EnduranceGB, South and West Wales Group, Picture gallery

This is the archive page for 2009 reports. For 2008 and 2007 reports, click here

The 2009 Annual General Meeting for the group was held on Wednesday, October 28^th at the Whitemill Inn, Whitemill, at 7.30pm. The meeting was very well attended and the committee membership remains the same for 2010.

The Trophy Dinner was held on Friday, November 27^th at the Halfway Inn, Nantgaredig, at 7.00pm . An enjoyable evening was had by all. Excellent food as always. See the trophy page for a list of trophy and award winners

We are coming to the end of another season, and have had our last pleasure ride at Pembrey, which was I think a great success - 52 riders. All seemed to enjoy themselves, I know I did and was especially grateful to all our helpers, so that I could ride.

As soon as you have completed your last ride do fill in your ride card and send it in even if you have only completed a couple of pleasure rides. The pleasure rides that count are all EGB Group rides and any rides run by BHS affiliated organisations i.e. Carmarthenshire Riders, Riding Clubs etc. but not Hunt Rides or Sports Endurance Rides. Please send your cards in to me:

Jane Clatworthy, Moelfre, Llandovery, Carms SA20 0UW.

I feel we have done what we set out to do last winter which was to keep the group going as a happy inclusive organisation. If any of you have any ideas of what more you would like us to do, get in touch and come to the AGM on 28th October at the Whitemill Inn.

We have now participated in this race several times and we always have great fun and a great day out. There is a trot up at the start, a vet-gate in the middle – this year we had a ten minute hold – and vetting at the end, the rules being much the same as EGB vetting rules.

This unique sporting event is held annually in the small town of Llanwrtyd Wells, Britain’s smallest town, and involves human runners (individuals and relay teams) against horses, over 22 miles with a total of 3000 feet of ascent. So, in a nutshell, the course is challenging, humans and equines need to be fit and well-managed, especially in hot weather.

Getting ready

The runners

The start

There is a mass start for the horses at 11.15am, the human runners leaving at 11am, and this year I was right up front, behind the pace car, driven by Jackie Brown, the ride organiser. It was exciting being right up there at the front! We did a spanking trot along the road and at the start there are crowds to cheer you on your way, lots of clapping and the atmosphere is fantastic. You just can’t help a great big smile with all this support and encouragement. There is also a tannoy, announcing everything, so you need a good horse!!!

This year was the 30^th anniversary of Man versus Horse and there were 45 horses and hundreds of runners. My husband, Edward, did his usual excellent crewing job for us, helped by John and Eva, who also thoroughly enjoyed the day and said they had learnt a great deal. Jimmy Mac came tenth this time, so I was very happy with that.

Approaching vet gate

Cooling down

Crew area

The route involves stony tracks, very hilly terrain, some road work, grassy hills, some boggy going and some fields. Apparently, there are seventy gates en route and they are all open!!! Loads of stewards and other helpers along the course offer you and your horse water too.

Last crew point

And away

The finish

Jimmy Mac’s respective heart rates at the start and finish were 36 and 52. The day was quite hot but it has been hotter in previous years!! At the end we charged through the river, then had a short canter on a grassy track, fast trot on a short bit of tarmac, then cantered over the finish line!

Pen Ddol Y Gader has come and gone. We could hardly have been unluckier with the weather. 18 of us intrepid souls started off on the pleasure (!) ride on Saturday. We got as far as checkpoint one to be greeted by a smiling Harry and a horrendous hailstorm. A few, including me, turned tail and ran home, but the majority completed the ride.

Sunday was much better weather and 34 riders took part in both competitive and pleasure rides. The rides went off successfully, in spite of some rain showers.

We are hoping to put on a ride at Pembrey in early September, if we can find enough helpers. We would put on more rides if we had more offers of help. We particularly need help on the day of the ride. If you are prepared to help, please contact a member of the committee. Remember that you must help at one ride each season to qualify for a trophy.

We would like to put on a social evening this autumn. Has anyone any ideas of speakers, or has anyone been anywhere interesting that they would like to tell us about?

“Just wanted to say thank you to everyone involved in organising the ride on Sunday. Despite the grotty weather there was still a good turnout. It was great to have the vetting area covered in bark, no more treading on stones - good idea! I have to say that I had a wonderful ride and that we, (me and my horse Ibn), loved all the cantering on the open moor. Hope you can run it again.

Thanks, Anita Gordon.”

“What a wonderful ride Hilary, Karin and their helpers put on for us. It was a real treat to be off over the mountain with plenty of cantering. Shame they didn't organise the weather a bit better but no-one can do anything about that. Do please do it again next year! There is so much work involved and very difficult for already busy people to do! Thanks again for all your hard work.”

Twm Sion Cati Pleasure Ride on May 24^th at Llyn Brianne dam and Cwmnant Pleasure Ride on May 30^th at Tregaron.

Several members attended these successful rides organised by the Mid and North Wales group. A big thank you to Heather Davies and Pat Conn for organising these rides.

Click here to read Alex Nicholl's ride report from The Easter Egg Ride on Easter Monday, April 13. (Mid and North Wales group).

To read the Offa's Dyke Newsletter for April 2009, click here to down load it in Adobe pdf format (1.1MB)

The snow and ice leading up to the Valentines ride seems a long time ago, but I think everyone enjoyed it, and Harry Adshead’s talk was both brilliant and popular.

People keep asking if we are going to run previous season’s rides that they enjoyed, and indeed there are many rides we could run, we live in amazing riding country. However, unfortunately rides do not run themselves. Apart from the behind scenes activities, devising and marking routes, keeping the landowners/graziers / forestry happy, health & safety, etc, we need volunteers on the day. The smallest number we've ever used is 6 for a pleasure ride, and it is usually 12 or 15 for a small competitive ride. These are all people who give up riding for the day to man a check point, time-keep, take entries, and organize parking etc. Please volunteer to be a helper so we all have a chance to ride !

I need to draw stallion owners attention to the fact that their horses must wear a stallion bridle tag and a blue ribbon on the tail while at a ride. If you don't have a bridle tag the ride organizer will have a few that can be borrowed by prior arrangement.

Lastly I would remind everyone that you must produce a current membership card or associate members ride card at every ride, or you will have to pay the £5 day rate.

Following what seemed like months of frozen ground and snow, the morning of the Valentine ride dawned mild and calm. This, however, didn’t really reflect the mood of Pauline my riding companion that day. It was the first time that she and Haleem, her part Arab young-ster, had travelled to any event and all of my reassuring remarks that ‘this is meant to be a pleasure ride’ didn’t really help to calm her nerves.

We arrived safely at the venue just 15 minutes behind schedule due to me missing the turning in New Inn as a result of endless chattering and sharing our life histories of ‘horsey experiences’ – What an idiot! I’ve ridden the Valentine ride now for the past 3 years, I really do know my way!

At the venue we were greeted by friendly faces as we collected our numbered bibs and with bandages and boots removed from the horses, we were soon on board and ready for the off.

Once we headed past the start, Pauline and Haleem settled down well, I’d like to think that it was because of the calming influence of my thoroughbred mare, Shalar, who really was very well behaved, or, as Pauline remarked “gosh, she’s very sensible isn’t she?” The jury is still out on that though, as like most horses she has her moments too.

Curiosity soon got the better of Haleem and he couldn’t resist turning to look at a pair of horses and riders that were coming up from behind. He did think that it would also be a great idea to join them as they overtook us and went on ahead. Pauline and I decided that at his early stage of training he needed to learn that just because there was a horse in front doesn’t mean that you have to run and catch it up. By the end of the ride, (we completed the 10 mile) he was beginning to understand that it’s ok for horses to pass you and sometimes you pass them.

The nice thing about the Valentine ride is that there are lots of places to have a nice safe run. This we enjoyed immensely, both horse and rider alike. The views were great! If you can chat about the weather on a ride, then you know that you are settling down!

All too soon it seemed, we turned for home on the short route. Haleem and Pauline had a really good first outing. So much so, that the Group has recruited a new member. Yes she’s joined EGB – and so has Haleem! The rosette was a bonus for Pauline, for me, it was the delicious piece of cake.

Harry Adshead gave a brilliant talk and slide show at the Whitemill Inn, Carmarthen on Wednesday, February 25th. 36 members and friends attended.

Harry and Lisa now have a website describing their epic horseriding journey from Wales to Jordan from April 2004 to September 2005. Click here to access the website.