Side Saddle Area 1 Camp – October Ardmeddon Equestrian Centre, Aberdeenshire

What a fantastic weekend at the October Side Saddle Area 1 Camp – and a wonderful follow-up to the very successful camp we held back in April!

We welcomed 12 riders to Ardmeddon Equestrian Centre, with myself and fellow instructor Jane Prior sharing the teaching. With the luxury of a huge indoor school, Jane worked with riders at one end while I taught at the other, allowing us to fit in a great mixture of group and individual lessons across the two days.

And what a mixture of riders we had!

One of the highlights for me was welcoming Carey, who was completely new to sidesaddle. With four lessons spread across the weekend, she had the perfect introduction – plenty of time to learn, practise and build confidence. By the end of the camp she was riding happily in all paces and, most importantly, heading home feeling she'd learned so much. What a fantastic start to her sidesaddle journey!

It was also brilliant to see some of the riders who had only started riding sidesaddle at our April camp. To see how much they had progressed in just a few months, and how established they were becoming with their horses and ponies, was incredibly rewarding. That's exactly what camps like this are all about – building confidence, developing skills and having fun along the way.

And then there were our juniors!

We had three junior riders at camp, all riding incredibly well.

Little Georgie clearly believes that no sidesaddle session is complete without a jump – and she was popping over fences in fabulous style!

Eilidh has developed a wonderful rapport with her pony, and it was lovely to watch them working together. Her weekend got even better when she was awarded the Junior Area Award at the Area 1 AGM on Saturday evening.

And Liv had an absolutely fantastic weekend, securing the sash and rosette for Best Combination at Camp, as well as winning sashes in the AGM's Area Points Awards. A very well-deserved collection of ribbons.

Saturday evening was pizza night, followed by the Area 1 AGM, giving everyone plenty of opportunity to catch up and celebrate the achievements of Area members.

On Sunday lunchtime we were treated to an excellent presentation from Norvite, which gave everyone plenty to think about.

We also welcomed the British Horse Society on Saturday, who carried out weigh-ins of the horses and then the riders and tack – a really useful exercise and an important reminder of the practical considerations around horse welfare, rider weight and saddlery.

It was also lovely to see Fiona Mackinnon, Area 1 Chairman and camp organiser, putting the finishing touches to her riding with Ernest ahead of competing at the London International Horse Show, having qualified earlier in the season. We wish them both the very best of luck!

We were also delighted to welcome Marjorie and Sam, visiting from Area 9. It's always great to have riders from other areas joining in, and hopefully this weekend has encouraged a few more cross-area adventures in the future!

Perhaps one of the nicest things about these camps is what happens between the lessons. New friendships are formed, old friendships strengthened, and there is never any shortage of conversation about all things sidesaddle! Tips are shared, ideas exchanged, experiences discussed – and, inevitably, there is plenty of laughter along the way.

And of course, nobody went home empty-handed! Every attendee received a camp goodie bag – and thank you very much for mine too!

A huge thank you from me to everyone in Area 1 for the wonderful hospitality, as always, and especially to Fiona and the camp organising team for putting together such a successful weekend.

It was a real pleasure to be back in Aberdeenshire, to see so much progress since April and to spend a weekend surrounded by enthusiastic riders, lovely horses and ponies, and a fantastic sidesaddle community.

Here's to the next one!