So after a long break, I am fully recovered from my little
incident and the ponies have had a super holiday. Thank you to the families that took my ponies
in and kept them looking good over the winter.
It was really appreciated.
There is going to be a fun packed spring here at EC Croft
with some new activities as well as the usual.
Before I go into dates, there are a few things I would like to explain.
Membership Club
Because I have so many activities that I would like to offer you all, I have decided
to create a membership club. This way,
for my regulars, there will be discounts when booking an activity day. I also would like to organise members only
evenings and encourage a social aspect. These evenings will have an educational
twist to them as I will be inviting guest speakers from different aspects of
the equestrian world, any ideas welcome.
I will give a membership form to you, at your next lesson,
which will explain the benefits.
Lesson Payment
For the regular lessons, I am going to make lesson cards for
everyone and would like lessons paid in blocks of 10. After each lesson, the
card will be dated and ticked. This
system will make it easier for me to know who has paid what lesson, especially
when the payments are done by internet.
Talking of paying by internet, I
have changed bank accounts. The new bank
number is 02-0888-0100134-000, still with the BNZ.
On another note, if you are unable to come to a lesson, can
you let me know at least 24 hours beforehand, if not then half a lesson will be
deducted from your card.
Kids Club
I am in the process of finding or creating a stable
management programme that I can do with the kids. There will be booklets with questions and
once completed, the kids will get certificates.
I will let you know more when I have them in place. This will be part of the membership club.
Lease a Pony
A new project I would like to try is a ‘lease a pony ‘scheme and is open to my regular clients' children. The scheme is simple, for a weekly fee, the
child can come and ride the pony anytime during the centre’s opening hours,
when the pony is not booked a lesson. The fee will cover feeding and care of
the pony plus a weekly group lesson.
There will also be the possibility of taking your pony to shows or other
events. This is a great opportunity for children to learn about caring for a
pony and the responsibilities of having their own pony. It also gives the ponies a special someone
who will give them extra attention and cuddles.
The ponies up for lease are Ailish, Charlie, Cayden and Milly.
There are two new and exciting activities at EC
Croft -Drill Riding and Hoof Ball. I am
organizing regular training days of these and even some competitions.
Drill Riding
For those that don't know about Drill Riding,
it is a form of dressage as a group. The
school movements can be very simple and done in a walk and trot so you don’t need to have a lot of dressage experience. It is a lot of
fun and can be very funny when someone mixes their left and right!!! I am
setting up a regular group who will practice every 3rd Sunday
afternoon of the month. This starts on
the 22nd of September at 2pm till 4pm. It will cost $10 per rider.
I will also be doing a Drill Riding Day for
kids and adults during the holidays on the 2nd of October.
Hoof Ball
A new activity at EC Croft is a game which has
been spreading across New
Zealand called Hoof-ball. It’s a form of soccer on Horseback. You need a team of 4 consisting of 2
attackers and 2 defenders. The ball is
110 cm in diameter and horses seem to love it once they know it is harmless. I
would like to have regular trainings and tournaments of this exciting sport. If you are
interested then come and give it a go on the 9th of October. The morning will be about getting the horses
used to the ball and then in the afternoon there will be a small
tournament. This will be $25 per rider,
$50 for a family.
Jumping Lessons
As well as organising some
Jumping Clinics, I am putting in place monthly jumping lessons. They will be on a Friday Morning at 10-
11:30 and a Saturday afternoon at 3:30-5pm
in the 1st week of every month. So the
first ones will be on Friday the 4th and Saturday the 5th of October. They will cost $25 per person.
Family Obstacle Day
The Obstacle Day, will be on the 6th
of October, and is about trying your hand at opening a gate, dragging a sack or
riding with a flag,. This will be a fun
day and a great way to not only bond with your four legged friend but also
spend time with your kids and their ponies. You can do the course in hand
and/or ridden. The cost is $25 per rider or $50 for a family.
Groundwork Clinics
For those looking for something a bit calmer,
why not join our Groundwork Clinics and work on your horsemanship skills. There will be regular training days, helping
you to improve your partnership with your horse and you will be given tips and
exercises to do at home. First one is on
the 29th of September from 10 till 3pm. These will be taught by Patience.
Now for the dates
September
Sunday 22nd 2-4pm Drill Riding
Sunday 29th 10-3pm
Groundwork Clinic with Patience
October
Tuesday 1st Under 12s Training Day
Wednesday 2nd Drill
Riding Day
Thursday 3rd 12s and over Training Day
Friday 4th 10-11:30 Jumping Lesson
Saturday 5th 3:30-5 Jumping Lesson
Sunday 6th Family
Obstacle Day
Tuesday 8th 12s
and over Training Day
Wednesday 9th Hoof
Ball Day
Friday 11th Under
12s Training Day
Unless otherwise stated, the activities will run from 10am
till 3:30pm. You need to bring your
lunch and be prepared for sunny weather but also for rain if forecasted.
The price for the training days is $60 per child. This price is the same for all other activity
days unless otherwise stated.
There is the possibility of hiring one of our ponies for any
of these activities at $10 per pony.
The last piece of info is that I am organising an Open Day
on Sunday the 3rd of November. I will be
asking you all (and hope the answer will be 'YES!!!') to participate on the day.
I would like to plan several different demos including Drill Riding , Hoof ball, Groundwork and
maybe even a mini jumping competition.
Details will be confirmed nearer the date but please pencil this into
your diary. The more the merrier:-).
I am looking forward to teaching you all this coming Spring
and Summer and hope we will have lots of fun and lots of laughs too!!!
See you very soon
Susan.
