Area 21 Northern Ireland

I always really enjoy my trips over to SSA Area 21 in Northern Ireland and this last weekend was no exception with riders taking part across two days at two locations.

Day One was a busy day with 10 riders taking part. It was held in the indoor school at Danescroft Equestrian Centre, Lisburn. We were glad to have the use of the indoor school as there were a few heavy downpours across the day but that did not dampen the enthusiasm of those taking part. 

Over the winter/ early spring, the Area 21 Committee have organised a couple of Have-a-Go days with Julie Donaghue-Simpson to try to generate some new members and it was really encouraging to see some of these ladies joining on Saturday’s clinic, where I had a mixture of 1:1 and shared lessons. One of the very best parts of my “job” as a coach, is seeing the enthusiasm of these new riders as they start out- realising just how quickly they feel surprisingly secure in the saddle and maybe even experiencing a first canter.

I did have plenty of experienced side-saddle riders too, including Julie Donaghue-Simpson who was introducing new horses to being ridden aside, with Royal Balmoral Show in May and Dublin Horse Show qualifiers on the horizon.

Not to be outdone by the adult riders, it was lovely to have two junior riders making it all look easy on their ponies.

Normally when I’m out teaching, I have all my own saddles and equipment to hand so that I can fit saddles to new combinations or make tweaks to saddles where needed, but being in Northern Ireland, I travel very lightly (for me) as there’s not much I can fit into a suitcase when I fly over! I was therefore very glad to have Shirley Anderson (who also fitted in a lesson on her horse, Diego) and Suzanne Glenn (Area Secretary) assisting with sorting saddles out.

On day Two we were at committee member, Suzanne Hill’s yard near Donaghadee, with first up being Suzanne herself and her delightful chestnut, small/ ladies hunter, Simba- a previous winner of the Ladies Classical class at Royal Balmoral Show and a horse that, in my opinion, exemplifies the classic look of a traditional Ladies horse- I could have fancied having a canter round on him myself! Hannah Ogle, getting back into riding side-saddle followed up and was very pleased with how she was feeling by the end of the lesson, having made real progress. 

We had to then take part in the SSA AGM after Hannah’s lesson, so Sunday was a shorter day of teaching.

As always, I would like to thank the Area 21 Committee for inviting me over to do the clinics and Shirley Anderson for your hospitality whilst I was over. The weekend passed very quickly and soon Shirley was driving me back to Belfast Airport for my return journey. The good news is that I don’t have to wait too long before I am next over in Northern Ireland with the next Area 21 clinic dates being 12/13 April.

Penny