Horses - In August our lovely Breeze left Witham Villa for his semi-retirement home. He has been a truly wonderful horse to have in the riding school having helped so many people to learn to ride as well as being ridden by the more advanced riders and taking part in the BHS Riding Schools Championships as well as Unaffiliated and Affiliated dressage competitions and University competitions and Pony Club. He was also used by the Riding for the Disabled group who meet here on a Thursday afternoon. We are pleased to report that he is very happy in his new home with Michelle, who had previously enjoyed a lot of time with him here at Witham Villa.
Eddie has had time off this month as he had to have a tooth out which proved a little more complicated than we had hoped. Pleased to report he has healed well and we are looking to be able to bring him back into work shortly. The plan for India and Eddie is then to make the step up from Juniors to Young Riders and to continue to compete Internationally.
BHS - we held a Stage 2 Care and Lunge exam which ran very smoothly. We currently have a BHS Stage 2 Care course running on a Monday evening at 5pm
British Dressage - we are sad to confirm that the August bank holiday show was the final affiliated dressage show that will be run here at Witham Villa. We have enjoyed being a BD venue for many years now and seeing our competitors and horses on their training and competing journeys. Recently we have seen entries dwindling and this is what led to the decision that running Affiliated was no longer viable.
Unaffiliated Dressage - we will continue to run our Thursday competitions and the plan is to move these to a Monday from next year which will leave the Thursdays free from disruption for our normal lessons. Pole clinics and other such special events will also move to a Monday from 2023.
Witham Villa Junior Trainee scheme - We held a meeting for trainees and their parents/guardians to introduce Kelly as the new WVJT Coordinator and to explain the stable management awards system that the WVJTs will be training to achieve. Thank you to all who came and for the feedback, it is much appreciated as we all look forward to future developments which can only come about with everyone’s input.
Riding Lessons - as we move into the Autumn, please let us know if you ride with us but do not have a regular lesson space and would like one. If you could email us at withamvillarc@gmail.com with your requirements we can then see if there is a suitable lesson that you could attend regularly and we can then allocate that to you which will give you instant booking availability instead of having to wait to see if a space comes up.
Suggestions - we have reintroduced the “Suggestions box” which is located in the viewing gallery and welcome your input so together we can continue to make improvements to the Equestrian Centre. Alternatively feel free to email us at withamvillarc@gmail.com.