new members to the event today, Clare Ratcliffe driving her smart Welsh cob and Philip Thomason, who drove Pat Cooper’s Zippy.  We look forward to welcoming them both to more of our events this year. 

We had a good start to the 2022 season with the two day event at Escrick Park on 23/24 April.  The weather was relatively kind, with sunshine for most of the time, although a sharp wind made sure everyone kept their coats on!   Wet weather in the weeks leading up to the event had left the estate grassland rather soft, although the tracks had held up well.  There was a slightly slightly lower number of entries than is normally attracted to the first Escrick, where people are usually very keen to get the first event of the year under their belts, but there were a satisfying number of newcomers to the sport.    Dressage judges Philippa Thompson and Julie Tomasik were kept very busy sorting the wheat from the chaff on Saturday albeit with only four competitors out of nearly 40 electing to drive the new FEI tests.  Best Novice test was performed by Junior driver Ruby Gray in the Novice Pony class, to gain a score of 35.80.  Best Intermediate dressage went to Rachel Riley on a score of 49.22 and in the Open classes, it was George Wood that took the honour, with a score of 53.97.  Best Pairs score went to Hamish Reid on 52.87 and Best Teams and Tandems went to Pat Cooper, horse tandem, on 65.29

Cones once again proved decisive with only two people – Ruby Gray and Wendy Mason – securing a double clear.  Although a satisfying number of drivers managed to do the time over Judy Hilditch’s well-constructed course, accuracy was key and only Ruby and Wendy managed to leave all the balls in place!

Marathon day dawned bright and breezy and, with the exception of the Short Format class, who were only driving 5.42km, the first drivers set off on the 12km marathon with great gusto.  There were a smattering of first-event-of-the-season errors and some people obviously trying to polish off the Covid hiatus rust that quite a few reported feeling.  This led to a number of eliminations and corrected errors of course.    However, ‘best marathon’ rosettes were won as follows: Single Pony – Ruby Gray; Single Horse – Ann Connolly;  Pairs – Hamish Reid;  Teams & Tandems – Angie Smith (Pony Team).  It will come as no surprise to learn that the rosette for the Lowest Overall Score was awarded to Ruby Gray!  What an excellent start to what is only her second season of carriage driving.  Detailed results can be found on above on the website and photos of class winners are above.

The final event of the 2021/2022 indoor season took place as Askham Bryan yesterday, 13th March. With slightly fewer competitors than last time, split almost 50/50 between club and ICD classes, this was of course the last chance for those hoping to go to the indoor championships to make sure of their place in the list of qualifiers.  Club classes however, were no less keenly fought over! It simply remains to thank everyone who helps to get the indoor events up and running smoothly and all who give up their time to fulfil the various roles, without which, none of our events would be able to run. From a competing point of view, I think mention should definitely be made of Leslee Wilkinson’s exploits.  As well as taking the entries and helping to set up the event, Leslee also competed in two classes herself and back-stepped for a variety others.  On this occasion, she went round no fewer than five times, travelling through a total of 50 pairs of cones and 20 obstacles!  I hope somebody at least made her tea for her when she got home!  Detailed results can be found here on the website and class winners are pictured above.

We enjoyed a record entry for the indoor event at Askham Bryan on Sunday 27^th February.  With competitors split roughly 60%/40% between club and ICD classes, competition was keen – especially amongst those seeking qualification for the British indoor championships, which this year are being held a lot nearer to us at Arena UK.  Thanks go to John and Leslee Wilkinson and team, together with Alwin Harrison, Julian Hartley and Alan Potter who timed the cones and obstacles, Mary Lunn and Angela Flanagan who judged the dressage and Louise Potter who did the scoring.  Nigel Wilson, with his megaphone-like tones, manned the gate in and out of the indoor school and he, Mary Longbottom and Richard Moxley all stayed to the bitter end to help clear up.  Without all these stewards and officials we couldn’t run any of our events so we consider ourselves very lucky to have such a loyal band of helpers! And what’s more, we do it all again in two weeks’ time!  Don’t forget to get your entries in good and early.

There was a good entry for what was another dull, chilly day for the indoor event! Big thanks go to John and Leslee Wilkinson, who as well as taking the entries, planning the cones course, designing the obstacles and setting everything up, also between them drove three horses and backstepped variously for six turnouts! Entries were a mixture of seasoned campaigners and relative newcomers to indoor driving and competition was keen. Thank you to everyone who supported the event.

The third of the indoor events at Askham Bryan took place on Sunday 19th December. Sadly, the freezing, foggy weather led to some last minute withdrawals, but those did compete did so enthusiastically and most entered into the spirit of the season, with much tinsel in evidence! Links to the detailed results can be found at the top of this page.