We have some VERY EXCITING NEWS!

We have been shortlisted for RIDING CLUB OF THE YEAR by Horse & Hound and today we have a small feature in the magazine. This is the first time we have been shortlisted for this prestigious award after a few years of trying and it means a lot.

But now we need YOUR help and votes to help us win the title, so we would be very very grateful for everyone to vote for us if you think we deserve the win. The riding clubs who have been shortlisted with the MOST votes from the public vote will win the title which is announced at the awards ball on 8th November.

Voting is open from today and will close on the 18th October, you can only vote once with your name and email. We are in some great company, so we need every vote.

PLEASE get voting it would mean a lot to the committee who put in so much work and we have had a fantastic year so let’s make this the icing on the cake.

VOTE with the link below and select West Oxfordshire

https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/archives/vote-horsedialog-club-year-667402?_ga=2.105916355.1982675819.1539247711-916277940.1531143452

Fingers crossed we can do it!

For the 3rd year running WORC are junior national prelim champions!

Junior member Maddy McIntosh danced her way to success and claimed the title. Maddy has had a fantastic year having qualified and been placed at many BRC champs this year.

If that wasn't enough Morgan Beth Crockford came 5th in the junior novice DTM section and senior member Georgia Armer came 13th in the senior novice.

What a greay day for the club!

Our juniors where on great form at the BRC championships in Lincoln beating off tough competition.

The team of Morgan-Beth Crockford, Maddy McIntosh and Amy Thomas were 6th out of 22 teams a huge achievement. Amy getting into the mounted prize giving and receiving a sash for being 3rd in Prelim 7 and 2nd in her Prelim Riding Test. Maddy was 6th in Prelim 14 and 8th in Novice 27. Morgan-Beth was 8th in Novice 27 and 6th in the Elementary.

A HUGE well done to our 3 ladies Serena, Gee and Vicky who competed at the Royal International Horse Show BRC team jumping in July and came 10th!

Such a great achievement and we believe this is our first ever club placing at Hickstead which is fantastic.

The WORC held a show jumping competition at Village Farm, Bletchingdon 

Thank you to all volunteers who helped make this show a success!

Full WORC Show Jumping Results 13 May 2018

Thank you to everyone who helped make this show a success

Full Showing Results

28th April - Dressage Intermediate event 
Maddy got a personal best at Novice with 67% and an 8th placing in a large class and is very pleased.
Morgan came 2nd with a equal score just losing out in collectives by 1 mark. Was a very cold blustery day but well worth it

Tentpegging and Mounted Skill at Arms (MSAA) are the collective name for equestrian sports using lances, swords and guns on horseback. Disciplines are performed at the gallop as individuals, half section pairs and team sections of three or four. Tentpegging is the ultimate test of horsemanship, requiring determination, hand-eye coordination, discipline and a fearless love of speed. Pegs range from three to one inch in diameter. The majority of horses and ponies can be taught to peg and they love it!  

Now for beginners do not worry, the training process is all done slowly to ensure the riders have control of their weapons and the horses get used to the rather strange activities. 

In the tentpegging community it is often referred to "the sport for broken riders and horses", as it is relatively gentle on both horse and rider compared to other disciplines. Essentially you are just asked the horse to run straight for around 100m and for the riders it is a bit like pony club games, only we use real weapons and don't vault or bend as much as the youngsters. For juniors it is a growing sport, and GB often has opportunity to send youngsters abroad to compete as part of teams. 

The beauty of this particular equestrian discipline is a level playing field, buying an expensive horse won't help you, as it is mainly down the riders skill. Jumping is a relatively minor part of the sport, so if your horse doesn't jump it is not a problem.

The West Oxfordshire Riding Club will be holding a series of clinics and competitions, and everyone is welcome to attend

£10 PER ENTRY

CHARITY FAMILY FUN DAY

On Sunday August 27th from 4pm onwards, Lower Haddon Farm in Bampton, have very kindly lent us a field so that as a club we can raise some money for Willberry and have some fun. It is for all the family, no horses. Entry will be a £1 per car.

Wellie wanging at 5pm, bring your own Wellie and see how far you can throw it. 50p per throw.

6pm - Hobby horse fun dressage. Whether you can bring something fancy or just an old broom stick. Wow the judges with a 1 minute freestyle test. At 50p per entry.

Also, a fun dog show including; most handsome boy, prettiest girl, waggiest tail and most obedient. This is to run along-side the 2 other fun classes. 50p per entry.

Please clean up after your four-legged friend. Prizes for all winners.

There will be Willberry Tombola and a raffle.

BBQ

FUN FOR ALL THE FAMILY!!!

We also have a just giving page: Here is the link for our donation page if anyone would like to make an online donation

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/west-oxon-riding-club

We kick started the 2015 eventing season a little early in WORC at an excellent jump training session with 2010 Badminton winner Paul Tapner at Wickstead HorsePlay (28.02.15). Two 1.5 hour group lessons of four covered some general warming up, riding a show jump course and some cross country practise… all on a surface ideal to get horses and riders back into event mode before our first qualifier at Swalcliffe in April! Everyone benefited greatly from Paul’s methodical and progressive approach to training. Hopefully we can do it again soon, although we will be heading back to this venue for show jump training with Joe MacDonald on March 24th. Take a look in the galleries for more photos and a video from Pigeon Cam