JULY 2014
28th July 2014
Another extremely busy month! 5th-6th July conducted another very successful clinic in Lakes Entrance. A
lot of the regulars attended and some great improvement since last time.
On Saturday 12th July I attended the Equestrian Victoria Awards Night. I had been a Selector/Coach for the choosing of the Young Dressage Rider of the Year.
My co-selectors International judge Jane Ventura and Riders Representative and Level 1 coach Matt Archibald had a very hard task trying to choose from the well presented top 10 young riders to come up with a final 3 after a Training Weekend in June.
Our top 3 contenders were Tori Stuckey, Morgan Duell and Emily O’Connell. After much discussion and the final interview with each of the girls Morgan Duell was awarded the Dressage Young Rider of the Year. Our thoughts were that dressage for the future was looking very bright! The Awards Night was quite dazzling, held at Crown
Casino.
The next morning I had to be at the airport for a flight to Singapore. This trip was for work and some pleasure. In recent years some Singapore students attending Melbourne University had riding lessons at Oakwood. They became very familiar around the place and formed firm friendships with us all.
My time in Singapore was very successful with 3 days of teaching and some sight- seeing and swimming. My friends there made me most welcome to the point of spoiling me. We hope that we can continue with these teaching trips at least once a year in the near future. Some photos are attached.
This weekend I have been competing with my club Berwick and district Dressage Club in the annual Victorian Dressage Club Teams Challenge. Always a great weekend of dressage and laughter. It so happens that Berwick won the trophy this year. An added bonus!!
Now I have my nose to the grindstone to work up to the departure for WEG in France. May you all continue to enjoy your riding until I return at the end of September!
28th July 2014
Another extremely busy month! 5th-6th July conducted another very successful clinic in Lakes Entrance. A
lot of the regulars attended and some great improvement since last time.
On Saturday 12th July I attended the Equestrian Victoria Awards Night. I had been a Selector/Coach for the choosing of the Young Dressage Rider of the Year.
My co-selectors International judge Jane Ventura and Riders Representative and Level 1 coach Matt Archibald had a very hard task trying to choose from the well presented top 10 young riders to come up with a final 3 after a Training Weekend in June.
Our top 3 contenders were Tori Stuckey, Morgan Duell and Emily O’Connell. After much discussion and the final interview with each of the girls Morgan Duell was awarded the Dressage Young Rider of the Year. Our thoughts were that dressage for the future was looking very bright! The Awards Night was quite dazzling, held at Crown
Casino.
The next morning I had to be at the airport for a flight to Singapore. This trip was for work and some pleasure. In recent years some Singapore students attending Melbourne University had riding lessons at Oakwood. They became very familiar around the place and formed firm friendships with us all.
My time in Singapore was very successful with 3 days of teaching and some sight- seeing and swimming. My friends there made me most welcome to the point of spoiling me. We hope that we can continue with these teaching trips at least once a year in the near future. Some photos are attached.
This weekend I have been competing with my club Berwick and district Dressage Club in the annual Victorian Dressage Club Teams Challenge. Always a great weekend of dressage and laughter. It so happens that Berwick won the trophy this year. An added bonus!!
Now I have my nose to the grindstone to work up to the departure for WEG in France. May you all continue to enjoy your riding until I return at the end of September!
APRIL 2014
April has already been a busy month! Last Friday I drove to Lakes Entrance to conduct a 2 day clinic on Saturday and Sunday. On the trip up I called in at 3 stops on the way to give lessons. On the weekend, I had 10 lessons per day and then on Monday another 3 on my way back!
The clinic went extremely well. Riders varied in age from 12 – a lovely young man with a super Galloway - to adults and were all keen to learn and improve their skills. Most riders attended both days which gave a good chance to follow up and in all cases the improvements were visible.
The Friday and Monday lessons were also very successful with great “light bulb“ moments for the riders. All in all it was a great weekend AND the weather was fantastic.
April has already been a busy month! Last Friday I drove to Lakes Entrance to conduct a 2 day clinic on Saturday and Sunday. On the trip up I called in at 3 stops on the way to give lessons. On the weekend, I had 10 lessons per day and then on Monday another 3 on my way back!
The clinic went extremely well. Riders varied in age from 12 – a lovely young man with a super Galloway - to adults and were all keen to learn and improve their skills. Most riders attended both days which gave a good chance to follow up and in all cases the improvements were visible.
The Friday and Monday lessons were also very successful with great “light bulb“ moments for the riders. All in all it was a great weekend AND the weather was fantastic.
MARCH 2014
23rd March 2014
“Well, it’s proving to be a busy and successful 2014. I am starting to build up a client base for my teaching business which now includes some very promising young horses and keen riders wanting to learn more about correct training. I had very successful training day last Saturday at Macedon Ranges Dressage Club and have another clinic booked in Lakes Entrance on 5th-6th April. This together with my regular lessons, judging appointments and working my 2 horses is keeping me occupied. I am also getting back into a regular fitness regime with exercises and some jogging 3 or 4 times a week. Look out, I will soon be dangerous!!
Tasman Park Fanfare has had 3 outings in 2014 competing at Elementary level. We have done 6 tests for 6 wins so far and her training is coming along. She is getting stronger all the time. Harmony is yet to go out but fingers crossed it will happen soon. I hope to be teaching at Werribee on 8th April if anyone is interested in joining in for a lesson. If you haven’t been to Werribee with your horse before it might be helpful to have a lesson to help you through some of the familiarisation issues.”
23rd March 2014
“Well, it’s proving to be a busy and successful 2014. I am starting to build up a client base for my teaching business which now includes some very promising young horses and keen riders wanting to learn more about correct training. I had very successful training day last Saturday at Macedon Ranges Dressage Club and have another clinic booked in Lakes Entrance on 5th-6th April. This together with my regular lessons, judging appointments and working my 2 horses is keeping me occupied. I am also getting back into a regular fitness regime with exercises and some jogging 3 or 4 times a week. Look out, I will soon be dangerous!!
Tasman Park Fanfare has had 3 outings in 2014 competing at Elementary level. We have done 6 tests for 6 wins so far and her training is coming along. She is getting stronger all the time. Harmony is yet to go out but fingers crossed it will happen soon. I hope to be teaching at Werribee on 8th April if anyone is interested in joining in for a lesson. If you haven’t been to Werribee with your horse before it might be helpful to have a lesson to help you through some of the familiarisation issues.”
17th March 2014
"Had a very busy weekend. Taught at Macedon Ranges Dressage Club training day on Saturday. Then drove to Albury to judge all day on Sunday. Busy but good. Thanks to MRDC for organizing the clinic, I really enjoyed the day. Driving up to Albury that night was a bit of a task in very bad storms with torrential rain, but Sunday was fine and the comp went well. Well done Jindera Equestrian Assoc on their day. Thanks must go to Paul my long suffering partner who drove up with me for company, it was great to have him there in the storms."
"Had a very busy weekend. Taught at Macedon Ranges Dressage Club training day on Saturday. Then drove to Albury to judge all day on Sunday. Busy but good. Thanks to MRDC for organizing the clinic, I really enjoyed the day. Driving up to Albury that night was a bit of a task in very bad storms with torrential rain, but Sunday was fine and the comp went well. Well done Jindera Equestrian Assoc on their day. Thanks must go to Paul my long suffering partner who drove up with me for company, it was great to have him there in the storms."