Contact: Brian Lloyd 07836 344425

Weekly Games Practices will start on Wednesday 14 January 2009 at Huntersgate Byley.  Contact Brian for more details. 

AUTUMN 2008 GAMES REPORT

The Prince Philip Cup year has again been an enjoyable one for all involved, although fairly mixed in terms of competitions and results. 

Practices and rallies continued from January through to July with an enthusiastic bunch of riders and parents. However, this year, the senior A team did not manage to get together to practice or compete as a full team as often as we would have liked. In addition, because of the weather and ground conditions, we were not able to practice outside as early or as often as usual. Both these factors definitely had an effect on performances at competitions, as there is a massive difference between practicing or competing in a small indoor school and riding in a full size outdoor grass arena. 

We attended the usual number of inter-branch friendlies organised by other branches with varied degrees of success. Unfortunately we again had to cancel our own competition at Somerford due to the ground conditions. This was very disappointing, not only for our own riders, but also for other branches who look forward to this as the first outdoor friendly of the year. It is also frustrating for all involved in view of the amount of work that goes into organising such an event. It is also sometimes the only, and certain the first, opportunity some of the newer and inexperienced riders have of actually competing after working so hard in training. 

The senior A team failed to qualify from Area to Zone for the first time in many years, although this was not entirely a surprise, partly due to the disjointed preparation. With only three races to go, however, they were in fact in a comfortable qualifying position, lying third, seven points ahead of the next team. It was therefore especially disappointing to miss out. The junior team did qualify for Zone at Newcastle, but were regrettably unable to compete, as we were left with only three junior A riders prepared to travel such a long distance. We also had B teams competing at a number of competitions, including Area, during the season.

Our Area has always been a strong PPC area in terms of quality, although we have fewer branches competing than many other areas, thereby reducing the number of qualifiers. It is becoming more and more difficult to qualify as, never having been a branch that has placed great importance on mounted games, we just do not have the pony power (with a few notable exceptions) to enable us to compete favourably with some of the other branches. In the circumstances, East Cheshire have done remarkably well over the years to perform as well as we have, with the riders practicing hard and always doing their best. We have, of course won Area a couple of times, and have had teams almost (but not quite) good enough to get to the PPC finals. Whether that success can be repeated in the future remains to be seen. Over the years (and again this year), we have lost, either to other branches or out of the Pony Club completely, a number of good games ponies that have been trained at East Cheshire. Many branches would, of course, not allow this to happen, and it is frustrating and disappointing to us when it does.

We were again invited to attend the mounted games competition at Cheshire Show, which is always a privilege and pleasure. This year we had the added excitement of our riders (and trainer!!) being interviewed live on Silk FM radio. Unfortunately, this did not inspire us to ride particularly well. However, five of the six teams we rode against there have all qualified for the PPC finals at HOYS. It is pleasing to see so many of our friends achieving that success, and demonstrates the standard that we should strive to achieve. Sadly, we lose our two top senior riders from the PPC team for next year, as they will be over the age limit. Bryony Sims has been an excellent member of the teams since she started as a seven-year-old junior. Not only has she been one of the mainstays of the team over those years, but the family have helped and supported the team enormously, and have on several occasions provided games ponies for other team members. Bryony is continuing to compete in mounted games through the MGA. Holly Practico also finishes this year. Holly has improved so much since she started some years ago as a very novice rider and has been outstanding over the last couple of years and a superstar this year. Both have always had a great attitude and will be missed very much, and we must thank them for their efforts and commitment to the Branch games teams. Thanks also to Kathryn Leech, without whose help, encouragement and commitment, Holly may not have been able to be such a dedicated and important part of the team. 

We have our usual autumn games rally at Hunters gate in the October half term, on Wednesday 29^th October. We will then have a couple of get-togethers on 26^th November and 3^rd December, before we start practices seriously on 14^th January. Please look at the calendar on the website for details.

We need lots more riders, particularly juniors (under 10 years), to come along to practice. We especially welcome novice riders and even those who have never done mounted games before. If you have the right pony and practice regularly, you can become a good games rider in a relatively short time. In addition, the skills learnt at mounted games help your riding in all disciplines.

It is hoped that we will have sufficient riders and suitable ponies to enable us to be competitive in 2009. Help at practices is always very welcome, as we very often have to split the riders into three of four groups for training, depending on age and ability. Please volunteer your services if you can.

We have not yet decided on the date, venue and format of our 2009 inter branch PPC friendly, but an announcement will be made on the website as soon as possible.   

Brian Lloyd, Sept 08.