NSEA Competitions
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More and more schools are getting involved in the National Schools Equestion Association, a huge network of inter school competitions, with various qualifiers leading up to the Championships held at Addington Manor every October.
If your child would like to compete on behalf of their school, we will help prepare them to be the best representative that they can!
We are happy to host school training sessions here at the yard, inviting other equestrian team members over to train together in their chosen discipline.
Thankfully the days of Netball, Hockey and Lacrosse being the only options if you want to represent your school in sport are over. For those slightly more introvert children, the opportunity to become a team player, with their horse, can be a wonderful way of developing their personality, and a massive boost to self esteem.
Junior Riders
Although we welcome riders of all ages and levels, we pride ourselves in our progression of Junior Riders.
From about the age of 8yrs old upwards children are incredibly receptive to correct tuition, and when given the right opportunities should start to absorb everything thrown at them.
Our priority is to ensure our riders are enjoying every minute of their horse time - and when they are having fun they are learning and progressing!
Whether your aim is to allow your child to have a good foundation in riding as an extra sport, to get them out of the house and active, or to see them reaching that goal of being a showjumper, we can make it happen.
A huge advantage of keeping your childs pony with us at Quarry Farm; both Charlotte and Becky are petite lightweight riders, so if the weeks are getting busier with homework etc, we can maintain your pony's fitness during the week. This will ensure your child gets to enjoy a well mannered pony at the weekend, who is fit enough for the job required.
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Pony Days
Throughout the holidays we run Pony Days - a fun educational morning or afternoon open to all​ those who ride with us.
The session will involve a ridden session (group lesson/mounted games/competition simulation etc), a care session (a show and tell discussion session using a live model tied up on the yard!), and a theory session (based on the Pony Club Test syllabus).
Our pony days are also open to non livery members, however they must have brought the pony up to us for regular tuition beforehand, so we can ensure the pony will fit in with the group riding sessions.
Learning to Compete
Many of our riders started with us as total novices - and as such have never been to a real competition, only what they've seen on TV! We understand that although many children really want to compete, the thought of actually doing it might seem a bit daunting.
We host several inter yard competitions throughout the course of the year. The idea is to closely simulate a competition environment. We encourage correct turnout of horses and riders, maximise the use of our facilities with a warm up ring and competition ring, ride to a drawn order as you would in a 'proper' show. And of course, hold a prize giving ceremony at the end!
We use the lessons in the build up to the show day as preparation, so that all junior riders are both mentally and physically prepared for their first show - without the added stress of having the load the horses up and drive to a new and potentially scary show ground!
Getting out there!
When it comes to external competing, we are here to help. We can help you to plan the most appropriate competition schedule for your child, and then work closely with them to ensure they are ready for it. ​
We are lucky to be close to some excellent competition venues, be it for a training session at a different venue (XC for example), or for competition days, we are within about 30mins of all the big show centres in
the South East - and only
5mins from Highbrook!
If you are not a horsey
parent, or quite simply cant
put yourself in 3 different
places at once chasing all 3
children around the country
to follow their sporting
events, we can be there as
their surrogate parent for the
day! From helping your child prepare their pony at the yard, to driving them to the show, course walking, helping to warm up, and getting them both home safely, you can relax knowing we (like you) want to make sure your child has the best competition day possible.
And on the days it doesnt quite go to plan, simply to be a friend to laugh it off with them, and work out how we can make the next outing better!
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BS/BE/BD
For those riders that have moved on (or are looking to move onto) affiliated competitions, we know how the physical and technical demands of affiliated competition are different from local level competition. As such, we will work with you to ensure your horse is maintained at peak fitness, and help you to correctly prepare him for each event. Often we are taking our own horses out​ to events too, so teaming up to travel and warm up together can be a more appealing option to going solo.
