Tanya Buckingham

Pony Club camps and an exciting day at Thornton

I spent last week teaching at the South Durham pony club camp, which was held at Misty Blue Livery yard once again. I'm not sure how Emma Gibbon managed to rope me into teaching but I was pleasantly surprised with the organisation, the attitude of the children and the standard of riding! Having spoken to Emma about the new weighbridge that Dengie had acquired she thought it would be fun to get Anne over to weigh all the ponies and give a talk about the digestive system! The day went well, apart from a few ponies who took some persuading to get on the scales (they were obviously too shy to have their weight read out in public!) and the kids were amazed at the scale and size of the digestive system in a horse! I would recommend the talk for any club or group of horse owners as it's a really interesting and informative listen!


After four days of camp I had a quick turn-around to get Sonyk and Sparkle ready for Thornton Whatlass pre novice on the Saturday! After a school around the jumps at Foxberry Chasers xc in Caldwell they were ready to go! Both horses did good tests, Sparkle did a lovely double clear and with the interesting ground and the tight turns we went steady in the xc - despite this he finished 6th! I have heard that red bull gives you wings but I think Dengie Naked Oats gives Sonyk springs! He did the most incredible SJ round - as you an see from the fab picture SHG photography took he thought he had to jump 6 foot not 1m! The xc was just as exuberant and sadly he thought he couldn't fit over the skinny arrow head and had to make sure before he actually had a go! Sonyk went on to complete the xc. Despite the look at the skinny I was thrilled with his first solo xc round and I'm rather excited about him for the future!

Tanya