what did riding club do for you

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thinlizzy

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What did joining the riding club do for you, did you gain more confidence , do more with your horse competing, etc ?Become a better horserider ?
 
Nothing!! I was in it for two years and all i got to do was go to the beach and go on a pleasure ride. Oh and a couple of dressage lessons with some dude which was rubbish basically! My horse was 4/5 and they only asked the experienced ones to do the jumping leagues etc as they wanted to do well :( it was really annoying as i wanted to do it and my horse could do it he just didnt have the experience of goin to shows, but you have to start somewere so me and my friend found it quite annoying. Sooo we left :)
 
I love my RC (Blackdown Mendip!) I am now on the committee but I always fall back on RC when I lack confidence, take advantage of cheap lessons and always have a great time at camp. It brilliant when I have a baby horse to bring on as lots available. I also enjoy competing at area 12 competitions and its still an ambition of mine to get to the champs for eventing!
 
I love my RC too. I've met loads of new people and take advantage of dressage and SJ competitions they run every month. I haven't had chance to go to camp yet as my horse isn't up to it but hopefully I will have one to take next year. I was very lucky and qualified 2 horses for the eventing champs in my first year which was great fun and I can't wait to qualify again!
 
My Riding club which is the Evenlode has introduced me to some lovely like minded peeps and has helped me to hopefully become a better rider as we have lots of group lessons and clinics - Joining the ERC probably is one of my better moves !!! I started riding laterin life so never did PC or riding schools .

Sharon x
 
I've found the like minded people have become great friends. My club have always been sucessful in the team events, which helps a great deal, as sucess breeds sucess, as we all know! Competing and winning as a team really can't be beaten!
It seems memberships are generally dropping, so perhaps it should really be what can we all do for our riding clubs??
 
Our membership currently is 303 members (5th largest in the country). Every year we get more and more members. We probably need to cap it. We run loads of stuff which I think helps and at all levels. But we lack volunteers and its always a struggle despite giving people free lessons for helping.
 
My RC has helped me make lots of local horsey friends and this year I've been involved as a committee member which has been hard work/great fun in equal measure! ;) We offer really good value training for all levels and monthly DR/SJ comps. We just had our first ever camp (report and photos on here!) which was a blast. Would love to do teams but winter SJ was cancelled and area eventing qualifiers too far away/not enough interest. :(

I never did PC (never had a pony of my own until Hopalong), so nothing to compare it to on that front.
 
Unfortunately as with everything equine it depends on where you live. In Yorkshire I was a member of three riding clubs all with their own facilities and monthly points shows which were very hotly contested.
Now I've moved, my local club has always been rubbish full of middle aged women who have my little pony mentalities, they don't want to learn or compete just parade their Joules clothing.
I am a member of two clubs, one based 20 miles away and the other 50 miles away, as with everything if you're not in from the beginning getting onto teams is a pain as none of these clubs have monthly points shows or their own facilities to hold club training sessions so they rely on people they know.
 
I think with RC you get back what you put it. As a few have said now they are helping on Committees they see how much work goes into trying to do different things for everyone.

The Club I'm in don't have their own facilities, but do use schools/ arenas and parklands within the area, giving every member something to go to.
 
Our RC used to have the most frustrating mentality. Spotted Cat and myself used to spend our time rolling our eyes in frustration. We kept being told that our ideas were not possible and that no one would be interested or it had been tried. This year has been a revelation thanks to a like minded committee who are willing to try new things. I spent my time moaning about it all and got coerced into joining the committee. I then persuaded SC to come with me as moral support and things have changed for the better. There will often be people who think the same way as you but who just been stiffled. 80% of our membership do not want to do much but keep chipping away and you will get somewhere.
 
I go for the showjumping comps and flatwork clinics but they are really snotty. Ive been going for years and they are still snotty. Odd people.


Lizzieb - which rc clubs do you go to?
 
i don't like my local RC very much :eek:
don't get me wrong it was helpful in a way when i first got my TB because i was an adult, had never had ponies so didn't do PC and didn't really have a clue what i was doing. but i wouldn't say that anyone on the RC actually helped me- it was more nice friends on my yard who helped and encouraged me- so yes this meant going to RC shows and ODEs etc- but i could have been competing anywhere really. i found re. the teams that they were already pretty much decided and that if you wanted to join the teams you had to almost beg...then one year i was pushed into doing the SJ open on my new and nappy horse when i didn't realy want to (but all the existing team members wanted to do the novice which was a qualifier where the open wasn't ;) )and i gave in and did it and my horse was really naughty- i swore then that i wouldn't do team stuff there again. i've done some lessons through the club which were good/ cheap but the nice people on the committee have gradually left to be replaced by not very nice people so i don't really have anything to do with it anymore. have done a few DR comps there this year (its local and cheap) but thats about it. all in all, very disillusioned. i thought RCs were for the benefit of ALL members- not just the few who get picked time and again for the teams. in my mind they should have team selection days to pick teams but nothing like that ever seems to happen. :(
 
diggerbez - can you get on the committee and help with the teams? that's what I did and it works really well.

As others have said you get out of it - what you put in.

I have made loads of new friends and my riding has come on from a nervous rider who would never jump (in public :)) to being on the horse trials team - it is great fun :)
 
I am a member of a local unaff RC - mainly because I wanted to go to their show jumping thats held just down the road from me, but they all seem very nice people. Unfortunaltly I work to far away to join in with lessons which is a shame as they are good and cheap!
 
i know i did debate this a few years back but its all a bit of a clique. used to like about 4 people on the committee- now three of them have left because they were basically being treated like **** by other people on the committee... its a shame, i used to effectively run my university riding club, organised all the BUSA comps etc so i do have a bit of an idea of what i'm doing... i think some people are just lucky with having nice RCs that all welcoming and some people are unlucky- its the members who make the club at the end of the day! :(

Lollii said:
diggerbez - can you get on the committee and help with the teams? that's what I did and it works really well.

As others have said you get out of it - what you put in.

I have made loads of new friends and my riding has come on from a nervous rider who would never jump (in public :)) to being on the horse trials team - it is great fun :)
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Absolutely nothing!! Very cliquey if you haven't been a member since the year dot, the main chairman is very two faced and not particularly helpful, the shows are a very low standard and the same old dressage judges have been used for years who I am really not too sure about (compared to when I compete BD)

I'm not a member but see and hear about it all.

Luckily there are a few new younger members on the commitee now who are trying to liven it up a bit!
 
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