Galston Equestrian Club Inc.

About Us

GEC News

Calendar

GEC 2009 News...

Check below for news posted from GEC competitions and events in 2009.

News and Events

Home | Back to Latest News

Annual General Meeting 2009 - Saturday 5th December

Coming up on Saturday December 5 is the GEC AGM and Christmas party. We encourage all current members and new members to attend. You can join GEC for 2010 on the night. Help us celebrate a fantastic first year for GEC, made possible by all the dedicated committee and member volunteers and our great sponsors. There will be the popular GEC sports shirts available for sale on the night, plus raffles and lots of fun.

Please consider volunteering for a role in GEC committee or sub committees, we always welcome a hand.

******

Our wonderful sponsor Horseland has kindly donated a new Wintec 500 All Purpose Saddle (unmounted) for our Christmas raffle. Tickets are $5.

Wintec Saddle

What a way to finish the year by winning a brand new saddle! Tickets can be bought from Michelle 0419 420 390 or from Liz 0409 992 920 or at the Christmas Party. Even if you cannot make it to the Christmas Party please call Liz or Michelle for tickets so that you can be in the draw.

Click here for all the details. Thank you to Leanne Garwood and Horseland for their wonderful generosity.

Look forward to seeing you there.

Mark Rodney Clinic - Sunday 22nd November

We have a great opportunity for riders interested in experiencing classical riding training with a natural principles. Mark Rodney will provide an interesting workshop demonstrating natural horsemanship principles on the ground and under saddle. Here is an opportunity to bring your horse to the safe environment to experience this instructors way of working with horses.

Come and join in with your horse or as an observer for the day. See the flyer for details and cost.

See you there
Barbara Anderson
Natural Horsemanship Phase Head
Galston Equestrian Club

Spring Gala Weekend - Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th November

With our penultimate event fast approaching make sure you have left your weekend free on the 7th and 8th of November so you can come along to The Spring Gala Weekend.

Whether you like to Hack, Showjump or Sport there will be something for everyone.

Check out the latest flyer on this exciting event and complete programme for the weekend activities.

Special announcement - "RM Williams come on board as one of our sponsors" - this is very exciting to have such a long established, well respected and iconic Australian company supporting our Club. Check out their latest catalogue.

After our last training weekend (25th OCT) being so successful this will give all you keen riders an opportunity to put into practise what you were all so keen to learn.

Happy riding and see you at the grounds next weekend.

Kind Regards
Michelle Becchio
VP Galston Equestrian Club.

Our Report

Hats off to Alicia Green and Michelle Becchio for planning, organizing and running this two day spectacular ! Day One featured the Gymkhana and Funkhana rings, and the number of beautifully presented horses and riders confirmed a growing interest in hacking amongst our members. And, the beautiful new show jumps were out, with many rounds ridden at the lower heights.

Day Two saw the grounds transformed from the hacking rings to a sporting course. Riders could take on any or all of the Bonfield Bounce, Stepping Stone Dash, Bending Keyhole, 2 Flag and Barrels. Meanwhile the show jumping went up and up finishing at 1.05 metres despite the start of rain.

Spring Gala Days offered our first ever Point Score Championship for riders who participated in all three activities over both days. Hopping on and off Dazzle Me and El Tigre, Grace Angyalosy was our Reserve Champion, while Margaret Green and the aptly named Princess took at the Championship. We are grateful to a new sponsor, RM Williams, who provided some great prizes including a beautiful saddle blanket, and to Dural Horseland who also sponsored the various classes over both days.

GEC Training Day - Sunday 25th October

GEC Training Day on Sunday October 25th has three great instructors offering something for everyone (see attached flyer for details). There will be classes in each activity at 9:00, 10:00, and 11:00 so you can come for your special interest or do a bit of everything, come for an hour or ride all morning. A great day in itself and a great way to get ready for our Spring Gala Days on November 7th and 8th!

To book your slots call Mary on 0402 974 449.

Amazing but true, there aren't many Club Days left in 2009 so let's make the most of them!

GEC Dressage Competition #2 - Sunday 11th October

A mixed bag of weather conditions so typical of spring did not deter thirty competitors, who performed over 50 tests in total.

All the horses were beautifully turned out and 99% were well behaved! A big thanks to Denise McCann and Emma Cartland, our EA judges and to Chrissie Johnson, our Celebrity Judge for Prep Classes. Horseland Dural was a generous sponsor, providing prizes to 6th place for all classes. What a great result for our second ever dressage competition.

As with any event it is the volunteers that make it happen. We needed and got a swag full. Many, many thanks to you all. Most people we spoke to were really complimentary about the relaxed and friendly atmosphere of the day. GEC will endeavour to ensure this spirit becomes the signature of all our dressage competitions in the future.

We have three competition in the calendar for 2010, with the option of going official, so practice your plaiting over the holidays and look forward to some dressage clinics and protocol days yet to be announced.

Results for the day can be found here.

Check out the photo gallery for photos of our dressage day.

GEC Open Showjumping Day - Sunday 27th September

What a day ! I’m sure we all felt like ‘Scott of the Antarctic’ by the end of it! Gale force icy winds blowing not only our hair into disarray and our horses brains out of their heads but our new jumps got blown over too!

Sincere thanks to all the brave souls who came ‘out to play’ - it was, despite the weather a fabulous day with over 50 rounds of showjumping being ridden we ran an AM7 Competition for the 50, 65 and 75cm classes with excellent fields in each class and due to the restricted numbers for the 85 and 95cm class we ran clear rounds.

As the jumps were being blown over as the riders were attempting to jump them this was indeed a more challenging course than even I had planned. Once again the course rode well but asked enough questions of the horse and rider that only a handful in each class qualified for the jump off round. Our new dazzle board caused the most stops on course with many horse and rider combinations having a much closer view of this obstacle than they had planned! The ‘very white brand new picket fence' also caused some minor problems but it was wonderful to see our members enjoying their brand new jumps!

A huge thank you to Horseland Dural and Leanne Garwood who were our sponsors for the day supplying each 1st place recipient with a Horseland Gift Voucher to the value of $20.00 and also place getters received an AMMO worming paste. Extremely generous support as usual-thanks to Leanne Garwood for her ongoing support.

Once again we had amazing volunteers helping us Sue Kidd sat with me all day jump judging and it was FREEZING! Liz Jones did a fabulous job as our Marshall and kept our warm up area under control. Mary Werwick took registrations all day, Vareena assisted in the canteen, John Becchio, Michael Dodd, the fabulous team of Ed (Grace’s Dad) and Les (Grace’s Uncle!), Camilla Mowbray, Elayne Verner , Alison Cairns (and her twins Sarah and James), Alecia Green all helped with the jumps-I could not have done this day without you all!

Next opportunity to train will be our upcoming 25th Oct Training day then come to our Spring Gala Weekend and finish up the year in grand style!

I look forward to seeing you all at our next day.

Michelle Becchio
VP Galston Equestrian Club
Showjumping Sub Committee Head

Results for the day can be found here.

Check out the photo gallery for photos of our showjumping day.

Dressage Clinic with Lucas Hurps - Saturday 12th September

Galston Equestrian Club is running a Dressage Clinic with Lucas Hurps on Saturday September 12th. Priority booking is being offered to members but it will be opened up if not filled one week prior to the date.

There is lots of interest - I 've been getting phone calls and emails already. So don't hesitate to give me a call and book!

I look forward to hearing from you,
Mary
0402 974 449

Our Report

On a very summer-like spring day we ran a fully subscribed dressage clinic with popular local instructor and Grand Prix level competitor Lucas Hurps.

Nine rider-horse combinations ranging from Preliminary to Grand Prix levels of training took advantage of Lucas' expertise to challenge themselves and their horses to their higher potentials.

Lucas' calm and encouraging style, and his insights into both horses and humans, brought out the best in everyone and gave them all some great "take aways" to work with at home.

Thanks so much to Lucas for his support of our Club and we'll hope to see him back with us next year.

Mary Werick

Trail Riding Day #2 - Saturday 12th September

Galston Equestrian Club is running another trail ride on Saturday 12th September.

Please contact Lynne for bookings or with questions - contact details are on the flyer.

Regards
Lynne Livingstone
Trail Riding Phase Head

Challenge Day - Sunday 23rd August

If you are interested in developing your horsemanship skills, communicating with your horse or just want a social day out with your horse come along to the Challenge Day. This day is about increasing your horses confidence away from home and your communication with your horse. You can then test these skills on line and riding your horse through the Challenge Course.

Please be advised the cost of the day is $20 for members and $40 for non-members.

Regards
Barbara Anderson
Treasurer and Horsemanship Phase Head

Our Report

Well what a fun day we had! The day was very warm with a breeze. Suzanne Bellette led a group of 30 people with their horses through the fundamentals of horse human communication. Suzanne and Tombay demonstrated their advanced level of communication and understanding. One minute demonstrating high energy transitions, lateral movements and passage, with the next request to stand ground tied with lots of horses everywhere and not moving until beckoned to Suzanne’s side.

Barbara Anderson and Shiraz and Jo Woolley and Portia also demonstrated their play on line. Barbara and Shiraz playing with the large tarp covering Shiraz with no qualms, with Shiraz walk, trot and cantering about with the tarp flapping over her and around her.

Everyone had an opportunity to effectively challenge themselves and their horses with obstacles, changes of surface (such as big blowing trampolines and checker- board) while keeping the horse at a safe distance; squeezing through spaces, moving the back end or front end while keeping in one spot.

There was great success with on line challenges and then later ridden activities. Everyone who attempted the course was scored on their efforts on each of the ten challenges so that they have a gauge of their ability to challenge themselves again next time.

Our top score for the day was Margaret Green on Princess who has been practicing natural horsemanship for a few years now. All feedback from the day has been very positive and we look forward to running more Challenge days at GEC in the future.

Barbara Anderson

Inaugural Hacking Day - 9th August

The GEC’s first ever Gymkhana/Funkhana proved to be a fun and successful day for all. The beautiful weather certainly made it easier for many Hackies to turn up, turn out and put Ponies, Galloways and Hacks through their paces. The Gymkhana Champion and Reserve champion went to Jenny Sellers riding Lilly and Rachael Raheb riding Glynarra Park Classic respectively. There were some beautiful horses showing their paces and the riders presented their horses so well. A credit to everyone who competed. Congratulations to all of you and to your lovely horses.

I would like to make a special mention and give many thanks to our fantastic Judges Peter Turner and Rebecca Jackson for the great job they did. The canteen certainly proved to be a hit for all; finally of course I would like to acknowledge and thank all the GEC volunteers for their ongoing support and enthusiasm.

Nicky Elvidge

Show Jumping Day - Sunday 26th July

Hi everybody - our most recent showjumping day held on the last weekend of the school holidays was another success with classes from 50cm to 95cm being run.

We had new members enjoying the day and repeat offenders getting their horses around a challenging course I had designed to question the horse and riders correct approach, line and straightness into their fences. We did have success at all levels with about 50% of our riders succeeding in receiving a clear round ribbon.

Thanks go to our usual suspects in assisting me to have another successful day - Mary, Liz, Leigh, Sue, Erin, Alecia, Michael, John, (I apologise if I have left names out - you are all wonderful!) all helped as did the very kind Mr Don Faithful and Mr Greg Don who also assisted me with jump judging.

We have to thank Arcadia Pony Club and their Liaison Helen Lamont who very kindly loaned us their jumps to make this day possible whilst we await the arrival of ours.

Michelle Becchio

Inaugural Trail Ride - Sunday 19th July

Galston Equestrian Club is running a trail ride on Sunday 19th July.

The cost includes a refreshing drink at the end of the ride (don't forget to bring a drink for your horse!) and there will be lucky prizes.

Regards
Lynne Livingstone
Trail Riding Phase Head

Our Report

Sunday 19 July 2009 was the first official trail ride for the Galston Equestrian Club. W e awoke to the most beautiful day, no one could have asked for better! Organisation for such a ride is the key issue and may I say so, I think I came up with the goods and yes I think everyone had a really great time. But of course such experiences are not without hic-ups! One float arrived (on time so that was ok) only for the riders to inform me that one of the horses had fallen over in float - misbehaving - but appeared to be ok. Then came the phone call to say that two riders had trouble getting one of their horses on the float and were running late.

Then they arrived only to discover that there were two horses and two saddles - but only ONE girth. One of our good ladies offered a girth from her vehicle only to find that it was too long! so she swapped it with the one on her own saddle - but that was too long too. So with a couple of knots in place, everyone was finally ready to go.

Down the track we headed. Not all the horses had been trail ridden in the bush before so there were a few anxious riders!!! But everyone soon relaxed and all was good.

W e had agreed to meet Gillian McCall at the creek section of the trail so she could ride with us and let us through her property. W e would all like to thank her for allowing us to go through, because there is no other way! Down the road we went with all horses behaving without drama! Going down the first stretch of O’Hara’s Creek Road is exceptionally steep and very slippery, but we all managed to tackle the situation and all arrived at the bottom without mishap.

Out past the soccer fields at Kenthurst Park and then the long ride down Porters Road. Once back at the floats, it was time to unsaddle, get ready for the home trek but not before having two lucky draw prizes of a club shirt (Jennifer Taylor) and cap (Cate Carney). A few waters and poppers with a ‘trail’ bar (how appropriate) and we all said our good-byes.

I really enjoyed the ride and was pleased to have organised it for the other eight riders who I am sure all enjoyed our experiences of the day - all in all approximately four hours of riding… so get ready for the next one, and see you out there on the trails!!!

Loping along - Lynne Livingstone and Buddy ‘Kool Deal’

Horse Float Loading Demonstration - Sunday 28th June

A reminder that Suzanne Bellette will be conducting an excellent workshop on float loading on the 28th June 2009.

The Demonstration in the morning is open to anyone for $20 and the afternoon workshop for members will provide an opportunity to develop your skills in preparing for and loading a horse safely by himself and the horse staying on the float with commotion outside.

With effective preparation you can prepare your horse for any situation when out and about at events and travelling anywhere. Who doesn't want a safe horse!!

Cheers

Barbara Anderson
Horsemanship Phase Head
Galston Equestrian Club
0421055098

Our Report

What a great day we had! We had members and non members come along to share the knowledge and observe the horsemanship skills needed to have a horse self load and remain in the float (untied) while commotion goes on around them.

Suzanne Bellette led the group through the principles of horsemanship that contribute to leadership on the ground with horses, understanding the horse’s point of view as a herd animal that lives in the moment and demonstrating that it is not about the float!

Suzanne and Tombay demonstrated the ingredients to achieve a balanced horse that is mentally, emotionally and physically able to undertake anything we ask.

Jo and Barbara assisted with demonstrations with Portia and Shiraz loading themselves forwards and backwards on a suggestion! Jo also loaded Portia while standing from 20’.

During the afternoon the group had an opportunity to use the tools of horsemanship to assist building their communication with leadership that will assist them in all aspects of their relationship with their horses.

Everyone who attended gained ideas and took away some skills to practice to prepare for the future with their horses. A big thank you to Suzanne for donating her time and equipment to assist us with building a safer more effective relationship with our partners, our horses.

Barbara Anderson
Horsemanship Phasehead

Dressage Protocol Day - Saturday 27th June

We are very pleased to announce that a Dressage Protocol Day will be held at the grounds on Saturday June 27th. This gives you an opportunity to ride one or more dressage tests and not only get a scored paper with comments, but also to discuss your results with a very experienced (and kind!) judge and even get a bit of coaching and try again!

Please have a look at the options on the flyer and book early as spaces are limited. This is being offered as a members only event but will be opened up if it is not full by June 19th.

We will be running two arenas so Mary and Rita would welcome any help with arena set up on the afternoon of Friday June 26th. And of course we need volunteers on the day for parking, canteen, arrivals registration, and all around running about. Please help if you can, we cannot run events without the help of volunteers and it is actually quite good fun!

Call Mary on 0402 974 449 to book, to volunteer, or with any questions.

Regards
Mary Werick and Rita Kolano
Dressage Phase Heads

Our Report

Whether you are a beginner doing Prep Tests or an advanced rider competing at Prix St George there is always more to learn. That’s the spread that we had at our first Dressage Protocol Day on June 27th. We had a few days bookings at the grounds “in the bank” due to wet weather cancellations so we were able to run this event on a Saturday.

Top local judges Pip Longworth and Merril Howie presided over an arena each and helped put a total of eighteen horse and rider combinations through their paces.

A Protocol Day is an exceptional opportunity to get some insight into how a judge scores the movements in a test. Our riders all chose their own tests - with the added benefit of being able to try out the new tests that came into effect July 1st - and then received detailed feedback and expert coaching from the judges on how to improve their performance. The most frequent comment from our riders? “ Please have more days like this, it was fabulous!”

GEC Fun Sporting and Social Day - Sunday 14th June

AGM and New Committee

Check out our new and expanded committee as a result of a successful AGM evening. Thanks to all that attended. The minutes will be posted on this website once accepted by the new committee after their next meeting of April 7 2009.

Upcoming events

Keep checking the calendar for upcoming events, especially the 18th April where there will be a Horsemanship Float Loading workshop, members and non-members welcome - with or without their horses.

Also on the 18th April is a Dressage Clinic with Melinda Parbery. This event is also open to members and non-members.

Also coming up is the first GEC Closed Dressage Day on the 26th April. The flyer and entry form will also be enclosed in the newsletter to be mailed to members in the next week.

Email Addresses

Our secretary has received many undeliverable email address messages. We are in the process of trying to contact the members / contacts involved to get their correct information. You can help us by emailing a note to info@galstonequestrianclub.org.au if you think your email address is incorrect, needs updating or you think you have not been receiving GEC information.

Clear Round Showjumping Day - Sunday 22nd March

What a perfect day we all had.

A total of 33 rounds of showjumping were completed with class heights ranging from the very popular ‘Have A Go’ cross rails up to 90cm.

We commenced with set up at 8am with my husband John and I arriving with my float and his ute loaded to the brim with 26 jump wings, approx 50 showjump poles, 23 witches hats, bunting, signage, jump numbers, stop watches, measuring wheel, chairs etc etc etc! (thanks to Alex Bignasca who had dropped off 12wings and poles to my place earlier in the week which allowed me to build a decent course!)

A logistic miracle really!

What was so delightful was that we were met by a steadfast group of volunteers who had given up their day to help the club and I run our first showjumping day at the new grounds.

My sincere thanks go to all those people who helped on the day - they are in no particular order except for my husband who MUST be mentioned first and foremost - John Becchio, Marina Siratkov, Liz Jones, Alison Cairns, Paul Cairns, (Paul also supplied our practise fences - a BIG thanks!) Roslyn Kean, Slade Butler (Slade’s Dad Rodney?), Mary Werick, Genevieve Rea, Darlis Reen, John (Owner of Robert), Jennifer Taylor (Rider of Robert!) and our very supportive committee members who took entries, served at the canteen, took some happy snaps, made announcements and generally were very enthusiastic, Prue, Linda, Cherie and Rita - thank you!

If by any chance I have forgotten anyone - my sincerest apologies!

The going was perfect, the weather warm and sunny, and the showjumps looked super against the backdrop of the greenest of green grass.

The day was friendly and encouraging with everyone finishing their round with a smile on their face - it was an ideal opportunity for those that had never jumped to get amongst the coloured poles and show their ‘ponies’ a fun day out!

Barbara Anderson our esteemed outgoing President even rode her beautiful mare around the course in her rope halter and carrot stick in hand - laughing with delight all the way!

Linda Barton after a break from the sport had successful rounds in both the cross rails and the 50cm class - simply super! I had taught Linda at the combined training day and it was great to see her put into practice what she had learnt from the clinic - also from the clinic putting into practise what they had learnt was Erin Kydd on her super cute Cob in the cross rails class, Alecia Green on her feisty little Galloway who put in a couple of super speedy rounds in the 50cm & 65cm class.

It was also lovely to see the entire Rea Family out, with Genevieve (Mum) and both Georgia and Alex doing rounds. Special mention for Alex’s stickability and determination when his pony “Rusty” thought he would rather be at Home!

Alison and Paul Cairns both did super rounds in their chosen height classes and Slade Butler put in a speedy and clear round practising for her Zone Championships coming up the following week.

It was also great to see some ‘familiar’ faces back in the saddle - so welcome to Camille Lovensosse who was back in the saddle after enjoying her young family for a few years and did a super round in the 65cm class. Well done to Anneliese Reen who had the fastest time of the day riding the course in 51 Seconds with optimum time be 53.1seconds she was pretty close to the mark!

Lastly special mention to all those who rode in our cross rail class - everybody did a super job - several of those competing had never been over a cross rail before and never thought they would make it around a course- and they did! - Congratulations to Macy, Roslyn, Georgia, Alex, Genevieve, Linda, Melissa, Sarah, Erin, Jennifer and Barbara.

I look forward to many more successful showjumping days and I hope that a few more members will come along and ‘have a go’ .

See you soon

Michelle Becchio
2009 Vice President & Showjumping Sub-Committee Head
0419 420 390

Check out the photo gallery for more photos.

GEC First Club Day - Sunday 8th March

A resounding success based on the feedback from attendees and spectators alike. It must be that is was held on a lucky number 8 day (according to Chinese mythology!), because after being sweltered out, the first time, rained out the second, the third time was really lucky with some ideal horse riding weather. .

Mary and Rita did a fantastic job of organising and running the day and all instructors were well received by members. Michelle Becchio and Paul Cairns brought along their equipment and provided a great opportunity to work on flat work over poles as well as jumping. Melinda Parbery did brilliantly with quite divergent ability within the groups and people just starting out gained enormously from getting amongst some well established riders.

The feedback on the instruction has been extremely positive. We also took a lot of constructive feedback as well for making the next day/s even better.

The afternoon with Suzanne Bellette was also well received with quite a large group getting the hang of communication from the ground up and had lots to take away and work on. Jo Wooley a very new member provided the model horsemanship example for the day.

Please bear with us though we are trying to do lot with a very small committee and we need your help. Email us if you would like to hang out and help out, we are all really friendly people, a friendly club! Even a short period is very much appreciated and if we all do this we can ensure everyone gets their turn at being taken care of for their riding day.

Cheers everyone

Check out the photo gallery for more photos

Hello from the GEC Secretary - Friday 6th March

Galston Equestrian Club - Up and Running for 2009...

I am touching base again to encourage those of you who have not yet registered as riding members of GEC that, apart from our unlucky start with extreme weather, we had two impressively booked 'Fabulous Flatwork' days which we can see are going to be very popular in the future AND a very successful Showjumping day last year that raised vital funds to ensure that our administration fees were covered so we could make a start this year.

Rider Registration...

We have had an encouraging start with riding memberships for 2009 but we need more local support to pay for new equipment. Joining as a riding member of GEC will not only give you access to a progressive local club, but an avenue to support your local community and the grounds that you have lobbied so hard to have built for so many years. By supporting the Galston Equestrian Club you will be ensuring the 'Rural Sports Facility' at Galston is available to ALL members of our riding community, even outside of club hours for many years in the future.

Galston Equestrian Club Calendar...

We hope you agree it has plenty to keep you all busy even though our first year is limited to equipment availability. SUNDAY MARCH 8TH is shaping up to be a great SHOWJUMPING AND DRESSAGE TRAINING DAY, but may be a 'closed' day so stay tuned for further information from Mary and Rita.

AGM Reminder...

We have set a date for our ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING which will be held at 7:30pm WEDNESDAY the 25th of MARCH 2009 at the Galston Club. I would encourage anyone who is interested in a position on the committee to attend this meeting. The ground work is all done, with the exception of a few loose ends the incoming committee can look forward to a 'set up' club with a prosperous future, but only if we have participation in the committee from our community. It has been a busy time for us since 'MARRA' brought us together in Winter 2007 to help start this club, and some of us would like to step aside and let some fresh hands take the reins for a while. The new committee will have the support of those who are staying on and will also be able to call on those of us who do not, so don't be shy! GIVE IT A GO! A full list of positions will be supplied to you before the meeting. We hope to see you there.