Over the Christmas period, the Guyra Pony Camp got underway. In what was a very wet start, the rest of the week saw beautiful warm conditions, enabling some relaxation at the pool after a day on the horses.
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We had about 46 children in attendance and it was great to see more over 12 year olds this year, including many visitors from Narrabri.
Our week saw many different disciplines of riding undertaken. A new one to many was the tent pegging but the feature was the Bison! The bison is a training tool for camp draft competition and allows all children to chase a bison around a camp draft course, something many would not have the opportunity to do with a normal steer/heifer.
Apart from that, it was quite an eye opener for us all to see the Bison “close up”.
Another feature was the mutton busting and the poddy calf ride; the kids loved it and I’m afraid to say that the girls rolled the boys in the steer ride!
Our gymkhana day came around on the Saturday, with many great achievements. Savannah Hunt-Faulkner (Narrabri) received champion hack of the camp and Bree Oehlers received champion rider of the Guyra club.
Overall the improvement in the children’s riding was fantastic and all should be proud of what they achieved for the week.
We have to make mention of some local people and businesses that made a significant contribution to the camp for the week.
Firstly, Peter and Narelle Malcolm of Rafters restaurant: Peter kindly cooked all night time meals, our great kitchen sup (Liz Rogers) then put this together. Peter donated his time for these delicious meals and we cannot say how grateful we are for this.
Fiona Smith (Working with Nature) donated her delicious organically grown eggs, another very generous donation.
Betts Transport and their driver Bruce Turner donated their truck and time to transport cattle for the team penning event.
We cannot thank these businesses enough and please remember to support those local businesses that support you!!
Following the week of camp, the zone 13 jamboree was held in Glen Innes. We went along with only a team of 13, and whilst we were small in numbers, our success was huge!
Our team consisted of Mac, Charlie, Bridget, Alice, Max, Claudia, Blake, Sophie, Cade, Nick, Bree, Ebony and Sam.
The competition is tough with the best riders from the zone competing, but all children got at least one ribbon and rode extremely well.
We are proud to say that Mac, Charlie and Bridget all received Highest Point Scores in their respective age groups.
Mac also received highest sub junior point score and highest overall point score! Congratulations to all children and especially Mac.
Our camp and jamboree were a great success but only because of the support of parents, families and local businesses.
Our children succeeded on many levels, not only ribbons but personal improvements and all of them showed great sportsmanship and a love of their sport.
Thanks to you all!!
Katrina Mckemey
