Club News

JANUARY 2018

The lighter nights are slowly starting to make an appearance so that only means more pony time for us!  We have got a great calendar of events and training for you this year, please keep an eye on the website and our facebook page for updates. 

DECEMBER 2017

Your Findon Committee wish you all a very merry christmas and a happy new year!!!!!

NOVEMBER 2017

The lovely Nicola Wilson returned to the North East to once again provide us with two days of great training, alongside a great demo which has received fantastic feedback.  We have to thank all the staff at WHW Belwade Farm for their continued support with this clinic, the Findon Committee for all the hard work, our helpers (especially Ian Duncan!!!!) and to all of our demo riders for making it happen.  We have some provisional dates for next year so please keep an eye out on the website and our facebook page for more information as it becomes available.

OCTOBER 2017

The clocks have gone back so that can only mean one thing!!  The ponies are clipped ready for the winter season ahead......  Our winter leagues have now started and have been well attended which is absolutely fantastic.   We have a date change for your diaries however!  Due to circumstances outwith our control, we have had to cancel our November show jumping League but fear not, we will run another League date on 22nd of April so that members aren't missing out on those valuable points.

October also means that we have come to the end of our membership year once again so it is renewal time again.  You can find all the forms you need on our membership page with details of where to send it etc.  Please ensure that you send this in quickly as any league points may be forfeited should it not be sent back by the end of November.  Don't forget our AGM will be held on Monday 13th of November at the 4 mile in Kingswells at 7.00pm, so if there is anything you would like to bring to the table or things you'd like to see happen in the club, please come along.  Think that's all for now folks so we will look forward to seeing you out and about very soon.

SEPTEMBER 2017

Well that is another season completed at the show field and back end weather is starting to make an appearance, but fear not, we have an action packed winter planned for you.  We are looking forward to welcoming you all to our winter SJ and Dressage Leagues, schedules are now on online.  This year we have joined forces with NERC to bring you a bumper dressage series, so please pay particular attention to the changes in the schedule as a few things have changed compared to previous years.  This event is also being kindly supported by Caskieben Dressage who have supplied us with amazing rosettes for the highest placed winner at each competition.  In addition to that, they have given us training vouchers which are to be presented to the highest placed Findon or NERC member at the final. 

**BREAKING NEWS**

We are so excited to announce that not only will World No2, Nicola Wilson be doing a clinic with us, she will also be doing a demo on Saturday 18th of November.  Details for the clinic and the demo can be found on our Calendar.  This is something you will not want to miss!!

AUGUST 2017

We are actively looking for Findon members who would like to represent the club at the Saddle Up Championships 2017 which is to be held at Auchlishie Eventing, Kirriemuir on Saturday 30th September and Sunday 1st October 2017.  This is such an exciting and fun competition which has something for everyone, from dressage, riding tests, show jumping and horse trials.  There is a new 70cm show jumping competition that has been introduced this year which is absolutely fantastic.  If you have not had an email from us about this and would like to join us, please contact Teresa Cuthill for more information.

JUNE/JULY 2017

It has been a busy couple of months for us at FRC headquarters.  In between showers, we have been busy behind the scenes organising lots of training, competitions and fun things in between for you all.  Sadly the weather was against us for camp this year which saw us having to cancel due to saftey risks.  Fear not, we will be back next year with another one, weather permitting........  We saw the start of the summer season back at the Maryculter Show Field with our summer show and have had lots of training there on Tuesday evenings which has been hugely popular.  Wills Oakden has been back due to popular demand and we hope to have him back again very soon.

MAY 2017

We need you! The Area Horse Trials on the 3rd June at Scotsburn, Invergordon are at risk of being cancelled if not enough fence judges can be found. Please contact one of the committee members if you are able to spare some time.  Similarly, we have our Annual Findon Summer Show in the showfield at Maryculter on Sunday 4th June and are in need of some club support to assist with stewarding, and set up on the Saturday. If you can spare a few hours or more please contact Mhairi.

We have had a fantastic two days training with Wills Oakden, first with our demo at WHW, followed by our clinic at Tillyoch. Feedback has been very positive and we hope to welcome him back soon!   

Findon sent a squad of competitors down to Brechin for both days of the Area competion - a full list of results will be available on the website soon. Well done to all involved.

MARCH 2017

It is so good to see the nights stretching and seeing our members out enjoying their trusty steeds again. 

We have just brought our Winter Leagues to a close and we would just like to thank all of you for supporting our competitions and huge congratulations to all of our league winners. A big thank you nust go to our ground team and helpers, as without you, running these events would be impossible. 

We have a packed year coming up for you all, we have our "Pick & Mix" fitness day on Sunday 26th March details of which can be found on our training page. We also have our annual WH competition, Camp, Summer SJ Leagues and our Summer Show.

Our team events are coming soon too, with the Area 22 Dressage and SJ Qualifers and Non-Qualifiers being hosted by Stonehaven RC and held at Brechin Equestrian Centre on 20th and 21st of May 2017.  The HT Qualifiers are being run by the Area 22 committee at Scotsburn, Invergordon on 3rd of June 2017.  If you would like to be a part of these great events, please download and complete the form on the team page and send it to the duty committee member.  There will be an informal meeting on Monday 10th of April at 6.30pm in the Ploughman, Culter, for those of you who are unsure what is involved and would like to come along and find out a bit more about it before you commit.  Please also ensure that you bring your up to date flu vaccinations with you as no forms will be accepted until these have been checked by a committee member.  You may also bring your hats for checking and to be tagged if you have not already done so.  So why not come and join us for a coffee and join in the Findon team spirit.

******FRC CAMP******

Forms are now available to download from our calendar page, along with all the information you need.

DECEMBER 2016 & JANUARY 2017

Hi folks, sorry for our tardy update!!!  Hope you have all had a great festive season and are all hard at work planning your year ahead.  Well, what a year we have got planned for you - please watch this space and our Facebook page for more information!!  As you can see, we have had a few changes to our committee this year.  Julie Hammond, Jane Valentine, Lorna Hogg and Ann Cranna stood down at our AGM last month.  Collectively they have all served the club well for a VERY long time!  We would like to wish them all the very best and hope to see them with their steeds at competitions instead of sitting behind the Secretary's desk!!  We now welcome, Dawn Eddie, Anna Miller, Jemma Docherty, Felice Chilcott and Jordan Lyon.  So with our new committee now in place, we are bringing you some exciting things in 2017 but if there is anything else you need or would like to see happen, please contact us and we will see what we can do. 

NOVEMBER 2016

We hope you are all wrapped up fine any cosy folks.  It certainly looks like winter has finally taken a grip of us, it is mighty cold out there, brrrrr!!  The temperatures haven't hampered our Findon activities though.  Our winter leagues have run well for those who have braved Jack Frost and we also welcomed Nicola Wilson back to the North East, running a very successful 2 day clinic at the fabulous venue that is the World Horse Welfare in Aboyne.  Nicola also kindly gave up her evening on Saturday 19th to do a Q&A in the lovely and warm conference room there and all the proceeds from the event went to the WHW charity.  Thanks to everyone who attended, we raised a grand total of £694 which is fantastic.  A big thank you to Nicola for coming and agreeing to come back again next year (watch this space!!!) and to the WHW for having us take over the centre and taking great care of us.

OCTOBER 2016

What a great start to our winter leagues so far.  We welcomed well over 40 riders to our first show jumping competition which is absolutely fantastic!  The weather was great too but sadly, the same cannot be said for our first dressage league.....  Sadly the weather gods were against us.  We had a full day of tests and only the hardest of hardcore Findoner's braved the elements, so a massive well done goes to you all.  Memberships are coming in thick and fast and we see an added increase in brand new members which is brilliant.  Don't forget that the membership secretary must receive your forms by the end of this month for any points won at either of the leagues to be counted.

SEPTEMBER 2016

So that's the end of our summer leagues in the field.  Thank you so much to everyone who has come out and supported the club and made it fun - after all, that is what we are all about!! Well done to Natalie Ross, Alicia Marples and Kirstin Cranna who made the epic trip to Lincoln for the Novice Show Jumping Championships in such horrendous conditions - you all deserve a medal!!!  We are currently hard at work refurbishing all our jump trailers and have bought some fantastic new fences from Blairequibuild and Quality Highland Show Jumps, we will make great use of these next year!  We are now turning our focus to the winter dressage and show jumping leagues, you can find out all the info on our schedules page.  As always, we will be on the lookout for willing helpers to assist us at these events!  Without you, these events cannot run so please contact the duty member on the schedule if you can spare a couple of hours.  Lastly, don't forget that memberships are due at the end of October so to continue to receive benefits such as reduced entry fees and priority at our training events, please forward your completed form and payment to the membership secretary as soon as possible.